The downside of smallholding - GRAPHIC - the rats are back and killing the quail

Not for the faint hearted but a realistic view of smallholding. Where you have animal feed you have rats. Where you have small birds, the rats are the predator and the quail are their prey.
A normal night of chores takes a sad turn of events and in to a rat hunt after discovering dead quail in our pen.

[@djbisho]

I had 5 small quail, only a couple of weeks old, in the brooder... until tonight. I've just arrive home from work & was about to clean my quail brooder. I changed the water but the quail didn't come out from under the heating pad, which I thought was unusual. I looked under the heating pad and thought they were sleeping in strange positions. I lifted the lid slightly - and saw a rat chew on one of them. I quickly put the lid back down on the brooder & went to get something to kill the rat. After I took care of the rat I lifted the heating out to find all the baby quail had been killed. I learnt an important lesson. I also discovered how upsetting it is to have these poor little birds terrorised and killed by a damn rat. Thanks for sharing your experience - I totally get how you feel.

[@OurSmallholdingAdventure]

So sorry for your loss. It’s awful to see and they are relentless. Take care

[@ApiaryManager]

They say you're never more than 9 feet from a rat anywhere you go. I had a batch of growing quail killed by (what I presume to be) a rat. I found the bodies of 10 inside the cage and the remains (feathers) of at least 6 more scattered around the garden back in the Spring. Fortunately, I had hatched lots and had another batch not far behind them in the brooder. I was told not to use chicken wire because rats/mice can squeeze through the holes. I notice on the video that you had 1 * 1/2" galvanized mesh on the ground but rats will still get in unless it isattached all the way around. I use j-clips every couple of inches but anything similar will do the job. When I lost those quail I THOUGHT they were completely enclosed but I had run short of 1/2 * 1/2 mesh when I made the cage and had used high-tensile bird netting on one side (intending to replace it when I bought more mesh - I forgot about it. Now, I am using plastic-coated 18 gauge 1 * 1/2" aviary mesh. I've had no problems since then.

[@mariajackson7024]

Hi guys, I’m having the same problem at my allotment, can’t put anything into the greenhouse because of all of the tunnels and everything gets eaten, it’s a total nightmare, was hoping to put my chickens up there but worried sick because of all the rats, so sorry guys but I’m so glad that you show this side of smallholding, fingers crossed you get it sort hun x

[@piposanchez]

Sorry for your loss. I recently took up raising quail as well, it's been a month and it's been going pretty well. Hatched 5 chicks (only 3 made it so far), but yesterday I noticed one of my favourite hens was missing. 4 were left instead of 5. From the start I've been recording them 24/7 in order to monitor + watch even when I'm away. So I spent hours looking through 3 days worth of footage before figuring it out. I thought it might be rats because I saw them pop in and out of view, but a couple of days later one attacked. There were 2 quail that were very docile and friendly, which is why I liked them so much, but it meant that they werent that bothered when the rats came in to steal their food. At one point, one of the rats leaped 50-100cm at the quail, tussled for a bit, and dragged it under the compost pile to it's nest. I lifted it up last night to check what was going on under there and saw her half eaten corpse in the nest. I destroyed it but left the bird to bait future rats. I've got my rifle at the ready and will be building many rat traps. Lesson learned. Aviary has to be built like fort knox with traps surrounding it. I've also set up motion detection on the perimiter (before I was getting pinged constantly and so ignored it while I was home).

[@OurSmallholdingAdventure]

Oh I’m so sorry to hear this. You’ll see on one of our videos we have had the same problem with rats. Evil they can be. I hope you get sorted and yes, Fort Knox!

[@cindyfriend7290]

I woke up this morning to two dead Quail. So heartbroken. I will have to go and find the weak points. And see how and where. Thank you for your video It's very helpful

[@OurSmallholdingAdventure]

Oh we are so sorry to hear that. It’s awful. Hope you get sorted

[@joejames8797]

Hi Tracy No need to apologize. This is real life smallholding. Tommy

[@malcolm.703]

Hi, I think if you built your chicken and quails pens above ground about 4’, you take the walk way down at night to stop predators getting inside , and it would stop them digging under the coups would be a good idea, with the rat holes, block the entrance and exit holes, and flood them with water, hope this helps. From an old country boy.

