Rat advice - please

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rosieg

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Oct 11, 2009
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Hi - can anyone help me with some advice on how to deal with rats that are coming in through the back of the stables and tack/feed room? What is the best way to deal with them and is it possible to do so? In the next field area they have chickens (don't belong to us) so I guess they are not helping. I haven't seen them myself but just wondered if there is something I could put down and if I do, will I end up with a load of dead smelly rats lying around - uhh!

:confused:
 
Oh dear! Now then, I do actually like rats (I must be in the tiniest population of rat-likers!) so putting poison down for me is a no-no. Plus, I would worry that the birds like owls might eat the poisoned rats? (Not sure if this ever happens). Most folk would say get a cat! I can't as OH is allergic, so we don't - and I've had rats living (they make lovely nests) in our out house. Best advice I can give is to keep all your food secure then there isn't a lot to tempt them, make sure you sweep any bits up regularly so there's nothing for 'em to nibble on. We live in the middle of nowhere and I think to a degree we'll always have rats / mice / weasels (they're currently living in the bathroom ceiling but thats another tale altogether!). Don't know how rural you are? Anyway, see what others think (I know I am soft, people will prob say set some traps!!!)
 
Thoroughly clean all areas of the stables of feed i.e. sweep everywhere and make sure you keep feed secure so rats cant get at it.

My brother-in-law has a pest control company so he has dealt with my rats in the past and wasp and bees nests.

But I dont like killing things, even rats, like Trewsers I am an animal lover, whatever it is it has a right to live as far as I'm concerned. He has drowned my rats before and shot them which I found very distressing.

So, now I just make sure no food is left around for them. Once storerooms are clean the rats will go elsewhere to find food. I must give mine another clean as standards have lapsed recently and I have noticed the little buggers creeping back, but that's my own fault!
 
Yes, I think if you give everything a good sweep regularly then there isn't anything to tempt them. During the winter we get mice in the hay room - its funny - they leap about! I do quite like them (I know you're not supposed to!). I think they come in from the cold.........Don't see much of them summertime.
 
I prefer to use Humane Traps and then kill them, they are vermin not pets! our YO uses Poison which I don't like, you find them wandering about half dead and then have to hit them over the head with something to put them out of their misery, my job as everyone else runs a mile wether they are alive or dead! I am currenty trying to find a way of removing a pile of the blue poison coated seeds that some brightspark has put inbetween the wood outer and inner of my little ones stable, he can't reach it but if it gets knocked onto the floor then knowing him he will! think the hoover is the only way I am going to get it out, been there a couple of weeks and they have only just thought to tell me - you can't see it unless you stand on something to look into the void.

We got some metal bins to store the feed in, I left a bag of feed out mid winter and they ripped and scattered it overnight completely wasted at my expense - so I have no qualms in killing them, just the way its done. We live in Rural Area so never without them its a case of keeping the numbers down.
 
I don't know of how to treat the problem but if you decide to put down rat poison then just be careful of any dogs or other free roaming animals you may have.

A livery on our yard just had her dog die as it ate some of the rat poison our YO has put down. Not very nice.

Also, apparently (and it's just a rumour my father in law told me!) rat poison actually acts as a blood thinner & because rats regularly bump into things & cut themselves, they just end up bleeding to death. How true this is I don't know, but also worth considering if you're going to use it.... *ewwww*
 
When i used to work at the riding school they used to put sugar beet down with treacle over it tomake it sweet. Done know how effective this was but seeing how much sugatbeet expands i wouldnt like to think what it would do in its stomache :confused:
 
think the chickens next door are probably the problem and not much you can do about that. We are in a very rural area but are one of the few farms that dont get over run because our JT is a rat/mice killing machine!:p Usually only see the odd one for a few hours and then he usually finds it , crushes its neck and drops it at our feet wagging his little stumpy tail!:)

Please, please dont put poision down - far too much risk to other animals and wild life.

