The rats are drawing the snakes.

[QueenMisha]

Found a 3-foot rattler coiled up inside a cinderblock behind my coop tonight. I've been battling a pretty bad rat infestation for a couple months now, I assume that's what drew him here.

2 questions:

How dangerous are rattlers to chickens? He's history now, but I'm sure if there's been one there will be more. He was in my growing pen, where I have birds ranging from 1-week old chicks to full grown bantams, and everything in between, speaking in terms of size (excluding one massive Shamo hen who towers about 1 foot above everybody else). But my growing pen and my main pen (juvenile and adult chickens, turkeys, guineas, waterfowl, and peafowl) are right next to each other, so a snake could easily move between the two pens if he was so inclined.

And what are some good ways to get rid of rats? The population is very large. I've seen 30-40, at least, often 10-20 at a time if I go out after dark. I've tried wooden snap traps (didn't work) and although poison seems like a quick solution, there are dogs and cats which free-roam the property and would easily have access to dead rats. Plus the rats are living under my coop, so if they go under there and die it would begin to smell quite badly.

 

[shortgrass]

Get rid of the rats. Rattlers want the rats... They'll eat chicks too, but I'm guessing it's the rats. Roosters will try to kill them, but you might lose a roo in the process.

Ouch, yeah, the rats are your culprits... Besides catching all the rattlers, that's all you can really do.... They don't like water in their den, though. If you find the main den, flood it for a couple days and draw them out.

Bag them up and gift them to your local wildlife or extension office; ours get a kick out if buckets of rattlers, they use them at the college.

 

[Manningjw]

The best solution for rats is to first secure your feed. There are many methods of doing this including chicken activated feeders (step on opens the feeder). My method was to simply secure the coop to be rat proof (netting any opening over 1.5" square regardless of height) and adding a door that automatically closes at night and opens in the morning. There are cheap ways of doing the automatic door, mine was a gravity based closing mechanism that used the chickens weight while roosting to close the door.

After you secure your feed and if necessary clear any potential food from your yard (IE open garbages etc) set out snap traps or bait in containers with openings small enough to prevent cats/dogs from getting in there. I used mechanical traps first to kill off a large percentage of the population then I set out poison to finish them off. Personal favorite is a pellet rifle when initially trying to curb the rat population but that isn't for everyone!

 

[Manningjw]

Oh, google tips for setting snap traps. There is a specific orientation for setting the trap that will dramatically increase your success using them. Basically you want to set them so that whatever direction they approach the bait, they will be under the jaw section of the trap and cannot approach it from behind. I have had a lot of success putting them in planters placed on their side so the rat has to approach the FRONT of the trap and will be directly in the snap line. Also, set them along walls or other objects, rats typically follow walls/boards rather than running in the open. Setting then against a wall you will want to place the back of the trap against said wall so that regardless of the direction they approach they will be in the jaw when they trigger the switch rather than just being launched across the room standing on the top of the spring.

For bait I often mix chicken feed/peanut butter and a touch of water and mash that into the teeth of the bait lever. I have also started using rice crispy treats with peanut butter in them.

 

[shortgrass]

The best solution for rats is to first secure your feed.  There are many methods of doing this including chicken activated feeders (step on opens the feeder).  My method was to simply secure the coop to be rat proof (netting any opening over 1.5" square regardless of height) and adding a door that automatically closes at night and opens in the morning.  There are cheap ways of doing the automatic door, mine was a gravity based closing mechanism that used the chickens weight while roosting to close the door.  

After you secure your feed and if necessary clear any potential food from your yard (IE open garbages etc) set out snap traps or bait in containers with openings small enough to prevent cats/dogs from getting in there.  I used mechanical traps first to kill off a large percentage of the population then I set out poison to finish them off.  Personal favorite is a pellet rifle when initially trying to curb the rat population but that isn't for everyone!  

Ah pellet rifle... My DHs favorite method lol

 

[DoubletakeFarm]

First, the snakes because they are the easiest to get rid of:

This is hands down the best way to catch a snake. Simple, cheap, effective and works great! https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/515899/best-way-ive-found-yet-to-deal-with-snake-problems. I was weeding my flower garden this spring, stuck my hand down to pull a weed and there was a HUGE snake. My husband said "which garden bed?" I said "The one I'm NEVER EVER weeding again!" So I tried this and I caught a different snake every single day for two weeks. Haven't caught one since. I walked them over to the woods and let them go, but you will probably want to do something else with the rattlers.

Now the rats:

This one's tough. Rats are smart and very hard to catch. I know everyone says to put your food up, but that's preventive maintenance. You already have rats so if you take all the food up they will find other food. Which means your chicks and your eggs. Click here if you want to spend hours reading about my saga with the rat I had. One rat. One. And it took me MONTHS to get rid of it. Long story short; I tried everything. Rat traps, live traps, mole traps, conibear traps, jack russell terrier, poisonous smoke bombs, bowl of antifreeze, probably other stuff I'm forgetting. It had tunnels dug under my barn and I found its food stash: eggs, frogs and chicks. How I finally got it: it drowned in my kiddie pool I have for the geese. So from my experience I would say the best way to get rid of the rats is make sure they don't have access to water and put some buckets out like this.

You might want to tackle the rats first since the snakes are helping you with that, or not since they are rattlesnakes. Good luck!

 

[123RedBeard]

Hungry rats are more inclined to visit a trap ... Once the rats are gone, the snakes will move on to better productive hunting grounds!

 

[QueenMisha]

Well, it looks like the problem is rather solving itself. Last night my cat brought me a 6 inch long dead rat, and she's been up at the coop every night lately. I've seen less than usual this week, too, so clearly she's making herself useful. I also got a tip that instant mashed potatoes kills them, so I'll try that out soon as well. I also put out a bucket-and-water trap. Thanks for the advice.

 

[shortgrass]

GOOD KITTY!!! :Gotta love a cat that earns its keep

Mashed potatoes? Interesting....they must stuff themselves to death? Hmmmm...weird lol

 

[QueenMisha]

GOOD KITTY!!! :Gotta love a cat that earns its keep

Mashed potatoes? Interesting....they must stuff themselves to death? Hmmmm...weird lol

Apparently they eat them then drink water and they expand and block the stomach. Or so I was told.