[@OurSmallholdingAdventure]

Thank you for your insight! Great ideas and we appreciate you watching

[@paddockprojects5037]

Totally agree with keeping up on the rat control. We use bait box’s which keep the numbers really low, Gutting to see the damage they do,

[@elegantsufficiency2866]

Urgh, I'm so sorry. That's awful to have to deal with. Thank goodness you've got a pair of good ratting dogs.

[@benjobling6861]

Super helpful video but bloody awful having to look for this video 📹

[@OurSmallholdingAdventure]

Sorry to hear that 😔

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I can strongly recommend Fenn traps for rodent control if used in artificial tunnels. We have a private video on how to make these if you would like to see it? If so shoot us a message. There are also some rodenticides available which do not carry a secondary poisoning risk. They are professional use only but you can do a couple of online courses to qualify to use them. You know how to reach us if you want to know more 😉

[@julietempleton66]

We use Fenn traps, our feed shed is on a base of 10 inch deep chunky gravel but they still get in. We set them up on mass in the shed and so far we have caught 11, mainly large females, so far. We keep the door secured at all times for the sake of the dogs and cats. We have also done the online course which is pretty straight forward and will use as a last resort. They do terrible damaged and hate when they take birds.

[@bob.fagg-bois657]

It`s good to see that you have the right dogs for the job, the word terrier from what i`m told means "dog of the earth" and farming is working the earth.

[@lifebreadbakeryandminifarm2834]

I am fighting this myself. 6 quail dead in one night. Mine are off the ground and they still figure out how to pull their heads through the wire

[@OurSmallholdingAdventure]

It is simply awful :( we have lost all of ours now

[@BloosSelfReliance]

You gotta do what you gotta do in the end. I'm originally from Australia we have no qualms in dispatching rodents. I've seen first hand what a mouse plague can do let alone a rat infestation so you do you guys and protect yours xox

[@prepperinireland2240]

I'm really sorry, guys. I keep hens and also have rat trouble. I'm sorry if this upsets others but this is hard experience talking...I found safe spaces to put down tamper proof bait boxes and poison. Rats are crazy intelligent...here, they quickly learned to avoid the humane traps I put down. I also tried the choc spread and plaster of paris...it took a few til they wised up to that. I am always very careful to keep food sources etc to a minimum but it's the birds they're after. I keep my hens in a stone and concrete barn. The rats eventually tunnelled UNDER the concrete floor! Obviously with poison you will find dead rats you must expose of quickly and safely so nothing else is hurt by eating them. Here in Ireland there is a brand of rat poison that kills the rats the same day, so most of the time I find the bodies near the bait box. No, it's not an ideal solution but we're gardening and raising meat and egg hens for survival here. So we gave up "feeding" our chicks to the rats and it works. This is just my experience though and most will not use poison. But it CAN be a safe and efficient method. Best of luck in the future. I hate rats, I know they're canny and tame ones make great pets etc. But in smallholding you have to protect your own food sources.

[@asmallholdinginwales]

We have traps down constantly rats and mice a real problem,

[@OurSmallholdingAdventure]

It's a never ending battle for how quickly the reproduce isn't it, especially as won't use anything that could harm the other animals.

[@kennethnormanthompson2740]

What sort of people have issues getting rid of rats?

[@OurSmallholdingAdventure]

Indeed!

[@electricdixie34]

I HAD 23 2 week old and last night rats have taken 7... I'm gutted...and cought a rat in the humane trap which I drowned

[@OurSmallholdingAdventure]

So sorry to hear this. We’ve lost all of ours now 😞 so I know how awful losing them is

[@electricdixie34]

They only been in over night...found ripped out feathers

[@thaliahelene]

So sorry you’re having rodent issues. Good job doing them in.

[@elizabethdoucet1271]

These are predators

[@oc7414]

More likely a stoat

[@OurSmallholdingAdventure]

Thanks for watching

[@ridermacleod423]

Just as likely to be a rat. Rats killed all of mine in one night