Rats in the garden: bird feeders, chickens and compost

Rats in Britain live almost entirely alongside people, and in a garden they go where the food is. Bird feeders, chicken runs and compost bins are three of the most common reasons we find rats settled around a home. None of them means you have to give up the birds, the hens or the compost, but each needs managing.

01Why gardens attract rats

Rats are not fussy eaters. They will eat grain, seed, fruit, vegetables, meat and almost anything else, and they need to drink every day. A garden with a regular supply of food, water and cover, such as a shed with a gap underneath, decking, dense planting or a heap of garden waste, gives them everything they need to stay and breed.

The food is usually the deciding factor. Rats tend to move on from an area where there is nothing to eat, which is why changing how you feed birds and hens, and what goes in the compost, is more effective than anything else.

02Signs of rats in the garden

• Sightings. A rat seen in daylight often means numbers have grown, or that food is easy to get.
• Burrows. Holes of about 6 to 9cm across, often in banks, under sheds and decking, beside paths and at the base of compost bins.
• Runs. Narrow, flattened paths through grass and along fences and walls.
• Droppings. Dark and capsule-shaped, roughly 12 to 20mm long, often in small groups near food.
• Gnawing. Chewed holes in plastic compost bins, feed bins, coop flooring and fencing.

For chicken keepers, there are extra clues: feed going down faster than it should, burrows leading under the coop or run, missing or damaged eggs, and in some cases chicks taken. In compost, you may find shredded paper or plastic that the rats have carried in as nesting material, often in the lower layers, which stay warm and undisturbed while fresh scraps go on top.

03Bird feeders

• Use feeders with trays to catch spilled seed, and match the feeder to the food so seed does not fall through large ports.
• Choose no-mess seed mixes, which have the husks removed and leave far less on the ground.
• Site feeders away from walls, fences and overhanging branches that rats can climb, and fit a baffle on pole-mounted feeders.
• Only put out what the birds will finish in a day, and sweep up spilled seed before dark.
• Store bird food in metal bins with tight lids, not in the bags it came in.
• If rats are already active, stop feeding for a few weeks. It is the quickest way to make the area less attractive.

04Chickens

• Take feeders and water in at night, or use treadle feeders that only open for the weight of a hen.
• Store feed in galvanised metal bins with close-fitting lids.
• Build or repair runs with galvanised welded mesh rather than chicken wire, and bury it or turn it outwards at the base to stop rats digging underneath.
• Raise coops off the ground so there is no sheltered space beneath, or close the gap with mesh.
• Collect eggs daily and clear up spilled feed.

05Compost

• Use a fully enclosed bin or tumbler rather than an open heap.
• Stand the bin on paving slabs or galvanised mesh, because rats usually tunnel in from below.
• Do not compost meat, fish, dairy or cooked food. Stick to raw fruit and vegetable peelings and garden waste.
• Turn the compost regularly and keep it moist. Rats prefer a dry, undisturbed heap.
• Keep compost bins well away from the house.

06Is it a problem if they stay outside?

Yes. Rats in a garden contaminate feed, eggs and vegetable beds with urine and droppings, and they can carry diseases such as leptospirosis. Our guide to diseases spread by rats explains the risks. A population in the garden is also one gap away from being under the floor or in the loft, especially in autumn and winter.