feeding them away from your hen house would only have a very short term positive effect if any at all. in the long run, you simply encourage an unnatural and unsustainable population to form that is dependent on being fed. it will ultimately result in having an even bigger problem with your coop. ultimately, for a smallish coop/run, hardware cloth is the only best bet. the good news is that 1/2" keeps out breeder sized rats, but you have to go wall to wall and across the ceiling with no gaps more than a half inch, and down into the ground 24" at a 45 degree angle away from the coop. if the run is large, then sealing the main coop where they are locked at night with hardware cloth and using electric fencing for the rest should do the trick or at least help minimize losses to a manageable level. both my runs are completely covered, sealed like an envelope and I have zero loss to predators even though I have many of them that circle the coop and mark it with their musk. we have coons, possum, rats, coyotes, bald eagles and hawks. Our birds would not survive one night outside our coop and yet I do not feel that I am at war with all those critters salivating along the perimeter. we have learned to coexist, at least for now.
