Rat Control

Latest Articles

Rat Control
Page Previous 1, 2

Downsizer Forum Index -> Poultry

Author

Message

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 04 3:34 pm Post subject:
have you got anything that the average back garden poultry keeper could do?

Legion

Joined: 24 Nov 2004
Posts: 170
Location: Western isles, Scotland

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 04 3:57 pm Post subject:
Many are done around my dogs and rats, I'll send you one in a pm in a mo, you can read then decide, whatever it doesnt matter, just thought it might be of interest - and no its not killing killing just info...

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 04 4:03 pm Post subject:
Ta, how come you don't call me Essex Boy any more?

DarrenG

Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 04 10:59 pm Post subject:
can I just say it NOT illegal to kill rats with dogs, I understand that there has been some confusion about this

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 04 12:31 am Post subject:
Well sometimes Darren you just can't stop them anyway can you!!

deerstalker

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 589

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 04 3:09 am Post subject:
I must admit I hate rats. You've got to respect them though. They are here because they like humans. They are here to stay because we spport them. We've shot them, trapped them, poisoned them and hunted them with dogs - but we haven't dented their numbers. Are they more successful than humans? There are more of them than us, and always will be!

DarrenG

Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 04 7:17 am Post subject:
the ultimate survivor

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 04 7:31 am Post subject:

DarrenG wrote:

can I just say it NOT illegal to kill rats with dogs, I understand that there has been some confusion about this

A well trained dog would seem to be one of the best ways.

Do you need to take any special care of a ratting dog? Extra vacinations etc and do they ever get injured?

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 04 7:38 am Post subject:

Deerstalker wrote:

Are they more successful than humans? There are more of them than us, and always will be!

At least you know where you are with a rat, better than some neighbours we have.

While I was digging up the main link I can across some investigation into rats and plague. Apparently if there is ever another large brake out of plague culling large numbers of rats will make matters worse! The fleas that carry the plague would all have to find new hosts and humans are top of their list.

Tristan

Joined: 29 Dec 2004
Posts: 392
Location: North Gloucestershire

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 04 8:57 am Post subject:
According to a friend who breeds cairns, her vet reckoned that if the dogs are reared where there are rats about, they'll develop a better resistance of their own to leptospirosis etc. than if they are vaccinated, and for puppies the dam provides her own antibodies in the milk. Guess it's best to get farm bred terriers. Tristan

Guest

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 04 11:53 am Post subject:

We had a slight rat problem and all that we did was find the run, we did this by clearing up the garden, getting rid of the leaves off the ground for example.But we didn't interfer with the nest , we had noticed that they were after the food in the chicken house ( we allways put the feeders away when we lock the birds in at night ) and we had them in the green house. So we just got those big spring traps, i wont use poison, and put one in the chicken house and one in the greenhouse. That way nothing else could get caught, and after a week of catching one or two a night we have now gone for 3 weeks and haven't caught anything.
So we have either cured the problem or they wont go near the traps !
Happy new year
Andy B

DarrenG

Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens

Posted: Sat Jan 01, 05 10:04 am Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

DarrenG wrote:

can I just say it NOT illegal to kill rats with dogs, I understand that there has been some confusion about this

A well trained dog would seem to be one of the best ways.

Do you need to take any special care of a ratting dog? Extra vacinations etc and do they ever get injured?

they must be cleaned up afterwards, and if they get several bites just give them a penicillin injection, strepto only costs about �7 a bottle .

Marigold123

Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 224

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 05 1:06 am Post subject:

Had a cat once who was taught to catch rats by the local toms. Apparently, cats chase and catch mice instinctively; the way a mouse moves stimulates a cat to pounce, but rats are more likely to walk or waddle than scurry, and so cats have to be taught to catch them by other cats, usually their mother. That's one of the reasons why a good ratter's kittens used to be prized above those of other cats.

We had two cats at the time, and the rat-catching one was forever bringing in live rats. We used to hear him early in the morning, yowling in a strange deep voice, with his jaws full of rat. We would run downstairs to try and stop him coming through the catflap, but a few did used to come in, and this was a bit of a problem for a while.

We assumed that he was bringing them in as presents, but eventually, one day, after months of this, we found the non-rat-catching cat with a dead one. We congratulated her on learning to catch rats, and that was the very last time either of them ever brought a rat into the house, alive or dead. We eventually realised that Tom had been bringing the live ones back for the other cat to practice on! Once she had learnt how to do it, he stopped bringing them in.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 05 8:43 pm Post subject:

The best way to stop rats is not to give them anything to feed off, then they won't stay long at all. Keeping any feed stores vermin proof is the easiest way (the simplest of which may be just putting any foodstuffs inside plastic or metal dustbins). It's not always possible to remove all rodent attractions, but vermin are much easier to control if you minimise the favourable conditions.

Where you want to keep pests away from certain areas, there are ultrasound/electromagnetic pest deterents. We've just bought one after hearing about it from another member of the family- and he swears by it: PestClear Anyone else tried them?

organic john

Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 95
Location: Raunds, Northants

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 05 8:55 pm Post subject:
yes i got one of those and for some reason it didnt work on ether seting i supose if rats are hungry they will keep coming ??

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Poultry	All times are GMT Page Previous 1, 2
Page 2 of 2

View Latest Posts