Do you know anyone with a feisty JR that you could maybe shut in the tack/feed room overnight?
 
my mother-in-law runs a pest control company, if it was just the one i'd say poison it but if you have loads coming in your best bet is to clean up where they're getting in make sure there is no feed anything like that they can get to then block the holes they are getting in through. Cement is your best bet but you could use wire wool and expanding foam but be aware they can and will chew through both to get to food.

You very rarely get rid of every rat/mouse in places like yards but you should be able to stop them being a pest

ETA: if you do decide to poison make sure you get proper bait boxes not just trays with loose grain in them to minimise the chance of some poor cat or dog eating it. Rodents normally go back to their nest to die so arn't often eaten by other animals
 
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im afraid we use poision to keep them at bay, works very well

any infestations we seal them in and go in with a gun and shoot them mostly

also have rat killing dogs

but good hygiene is best weapon
 
I used to have a rat problem , probably not helped by keeping chickens too. we used to look out of the window on an evening and watch them running around everytime they set the security lights off

I put an ultra sonic rat/mouse repeller in my tack room and havent seen a single rat or chewed up feed back since

I bought it off ebay for about £7.00
 
A few hidden piles of sugarbeet pellets - not shreds - and a bowl of water nearby. Not particularly pain-free, but no poison involved if anything should take a fancy to some dead rat for tea. As well as that, keep your place absolutely clean and with vermin-proof feedbins. There is no guarantee you'll ever be rat-free with chickens next door, but there are poison-free options.

I've always wondered what people do once they have a rat in a live-trap. It is illegal to let them loose on someone else's property, so how do you dispose of them? :confused:
 
Hi

Where as i dont like poisening any living thing, i had rats down the garden burrowing into chicken run, i did some research and came accross eradibait(sp) got some off ebay, kills rats but is supposed to be pet and wildlife friendly ie wont harm your dog /cat or residant hedgehog!
x
 
Luna Corona said:
A few hidden piles of sugarbeet pellets - not shreds - and a bowl of water nearby. Not particularly pain-free, but no poison involved if anything should take a fancy to some dead rat for tea. As well as that, keep your place absolutely clean and with vermin-proof feedbins. There is no guarantee you'll ever be rat-free with chickens next door, but there are poison-free options.

I've always wondered what people do once they have a rat in a live-trap. It is illegal to let them loose on someone else's property, so how do you dispose of them? :confused:
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Into a Bag and batter them with a shovel and onto the compost heap, quick and clean no lingering death.
 
Call me crazy, but can you not block the places they get in with metal sheeting overlaid with wood? I would put down poison, I'm afraid, having seen a friend go through Weil's Disease this year.:(
 
DON'T use poison, it has a knock on effect on other animals...

a small dog is an effective deterrent, as is keeping all feed stuff in metal bins with secured lids
 
SORRY, but i use poison in a bait box! There was droppings of poo all over my hay and rugs and with 2 small children something had to be done. It is placed well away for any child/dog/cat access. Very effective solution. I cant stand the dirty little devils, and if they didnt invade my space then I wouldn't have to erradicate them.
Also know of a horse that died from rat poo and wee in the hay !!!!!!!!!! . . . it was an horrific death .
 
Poison in a drainpipe which is situated on observed runs works well and no danger of dogs etc eating it.

Failing that a good stable cat, semi wild (not pet) worked for me, I used to only put the boring dry food down for it, it was a wonderful hunter. No rats or mice for half a mile. Actually it also ate ducks and anything else it could catch too :o
 
cinammontoast said:
Call me crazy, but can you not block the places they get in with metal sheeting overlaid with wood? I would put down poison, I'm afraid, having seen a friend go through Weil's Disease this year.:(
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I can quite understand your concern, I do think about Weil's disease too - I know at the end of the day, they are vermin and riddled with disease:( How is your friend? I know its a very serious illness. Just out of interest, did she contract the disease through a bite or just an open wound that got infected? (Sorry if I sound mega nosey:o)
 
A big mean stable cat....had a rat once, and I mean once, never seen sight of another since Chaos starting sleeping in the stables during the day.
 

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