I’m thinking of going for the air rifle route, we’ve got chickens and have had a number of rat problems over the years and it’s flared up again. Have used poison in the past but don’t like it as I have seen rats suffering in pain whilst they die from it.

I have an electric trap but it didn’t get any rats. Worked well with mice though.

I could set up a good back stop and lay bait out to shoot them safely. Been a long time since I last used a gun and not sure what to buy. More research required.

Don’t know what your budget is supersessions but I would consider a Weihrauch HW30 in .22 calibre. Excellent build quality, crisp trigger and very accurate. It generates sufficient muzzle energy (>8 foot pounds) to cleanly despatch rats at ranges up to 15m. It’s also light in weight. I d recommend RWS Hobby pellets. They are good quality and are flat headed to give efficient energy delivery into the target.

Ive had good success with the victor spring rat traps. Peanut butter or Nutella on em

Get a rat cage to trap them then just drown them, then buy a plug-in pest repeller, they work by sending a signal through the electrical wires in the house that disturbs rodents so they move on and don’t nest nearby, the problem with poison is the rats can die where you can’t get to and start stinking, there was a dead one that stunk my loft out, I had to pull up all the insulation to find it. Since buying a plug in repeller from toolstation I’ve never had another rat.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cq7s

This thread contains some recommendations for methods of killing rats which may be considered cruel, ie drowning.

Here are some links to useful information about dealing with rodents.

I hope it helps

https://www.rspca.org.uk › Living+with+Rats+and+Mice+(13.06.2017).pdf

https://www.ufaw.org.uk/downloads/welfare-downloads/guidance-on-humane-control-of-rodents-feb2509v19.pdf

Poison is a horrible way to kill a rat.
We have chickens like some of the other posters, and rats are pretty much mutually inclusive. Luckily they are a long way from our house, but they are still capable of causing significant damage (they’ve caused a fair amount to the wiring in my car)

I refuse to use poison because a) it’s indiscriminate(we have all sorts of other things living in our garden), and b) it’s not a humane way to kill a rat in any way.
Cage traps/drowning is just as bad imho.
I’m using snap traps at the moment in boxes but they’re only catching smaller ones, and I’ve had a particularly nasty incident where it appears it trapped the leg of one, which it then gnawed off to escape…
Seriously looking at one of the GoodNature ones now.