Anti-Rat Coop??? Scared and confused.....O.O

[lifelight]

HELLO,

Rats chew on bones for calcium just like dogs. Rats are used for pets in China,
food in some countries, they burn hair of them with a welders torch and even
in Thailand they even eat bats.

You know in New York City,NY,USA you can't have chickens, but, I bet there are some
that catch and eat rats (FREE RANGED RATS

) , and that might not be too healthy either.

You know I don't hate rats, or animals because they are just hungry too. Often
times when we are eating chicken legs or chicken meals, or beef we have
in fact killed that chicken or cow, even if we bought by the store because
we enacted the supply and demand law when we bought it at the store.

WOW,

 

[lifelight]

LOCKDOWN >>>>>> the coop, you know I am NOT going to lock up my chickens at night. I am going to supply them with a
coop they can fly into and sleep at night. My floors are hardcloth or wire small so the poop is self cleaning. The reason i am not going to lock up my chickens is because I AM THEM TO BE FREE, AND EXPERIENCE QUALITY OF LIFE WITHOUT FEAR

.

I raise up extra birds because something might happen to some of them, old age, fox, rat, owl there is always something out there.
You chicken could get sick locked up to much, the feet in a dirty cage is nasty.

Open up the coop and LIBERATE your birds, HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE LOCKED_UP all day?

No way,

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Hmmmmmm. Should we open up all the zoo cages and let those animals run free, too? Sorry, i lock my birds up at night to protect them and keep them safe. They are out in protected pens every day, pecking, dirt bathing, enjoying themselves. They free-range only under my protective watch. When you take on the care of an animal, it is your duty to protect them from harm, as best as you can.

. . . and as for fear, you will never eliminate fear from a chicken. It's a natural instinct that protects them from harm.

 

[Zahboo]

We had a major mouse problem. Best thing I ever did was get rid of the wood pile. I don't allow things to sit on the ground anymore. I created a platform for the construction materials so they couldn't hide under the wood. Keep the grass cut and get a terrier. My little Cairn/Yorkshire eats them. Prevention is key. We have kinda got ours under control now. Keep feed off the gound, and be careful using poisons.

 

[halo]

Quote:
Okay....well just understand that their quality of life will be very short, and that when they are torn apart by a raccoon or a dog, they will experience plenty of fear.

I lock up my chickens every night. All 100 (or so) of them. And they free range every afternoon when I can keep an eye on them.

Hope you're raising lots of extras.

 

[Zahboo]

Um.... I'd like to be locked up rather than carried off by a hawk. Just because they are secure doesn't mean they are miserable. At least they don't have to stare at the sky 24/7 worriying about hawks
Quote:

 

[whillo]

Wow lifelite, where do you live that you have no predators? No dogs? Nothing to kill your birds? If I didn't lock my girls up at night, I would have no girls. Buying more girls doesn't seem like a solution for the ones that become some critter's lunch.

 

[Zahboo]

Quote:

 

[halo]

Ive seen some rat evidence in my barn, and Ive been thinking how to handle it. Im scared of poison, but it seems like the only solution. I have a 7 x 12 covered kennel that I have a few birds in. That seems to be where the rats are munching down the most; feed is gone in the morning, and rat turds are in the feeder. So I think what Ill do is take my dog crate, in which no chickens can get into, and put the crate in the kennel. Ill put some rat bait in the feeder, and put the feeder in the crate. First thing in the morning, Ill go out there and take what bait is left (hopefully it will be taken) out of there, and remove the crate for the day. I think that will solve the problem of how to put out poison without harming any of my precious creatures.

Actually if I put those few birds in the free range pen, I wouldnt have to put the crate in there, I could just close the door, and no one could get in there. Hmm...gotta think about that.

 

[seminolewind]

I am almost rat proof. I may get a rat once a year. It depends on sealing up all holes and looking for signs. My shed, some people do use hardware cloth on the floors. You have to seal up all entrances to the coop, even along the roof. My run is all hardware cloth with an apron and hardware cloth ceiling as well. And has an apron flat on the ground all around, and all around the bottom of the coop. If I see ANY evidence of a rat, I put snap traps out, I use the plastic ones with a toothed jaw because it is totally non touch, food goes in thru a hole/cup on the bottom, and you just squeeze the trap open to drop the rat in the garbage. I also keep a rat trap with bait available away from curious chickens just for an added warning to me. When I clean the coop, I look for holes, and I haven't had any yet.

So I haven't seen any evidence in a year. I can't say I'm rat proof, but I am near rat proof.