Moved chicken feed

[SaltwaterChickInn]

The rats will climb down into it, they run along the ceiling of our run

The rats can’t fit through the hardware cloth, but we’re assuming the mice squeeze through is how they get in….there’s no other way they can get in other than squeezing through the tiny hardware cloth. Unless the mice can walk like a spider upside down across the ceiling (there’s nothing to grip) then we should be ok. Plus they would have to propel their way down the bucket handle and bucket then still have no access to the feeding tray which is also suspended inward under the bucket….but we shall see what happens

 

[Fontaine]

Thank you everyone. I’m moving the food back into the run. My husband found a way to suspend the food from the ceiling (which is plywood) where only the chickens will be able to reach and eat (rodents aren’t tall enough) hopefully this solves our problem.

I also thought hanging the feeders was the answer to keeping rodents away, I hung the feeders away from the coop but the chickens spill so much food from the feeder. It still attracts rodents. I take the feeders in at night, but there’s still plenty of food on the ground for the rats.

 

[tlcmurphy]

The rats can’t fit through the hardware cloth, but we’re assuming the mice squeeze through is how they get in….there’s no other way they can get in other than squeezing through the tiny hardware cloth. Unless the mice can walk like a spider upside down across the ceiling (there’s nothing to grip) then we should be ok. Plus they would have to propel their way down the bucket handle and bucket then still have no access to the feeding tray which is also suspended inward under the bucket….but we shall see what happens

Our rats get in through the stupid tiny gap between the corrugated roof and the hardware cloth wall. I wish you luck!

 

[SaltwaterChickInn]

Our rats get in through the stupid tiny gap between the corrugated roof and the hardware cloth wall. I wish you luck!

You’re right so we nailed plywood down sealing the whole top then affixed the corrugated roof on top of that…so there’s absolutely no way they can enter through the top (unless they chew through the plywood) but I’m hoping all these extra steps we’ve taken will eliminate the problem. I realize the best thing is to remove the food each night and put it back early in the morning but sometimes we don’t have that option so we’re trying to utilize the automatic feeder. Those nasty critters seem to find a way in but we shall see. Thanks.

 

[Debbie292d]

I've had my feed in the coop for 30 years & only once had a problem with rats. Rats will definitely get it in the run.

Same here. We have no run. But only 7 years.

Once had a rat from the farmer across the road. Our border collie must've sensed the one in the coop and went in and got it. Never had one since. That was a couple of years ago.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Thank you everyone. I’m moving the food back into the run. My husband found a way to suspend the food from the ceiling (which is plywood) where only the chickens will be able to reach and eat (rodents aren’t tall enough) hopefully this solves our problem.

It won't solve the problem. Rats can jump three to four feet high. Look up Howard E.'s posts on dealing with rodents. The short version is you use one of three methods, sanitation, exclusion, or elimination. Sanitation, treadle feeders, bulk feed in metal cans, all avenues of approach cleaned up to force the rodents out into the open so natural predators can get at them. Exclusion, Fort Knox coops. Elimination, poison and traps. Each method has costs, sanitation $, exclusion $$$, elimination $ is never ending.