The Rat Thing

The downside of backyard chickens is the rats.

If there's free food to be had, you can pretty much count on rats. Big rats, little rats, baby rats, fast rats, slow rats, big rats, curious rats, nosey rats, aggressive rats, big rats....

We knew they were there. The holes gave them away. The compost is certainly a draw, but the free grain, free pellets, free scraps thing has entrenched them. Unfortunately, they are breeding. There are now lots of rats.

I'm not a big fan of rats. I have a rat thing.

So, I stand in the house, looking out the window, watching one, two, four or five racing around the chicken run scooping up the remnants. They are brazen.

I need them to go away, but I won't do all the normal stuff. No poison, no snap traps, no drowning. So, I'm thinking and watching.

I'm not a big fan of rats.