Composters and rats

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sun_sparks

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I'm thinking of getting a composter, but the other-half thinks that it would attract rats, which he has a major phobia of.

I noticed in the Rats/Mice key thread that this can be a problem - how widespread is this? Can anyone tell me whether rats are always attracted to composters?
 
We have had three compost heaps around the place for years and never had a problem with rats.
I think if you avoid putting anything other than vegetable matter into the composter you should be ok.
 
Hoagy said:
We have had three compost heaps around the place for years and never had a problem with rats.
I think if you avoid putting anything other than vegetable matter into the composter you should be ok.
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We only put vegetable matter into ours and something, not sure what it is but judging by the teeth marks on the melon and pineapple skins - probably a rat/rats, has been dining in the composter.

It very cleverly dug a tunnel under the neighbours fence and into the composter from below, where it worked its way to the top and dinner!

Haven't done anything about it yet as we just discovered it last week, but will probably have to get some poison.
 
The Big Pig Composter might be of interest to you as it is to me though I think it is around 600 euro. There was a thread started some time ago but The big pig but it got nowhere. I have just done a search again on it and one of the threads resulting from a search of The Big Pig was " Life as an accountant " :D ( lads do you have anything you'd like to share with us ! :D ) Seriously though I would like to hear if anyone has any personal exprience of The Big Pig composter.
 
demoivre, I am the owner of a 'Big Pig'. I haven't quite made up my mind about it yet (and I am sticking with considering how much it cost).

It's a labour of love - you should cut up unwanted food into small pieces, and put in small amounts everyday, but I find it needs careful monitoring to make sure it has the right proportion of wooden pellets - generally to stop it getting too moist - it needs more pellets to dry it out.

There are two chambers - one to keep putting in stuff and the other which should be full and reaaching 'compost' - Doesn't help if other people put stuff in the wrong chamber...

Better to start in summer and be diligent - could save bin costs and give lots of compost (I hope)
 
Same problem here, sun sparks! I don't like using poison (dead rats, then cats, birds and what not..) - so I tried laying pvc coated wire mesh under the compost bin, but rats are still finding their way into the bin - I know they feast on the worms as well, so I am not too happy about the whole situation. Now, I am worried they might just eat thru they flimsy plastic of the bin itself!!

I am thinking of building a concrete platform/base to keep the composter. Composting should still work as long as I start off with some topsoil (and worms) in the bin, but I really don't want to go that far! Any suggestions?
 
The other option is to go for one of the tumbling type bins. I don't think they work as well as the others, though, because the worms and other useful creatures/organisms can't find their way into it.
 
My mum has a composter a year to two now and it has never attracted rats. She is very strick about what goes into it. Absolutely no meat or cooked foods. Maybe thats the key?
KK
 
How large a composter are you looking at getting, and what do you want to use it for? If you're going to be using it for small volumes, you could look at getting a can-o-worms.
 
Thanks for all the tips. I think normal composters sound like they could possibly attract rats, so that rules them out.

What exactly is a can-o-worms Seagull? Same thing but with added worms?? :)
 
Oh and there's only the two of us, so I would imagine we'd be getting something small enough and just using it for general waste - food scraps, etc.
 
sun_sparks said:
I think normal composters sound like they could possibly attract rats, so that rules them out.
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This is completely wrong. As mentioned before and elsewhere a composter will not attract vermin if you avoid putting meat and the like into it. Our main problem with ours is the number of fruit flies which breed in it but having researched the matter I have pinned this down to the amount of fruit scraps that we throw into it, the need for more grass cuttings/shredder paper/leaves etc. to balance the mixture, and the fact that I'm often too lazy to turn the heap regularly and to cover new fruit scraps with a layer of existing composted material to reduce the breeding activities of the flies. No problem with the number of earthworks in the heap though - clumps of them - great stuff! It's also great fun to observe the activities of the various creatures (no rats!) in the heap. Better than Big Brother or X Factor by a lon shot. :D
 
ClubMan said:
This is completely wrong. As mentioned before and elsewhere a composter will not attract vermin if you avoid putting meat and the like into it.
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We've got some sort of vermin in ours and only put fruit and vegetable peelings, paper and some grass clippings into it. There's definitely no meat or cooked food of any description - they're/it's eating the fruit peelings.

Mayby it's not a rat - would a rat have been clever enough to dig a tunnel from the neighbour's garden, under the fence, into the bottom of the composter and up to the top where the fresh peelings are?
 
Rats are highly intelligent animals, so I wouldn't put it past them to do this.

Can-o-worms is a small stacking tray wormery. You can feed it all your kitchen peelings, and the worms turn it into worm castings. Have a look at http://www.elementgreen.com/canoworms.htm for details. It's probably too small if you're planning on composting your lawn clippings.

[broken link removed] has a good introduction to composting, what is available, and where to get it.
 
delgirl said:
We've got some sort of vermin in ours ...

Mayby it's not a rat ...
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If you don't know what sort of creature allegedly inhabits your heap then it's hard to comment. All I know is that a properly maintained heap should not attract rats or mice and none that I have used have attracted such creatures. My mother's doesn't attract vermin in spite of the fact that she's close to areas that are inhabited by mice/rats (ditches/hedgerows/fields).
 
Okay, after some digging, I've discovered a possible reason we are having problems with rats/vermin:

"A common mistake people often make is to place the compost by a fence or wall at the back of the garden. This is an absolute magnet for vermin."

Ours is right beside the fence - looks like we'll have to move it. Another tip I found was to put chicken wire under the composter to stop the vermin tunnelling their way in.
 
When I set my compost bin up I was told to put chicken wire under it in order to stop rats/mice. It seems to have worked - no bite marks etc. I live right beside the canal so I would imagine there are at least mice around. That being said "Charlie" the cat is probably due more credit than he gets.

Past30
 
Useful tip re the chicken wire - thanks delgirl and Past30Now... good to know that there's a way around it.

Now I need to figure out how, in my lovely small back garden, I can move the bin away from walls or fences. Save plonking it right in the centre of the lawn, there don't appear to be any other options!!! :)
 
Ours is beside a fence/shed. My mother's is in the corner hemmed in on two sides by walls. Neither suffer from verminous visits.
 
delgirl said:
Haven't done anything about it yet as we just discovered it last week, but will probably have to get some poison.
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Er, you can't put poison in a composter otherwise the compost is useless!!
 
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