Chickens and Rats

I mentioned in another thread that my family use to keep a few chickens during WW2 and this poultry was kept on ground that my family owned adjacent to where they lived. The chickens were retained throughout WW2 and into the late 1940's before being disposed of at sometime between the late 1940's and early 1950's. The one problem that my family found, with keeping chickens, was that they tended to attract rats and, unsurprisingly, this was to the area of ground where the chickens were kept. Every effort was made to control the rat population, but despite every effort, the problem was never fully overcome while my family owned chickens.

After my family disposed of the chickens the problem of the rats continued and despite every effort the problem of the rats was never overcome while my family lived at the property.

Wind forward 60+ years and I happened to visit the area and by chance got chatting to the owner of the modern property that now sits next to the area of ground where years ago my family once kept chickens. The chap went on to tell me, in the course of conversation, that he was having problems with rats from over the fence and despite every effort couldn't get rid of them. I explained to him that my family once kept chickens there and we couldn't get rid of the rats either.

Pay the piper? :D Or try ultrasound?

Or maybe this? Nonsense? The Royal Family thought enough of the matter to retain this gentleman's services for several generations.

Speaking of rats, someone explain this.

"There are more things Horatio..."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Surpmil

Speaking of rats, someone explain this.

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Strangest damm thing, looks like a hobby for someone that needs to get out more.

Chicken feed, or any animal food for that matter, will attract rats and mice. A long term problem with chicken feed is that I can grow and produce new food sources for rodents and other foragers. Also, vacant land tends to accumulate rubbish, some of which may be food for rodents. Whether that is the case or not, once a rodent population becomes established in a locality, it tends to nest there and roam for food sources. One can see the same thing with foxes as well raiding people's gardens and urban areas from adjacent bushlands.

One suggestion is to have traps set out in the vacant land, and then keep it well tended (grass mowed and rubbish free).

IR system on a scope mounted air rifle makes short work of rats and other vermin and is much fun

My family tried to control the rat population, in the 1940's, with a No3 Garden Gun, I believe.

As an aside, on the same piece of land as the chickens, just after WW2 my family decided that it would be a good idea to "buy a cow" so that we could have fresh (raw) milk. Unfortunately, this proved to be a very unproductive enterprise as the cow didn't produce a drop of milk. Eventually the cow was returned to the vendor as being "unfit for purpose". It later transpired that the cow in question had only ever been milked by machine and cows that have only been milked by machine, apparently, don't take kindly to attempts to be milked by hand.

Quality Ultrasound devices work well, it really seems to disrupt and disturb them, equivalent to having a neighbour who plays his stereo flat out 24/7 for us, they generally move off within a week...

My family and me have kept many a bird from outdoor avery, chickens and indoor pets. Yes their food will attract rats. The best anti-rat devise was a Carin Terrier, always on alert and kept them away. We had a black lab that did a pretty good job, but she would ignore the Coopers Hawk sitting at the chicken coop door. I did have few rats as pets in my younger days, but I learned to dispatch the outdoor pest type as a necessity.