Rat Problem

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xspiralx

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Wondering if anyone has some good advice on what to do.

We've got a rat nest in our garden, they're really big so our cats won't kill them. They keep eating the chicken food, and of course there is always the concern that they'll attack a chicken or a cat one day, so we really need to get rid of them.

Basically I'm looking for advice on the most effective and most humane method possible, that won't cost the earth. We do have some rat poison but it seems quite a slow and horrible death and there is always a risk of other animals eating it accidentally - so does anyone have any alternatives? I was wondering about the possibility of getting someone with an experienced ratting terrier but I don't know how easy or possible that would be.

Any advice would be much appreciated! thanks
 
Possibilities are some one in the horse world will know of some one with a terrier or Ferretts. Try yellow pages that may point you in the right direction. Best bet is with the terriers or ferretts they will do there job and get it cleared
 
Terrier or poison. It only takes one dose of poison to kill a rat yet mice need lots. Another option is to smoke them out and then have terriers or a gun ready. Good luck
 
Some very old & delapidated farm buildings a couple of fields away from us were demolished and the entire rat population appeared to descend upon our yard and our neighbours yard.
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We both had poultry as well as horses. We both put poison down (Rentokil assured me that if the cats/dogs ate a rat it wouldn't poison them) but we still had problems.
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We got a terrier man with ferrets to come , they dispersed the rats rather than catching many and the rats stayed away for a while because of the ferret smell. Eventually we only had one hen left last year and we asked the neighbour to take her to live with theirs, rather than getting any more. Since not having poultry our rat problem has disappeared - I did see one set of tracks in the snow the other day but we can cope with one or two.
If you want to keep poultry I suggest you get ferrets as well and regularly excercise them around where the rats are.
Good luck, we were really fed up of rats around this time last year.
 
what my mum did was rang up our local council and as long as its a private house and garden and NOT a business they will send someone down for free, as many times as it takes to get rid of the rats. So thats what I would do first. If that doesn't work then try the ratting terrier.
 
I'd ask a friend with a terrier or poodle. We used to have labradoodles and they were hit or miss with rats, but their mother - the poodle- was a leathal ratter! I never would have expected it, but apparently poodles are very good at rat killing in general.

Ferrets also work.

So basically, my advice is get a terrier, a poodle and some ferrets. That way you are covering all bases and should hopefully have no rats. Good luck!!
 
As others have said, borrow a terrier, or yourself one
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The farm over the road closed down eighteen months ago, and last winter our yard was plagued with rats - literally swarms of them everywhere, you were tripping over them. I started taking my terrier to the yard, and he caught a few and seemed to chase the rest off.
 
My OH recommends Tomcat poison packs - put into 1 or 2ft lengths of drain pipe or similar so that other pets can't get to it and place near nest. Monitor every day, keep filling up until you're pretty sure rats are gone.

Ideally, put drainpipe in place a couple of days before putting bait in so rats get used to it and don't touch bait with bare hands as rats are clever buggers and will smell you and wont touch it.
 
As Jackos has said, smoke them out and then let the Terriers have them, best way of dealing with them quickly.
I've lived on farms alive with rats and this is by far the most effective method.
You can convert a old chainsaw to smoke them out or run a very long hose from your diesel car exhaust or whatever you have to effectively smoke them out.
Oz
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We were lucky and had murphy, the fastest mastiffx I have ever seen where rats are concerned! Our Jack russell hid her eyes and begged us not to let the nasty rats near her but Murphy was right in there and took all the big ones out in minutes. He just chomps on them once and then runs to get the next one. Ours unfortunately then moved into the walls of the stable block and we had to resort to poison for the rest. We have poultry and they definitely attract the rats! I would recommend terriers that know their job (unlike ours!!), they are so fast they can quickly clear a nest. If there are any babies you can get to then drown them in a bucket of water with a weight on the top, we found close on 50 tiny pinkies in the nest, horrible to do but better than letting them grow!
 
Thanks everyone! Sadly no chance of getting a dog ourselves, so I think if we can find someone with a terrier that will be the best option.

Will ask around the local farms, I guess someone is bound to know somebody. They are so bloody big - at least 8 inches long!
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