First time deep cleaning / rats

[FamilyofThree]

I've looked through the forum already and I'm not sure if this should be in coop maintenance or predators, but here we go with our specific situation...

After having our chickens almost a year and doing the deep litter method with a poop board under the perch, we are getting ready for our first deep cleaning. Like many others, we've been battling sneaky smart rats and haven't gotten a single one yet. (Also, there may be feas, though we encountered only one of those so far and it was successfully eradicated.) We bought those nipple waterer things and plan to install them in a hanging bucket instead of the easily rat accessible waterer we currently have. A treadle feeder is on the way since I am sure there is spilled feed we are missing in our evening tidy.

Our coop is a walk-in shed style with concrete floor under the pine chips, walls built of cinder blocks, painted solid, but with plenty of ventilation covered by hardware cloth. As far as we can tell, the vermin get in through the open door when the ladies are free ranging since there is no sign of entry any other way.

So, given this situation, what would you do in your deep clean? Would you dump the contaminated pine chip litter in the run or the compost? I plan to wear a serious mask and use vinegar for the cleaning. Any preference for white or apple cider? We have both since I use white in cleaning my house and apple cider in their water. Any other cleaning advice to combat the rats?

 

[FamilyofThree]

Just to clarify, it isn't so much the rat battle I am asking about, since there is a lot of forum material on rats already, but specifically the how to sanitize issue.

 

[aart]

If you have a poop board you shouldn't need bedding on the floor deep enough to harbor rats....are they nesting in there or just coming in to eat and drink?
Cleaning with anything 'special' will not deter predators.

 

[FamilyofThree]

If you have a poop board you shouldn't need bedding on the floor deep enough to harbor rats....are they nesting in there or just coming in to eat and drink?
Cleaning with anything 'special' will not deter predators.

Thank you so much for responding. I want to kill germs as effectively as possible without harming the chickens. The rats seem to be mostly hanging out in the eaves, right on top of the hardware cloth we had installed to keep them out! I guess I will find out if they have any nests down below when I do the cleaning.

 

[aart]

Thank you so much for responding. I want to kill germs as effectively as possible without harming the chickens. The rats seem to be mostly hanging out in the eaves, right on top of the hardware cloth we had installed to keep them out! I guess I will find out if they have any nests down below when I do the cleaning.

Are they pooping into the coop?
Some pics of your coop inside and out and where the rats are congregating might help here.

 

[Shadrach]

Oxine.
It won't deal with the rats but it's a lot more effective at santizing then apple cider vinigar.
https://www.revivalanimal.com/product/oxine-animal-health-ah

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Agree that pics would be helpful. Poop boards installation to me meant freedom from deep- litter issues. So you have both going on though? I use white vinegar in my coop for cleaning. I also have white vinegar in mason jars with orange and lemon rind. After a few months it's great to clean with that as it leaves a citrus smell instead of pickle smell I'm sure you can get the rat issue solved by first eliminating the rats, then putting control plans in place like getting rid of anything that is attractive to them - bedding, poo and feed. Personally I would not put rat poo in my garden but I would certainly spread it under trees and landscaping as mulch.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Bleach in water is the most effective sanitizing you can do. Simple and cheap- 1/3 cup bleach to gallon of water.

You won't get rid of rats until you use exterior bait boxes with chunx poison.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I wouldn't do anything specifically different to clean with a rat issue - even if you're worried about disease, the rat(s) have already been in and out of there so anything they might be carrying has already been spread around. I keep a rat trap set just outside my coop door and we do catch the occasional rat that way.

I would dump the used bedding in the run (or in compost if you prefer that).

I would NOT use vinegar in a nipple waterer, the vinegar will corrode the metal.

 

[FamilyofThree]

I wouldn't do anything specifically different to clean with a rat issue - even if you're worried about disease, the rat(s) have already been in and out of there so anything they might be carrying has already been spread around. I keep a rat trap set just outside my coop door and we do catch the occasional rat that way.

I would dump the used bedding in the run (or in compost if you prefer that).

I would NOT use vinegar in a nipple waterer, the vinegar will corrode the metal.

Thank you so much for mentioning the need to avoid vinegar in the waterer when using the metal nipples! Our previous one was all plastic so I hadn't even considered the difference in using metal.