Advice on rats and building a new coop?

[1chip2chicks3cheeks]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I really just want to get my chickens away from where the rats are, and build something more rat proof. Then hopefully we could focus on getting rid of the rats in that portion of the yard without the chickens having to be in the middle of it. We have a huge 5 acre yard so putting them on the other side in a more secure coop and run, I’m hoping would work just to get them away from it all and so we can move on and progress in terms of making the chicken work more efficient. I have come up with a drawing of what I think would work for us just as a general coop/run layout. No real details for how it will be built, just the general idea. I mainly need to think about how I want the inside of the coop to be setup, and what predator proofing ideas to implement. For under the roosts, I’m wanting to do the floor screen idea where the poop falls through and below the coop. That seems to be the most efficient way to do it, not much cleanup involved. But does anyone know if that method would attract rats or if the screening could be a weak point? I think it would be fine as long as it’s watered in or scooped up, but want to hear other opinions.

Welcome to BYC.

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

We’re in northern Florida.

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.

Our neighbors are quite far away. There’s 5 acres between us, but we had a new neighbor buy the property and build between us, so I don’t know if they have rats too or not. That does sound fun for the dogs! We love animals though, and we really don’t want to make the rats suffer if we don’t have to. We want to be humane about it as best we can. I don’t like using the poison but it seems to be the only thing that’s worked so far, even though it’s still not really working. Having the pest control company come out hasn’t really done much either

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.

That’s a great idea, we haven’t thought of that. We have found quite a few nests before. We’ll have to get some dry ice and try that next time we find one.

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

where do you get that many peppers?! :O

 

[samanthaoverton]

Rodents can breed when their under a month old..and your neighbors horse stables says it all...that's probably where they're coming from. They need to fix THEIR problem for you to be able to fix yours. Old farmers had cats for a reason. Get you a catzilla...maybe more then one...

 

[1chip2chicks3cheeks]

Rodents can breed when their under a month old..and your neighbors horse stables says it all...that's probably where they're coming from. They need to fix THEIR problem for you to be able to fix yours. Old farmers had cats for a reason. Get you a catzilla...maybe more then one...

Our neighbor does have barn cats, but they still have rats, apparently. I also forgot to mention the new neighbor that moved in between us also has horses too, so they may also have rats. But we are all separated from each other, each 5 acre lots, so I don’t know how likely it is that they’re all the same colony. We don’t necessarily want cats right now because we already have too many animals to care for as it is, maybe in the future but I don’t think it’s the right time for us to take in more animals.

 

[3KillerBs]

where do you get that many peppers?! :O

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.

 

[Flockincrazy]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I really just want to get my chickens away from where the rats are, and build something more rat proof. Then hopefully we could focus on getting rid of the rats in that portion of the yard without the chickens having to be in the middle of it. We have a huge 5 acre yard so putting them on the other side in a more secure coop and run, I’m hoping would work just to get them away from it all and so we can move on and progress in terms of making the chicken work more efficient. I have come up with a drawing of what I think would work for us just as a general coop/run layout. No real details for how it will be built, just the general idea. I mainly need to think about how I want the inside of the coop to be setup, and what predator proofing ideas to implement. For under the roosts, I’m wanting to do the floor screen idea where the poop falls through and below the coop. That seems to be the most efficient way to do it, not much cleanup involved. But does anyone know if that method would attract rats or if the screening could be a weak point? I think it would be fine as long as it’s watered in or scooped up, but want to hear other opinions.


We’re in northern Florida.

Our neighbors are quite far away. There’s 5 acres between us, but we had a new neighbor buy the property and build between us, so I don’t know if they have rats too or not. That does sound fun for the dogs! We love animals though, and we really don’t want to make the rats suffer if we don’t have to. We want to be humane about it as best we can. I don’t like using the poison but it seems to be the only thing that’s worked so far, even though it’s still not really working. Having the pest control company come out hasn’t really done much either


That’s a great idea, we haven’t thought of that. We have found quite a few nests before. We’ll have to get some dry ice and try that next time we find one.

where do you get that many peppers?! :O

I grow them

 

[1chip2chicks3cheeks]

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.

So dried pepper will work too?

 

[Flockincrazy]

So dried pepper will work too?

Yes just smash and add a little water

 

[3KillerBs]

So dried pepper will work too?

It seemed to work on the voles.

I ground it up, dumped it down the holes, and dusted the ground around the plants I was trying to protect.

 

[1chip2chicks3cheeks]

Pictures of the current setup, don’t laugh! Pretty much just have runs for coops. The gray coop nesting boxes are blocked off because we just started keeping a serial broody hen in there to break her. You can see the netting I put up to section off the different groups of roosters that will get along and give the girls their own space for the time being. The picture of the wood line is because the rats have infested that entire strip of brush. On the other side of it is a road, so it’s a skinny strip they’ve infested plus our entire chicken area.

 

[perkolator]

IMO the whole thing looks fine, it just needs hardware cloth barrier to keep them out - even just doing the bottom perimeter with a skirt and maybe up about 3ft - maybe with a bent outward "lip" at the top of it they can't easily climb past, if you're not doing all the way up the walls and over the top. That there might be enough to make a sizeable impact on them getting inside.

I'd also consider getting some of those self-resetting rodent traps, such as the "walk the plank" and "barrel roll" traps and leave those out. There's a guy on YouTube with a whole channel of rodent traps and he's got great tips on baiting them and whatnot so you can get lots of them.

Rats were a big reason I built a new coop, because in my area they'd bring in the rattlesnakes; also I just hated the old setup. Before I built the new coop, I used traps and got many, but the pellet gun I got specifically for this issue was the most fun for me. Current coop has zero evidence of rodents getting into the coop as the 1/2" HC holes are the biggest gaps I have anywhere on the whole structure.

Good luck