Advice on rats and building a new coop?

[PicklesMom]

I hear you. We have had chickens and ducks + horses for 4 years and for some reason this year the rats are out. of. control. I also hate killing things unless absolutely avoidable, and then in the most humane way possible.

We've had the best luck with the large TomKat reusable snap traps, and the goodnature trap (also on Shawn Woods' channel).

This rat contraception is one thing I haven't seen others mention. I thought the rats were gone after the fall and got lazy filling it, but I think it was working because when I got lazy with the refills they rebounded! Supposedly it has absolutely no effect on anything but rodents. https://contrapeststore.com/

 

[PicklesMom]

Those are rat predators?

I watched a hawk snag one out of the yard the other day. The ducks had looks of horror on their faces and I was cheering.

 

[Grandmoi]

Years ago in Texas we discovered an entire clan of Norway rats in and under our shed. We used water buckets with tantalizing bits of food hanging from the middle of a dowel rod secured across the top of the bucket.. rat walks across the rod and falls into the water..drowned rat. We also bought Co2 pistols and had contests...when we built our coop we tacked on a sheet of tin to the underside of the floor. Rats cannot chew through the tin, so no worries about them gnawing their way in via the floor. BTW, rats can gnaw an entry hole through any wood in just a few hours and hide in the bedding.

 

[McChooky]

You'll keep rats if you don't have predator proof coops and runs.In spite of living beside a garbage company that hauls trash in and out all day I don't have rats.

 

[1chip2chicks3cheeks]

I hear you. We have had chickens and ducks + horses for 4 years and for some reason this year the rats are out. of. control. I also hate killing things unless absolutely avoidable, and then in the most humane way possible.

We've had the best luck with the large TomKat reusable snap traps, and the goodnature trap (also on Shawn Woods' channel).

This rat contraception is one thing I haven't seen others mention. I thought the rats were gone after the fall and got lazy filling it, but I think it was working because when I got lazy with the refills they rebounded! Supposedly it has absolutely no effect on anything but rodents. https://contrapeststore.com/

This looks interesting! I’ll have to check it out!

 

[1chip2chicks3cheeks]

Thanks again everyone for all the input I have a lot to think about. New coop is still the goal, and it feels a bit like a waste of time and money to put hardware cloth all over the current coop/run, when I could be putting time, effort and money into building something totally new and better secured. Hopefully we can maintain at least for the time being with some of these other ideas!

 

[McChooky]

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.

I used cinder blocks,welded wire fencing,chicken wire,shelving,sheet metal and hardware cloth in my apron even gravel.The guy I split an order of chicks with laughed at me for going to so much trouble until predators killed his in 3 months.

 

[McChooky]

Thanks again everyone for all the input I have a lot to think about. New coop is still the goal, and it feels a bit like a waste of time and money to put hardware cloth all over the current coop/run, when I could be putting time, effort and money into building something totally new and better secured. Hopefully we can maintain at least for the time being with some of these other ideas!

Pallets are a cheap alternative ( MY 200 sq ft coop and run cost $2 sq ft) and I had enough hardware cloth left over to cover the 4 x 4 foot brooder I'm making now (electric fence charger and wire, tarp, hardware cloth, screws,locks,staples,misc )

 

[Devorah]

I didn't use ghost peppers, but I used peppers against voles in the garden.

I armed myself with a list of names, in English and Spanish, of the hottest peppers in common use then went to the grocery store that has a large Mexican aisle and bought the dried peppers in a large bag.

What did you do with them??

 

[Devorah]

I used cinder blocks,welded wire fencing,chicken wire,shelving,sheet metal and hardware cloth in my apron even gravel.The guy I split an order of chicks with laughed at me for going to so much trouble until predators killed his in 3 months.

What do you do with the cinder blocks?