Why? Here are just three good reasons.
How do I know?
I found out the hard way - there were hundreds of rats in my coop before I realised what was going on, to the extent that I dreaded going in to see my chickens each day.
I had to discover what works well to get rid of them by trial and error. There are a lot of products on the market but not all of them are effective.
So if you have rats, my aim is to make your life easier - and to keep your flock rat-free. I want to share with you what worked well for me.
This is a review of the only electric rat trap I use.
Definitely.
In my experience it's easy to set up, easy to use, works on both rats and mice, convenient for disposal of the remains - this trap has it all.
Did you know that rats can re-start their heart after an electric shock? Strange but true!
So if you're looking for a quick and safe way of killing them, you need a trap which will stop their heart - permanently. It may sound "heartless" - but isn't it better than your chickens getting ill?
I will as a matter of principle only recommend things on this site if I feel they're good value. Usually I've tried them myself or know and trust someone else who has. In this case, I've been using this trap now for well over two years, with excellent results.
If you follow my pages you'll know I award products between one and five "Golden Eggs" depending on how good I've found the product. So what do I give the electric rat trap?
A great big golden ...If you'd like to buy it and you live in America, clicking on any of the pictures will take
you to Amazon USA, who sell it at the best price I've been able to find. If you live in the UK, see this link.
Top Tip : I bought this trap after I'd dealt with quite a bad rat infestation problem in my chicken run. It takes out one rat at a time, so if you have evidence of a large number of rats you need to get them under control first. See here for options and further advice.
When I was dealing with an infestation, I learned a lot about rats and how to deal with them. In some ways, they're fascinating creatures, and knowing how they behave actually helps when it comes to dealing with them.
So here are a few practical tips.
You'll find a lot of conflicting advice about this. I've found four things that seem to work well : peanut butter, cheese, bacon bits and mashed up cat food. You don't need a lot of it - on this trap a smear will work well.
Clicking on this image will take you to its Amazon page where you can look at other reviews before deciding whether to buy.
My electric trap is placed close to a wall where I know the rats run.
I use this electric trap now as my main method of getting rid of rats, and yes, I've found it to be very effective, particularly when combined with a cat or two.
It's important to re-state, though, that I used it only after I'd spent time getting rid of a large infestation of rodents in my chicken run. Until you have the population under control this trap won't be of much use because it can only kill one at a time.
I prefer it to snap traps because of the lack of blood and gore - the body is very easily disposed of without leaving a mess behind which is a potential hazard to chickens, pets, wildlife or children.
Click on whichever flag is yours.
You will be taken to your local Amazon site where you can buy this trap. For other countries, please see your Amazon page.
Knowing whether you've got a rat infestation is the first step, and looking at other ways of dealing with them is also important.
Click on any of these images to go to whichever page you feel would be helpful to your situation.
If you're not sure which page you need, clicking on this picture will take you to an article which lists all the other pages on my site relating to getting rid of rats and mice from your chicken coop.
Each one has a link to the separate articles and a brief description of what each covers, which will help you decide where is most relevant for you to look.
Once you've decided, just click on the link to get to the page you want.
Some links on this page are affiliate links, which means that
if you purchase a product through them I receive a small commission. There is no extra cost to you. This helps me keep the information on the website free of charge. It also helps support my
family and my chickens! Because my integrity and your satisfaction are very important to me, I
only recommend products I have purchased or would purchase myself and which I believe
would benefit you. To learn more please see my affiliates disclosure document.