Advice on rats and building a new coop?

[1chip2chicks3cheeks]

Hi everyone!

So, it is embarrassing to admit but our chicken coop/run just isn’t working at all. We have been wanting to build a new, more efficient coop but have put it off for a long time because we have a rat problem. We’ve probably had rats for over a year by now, and no matter what we do they won’t leave. We’ve tried all kinds of things. We’ve been cleaning up the food every night, and they even have treadle style feeders now too. We’ve put out chicken safe poison, and even have resorted to poison that isn’t safe for chickens (in bait stations so chickens can’t get to it, but we have to watch for dead rats, which we rarely see anyway).

I haven’t seen it as very logical to build a whole new coop, when it’s just going to get infested with rats too, right? Or is there a way around this? Maybe a more “rat proof” coop and employing the proper methods of cleaning up food and water every night from the beginning? When we got chickens, it was really just sprung on us by other people and we didn’t have any time to really learn about chickens and caring for them before we got them. We didn’t know any better to clean up spilled food or just that we should have built something more secure instead of the Tractor Supply coops and runs they currently have. So, by building something more secure against rats and keeping things clean, would they possibly leave them alone if we built it farther away from where the rats are currently?

I’m just at a loss. I want so desperately to provide my flock with a better life. We need more hens as well, so they’re all kinda separated into groups where the roosters will get along and our hens stay with just one rooster. We don’t have the space, mainly in the coops, for more hens, so until we can build a bigger coop we can’t even get any more hens. But then it feels like we can’t build because of the rats. Is it ever possible to be free from rats when you have farm animals? I’ve spoken to my neighbor and even they have rats in their horse stables and chicken coop, so that makes me feel like it’s a lost cause. I want to fix this chicken catastrophe asap, but don’t know where to begin.

 

[Percheron chick]

Pictures of the current setup and area around the coop for starters. Get rid of any trash, compost and yard waste where they will build nests and find food. Trim back low lying branches on shrubs that provide hiding places.
Lining everything with hardware cloth, putting a roof on the run, filling all gaps with steel wool are all places to start. If you find a den, you can throw dry ice down the hole, cap the exit and you should kill anything down the hole without having to worry about secondary poisoning. Getting rid of the rats will be an ongoing job with or without the chickens.

 

[mowin]

If you build new, build with predator proofing from the ground up. My coops and run have HC aprons 18" out. The runs are covered completely in HC also. There's no gap bigger than the 1/2" square of the HC. Building this way takes time to think things out properly, something I didn't do with my first coop, and it cost me time and aggravation.

My new coop I'm planning on building this spring, has been thought out with everything I've learned the hard way, and from BYC.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

Where, in general, are you? Climate matters, especially when it comes to housing.

 

[Deezchix]

Absorbing the data...

 

[AGeese]

Where's the cats?

 

[addctd2plnts]

Rats aren't just something to put up with. They carry diseases, parasites, and cause a tremendous amount of damage! Honestly, I'd talk to the neighbor and have a pest control company come out and go to both places. There are different types of rats that live in very different places. Once the company knows what type of rat it is, they can go through both places and find where they are breeding. I'm willing to bet there's a huge colony on one or both properties. I'm not a big fan of poisons because the same poisons are VERY attractive to dogs, cats, and other wildlife, but if they found the colony and can limit the use to areas that pets can't get into, you might have to do it.

There's another option and maybe somebody here knows more about it. I hope I get this right. Here's an article on one group: https://thebark.com/content/modern-day-rat-catchers There are groups of people with Jack Russel Terriers and Rat Terriers that go for fun to "barn hunts" where rats are in tubes to protect them. Some clubs have started going to properties that need rat control and they compete by seeing how many rats each dog can kill. I assume the dogs bring the rats to them. I remember they do it at night or in the evening. Or I suppose you could get yourself 1-2 Jack Russel Terriers, if it's going to be a long term problem, and let them kill them nightly LOL Since I love dogs and LOATHE mice/rats, that's probably what I'd do. Or advertise on Craigslist for people with terriers who might want to let them hunt for an hour each evening. You would have to be careful not to get too many dogs together because terriers are known for fighting, although if they are all happily doing what comes best to them, maybe only the rats will suffer. In any case, the owners of terriers all know about the breed's tendency to fight, so they are probably prepared.

 

[calboy147]

Not sure where you are or what species of rat you are dealing with; but you will never completely rid yourself of rats. You can, with constant and near religious fervor keep the damage to a minimum.

 

[Flockincrazy]

Hi everyone!

So, it is embarrassing to admit but our chicken coop/run just isn’t working at all. We have been wanting to build a new, more efficient coop but have put it off for a long time because we have a rat problem. We’ve probably had rats for over a year by now, and no matter what we do they won’t leave. We’ve tried all kinds of things. We’ve been cleaning up the food every night, and they even have treadle style feeders now too. We’ve put out chicken safe poison, and even have resorted to poison that isn’t safe for chickens (in bait stations so chickens can’t get to it, but we have to watch for dead rats, which we rarely see anyway).

I haven’t seen it as very logical to build a whole new coop, when it’s just going to get infested with rats too, right? Or is there a way around this? Maybe a more “rat proof” coop and employing the proper methods of cleaning up food and water every night from the beginning? When we got chickens, it was really just sprung on us by other people and we didn’t have any time to really learn about chickens and caring for them before we got them. We didn’t know any better to clean up spilled food or just that we should have built something more secure instead of the Tractor Supply coops and runs they currently have. So, by building something more secure against rats and keeping things clean, would they possibly leave them alone if we built it farther away from where the rats are currently?

I’m just at a loss. I want so desperately to provide my flock with a better life. We need more hens as well, so they’re all kinda separated into groups where the roosters will get along and our hens stay with just one rooster. We don’t have the space, mainly in the coops, for more hens, so until we can build a bigger coop we can’t even get any more hens. But then it feels like we can’t build because of the rats. Is it ever possible to be free from rats when you have farm animals? I’ve spoken to my neighbor and even they have rats in their horse stables and chicken coop, so that makes me feel like it’s a lost cause. I want to fix this chicken catastrophe asap, but don’t know where to begin.

I use a hot pepper trick I use ghost peppers you take the hottest peppers you can get your hands on and crush them especially the seeds put it around your coop and run and it deters ground predators we live by the river so we get river rats (musk rats) and they don't come around anymore

 

[TXchickmum]

When we built our coop, we screened every window with hardware cloth (and tacked it between trim boards), screened the entrance door with hardware cloth (and made certain there were no gaps to the sides/top/bottom of door), and had trays underneath the feeders that were regularly emptied. We skirted the coop with hardware cloth, and buried it at a good depth underneath the ground. The feed bag was stored in a metal trash can inside the coop. We checked, daily, for droppings. In 8.5 years, there were never rats/droppings inside the coop. We also scooped the coop and run about three times, daily (which is a bit cumbersome and impractical), but it worked. We did compost, but did so with a closed bin with tiny air holes. -only thing that got in there were soldier flies which helped with the compost process. -took the lid off periodically only to rotate the compost. The place in the garden were rats tried to make a home was a raised flower bed with windsor stones. When we discovered this, we started setting old-school traps and trapping. nightly. They moved on.