Bad Rat infestation

[20andy19]

Hi,

I have/had a bad rat infestation and i am worried about my hens being infected with some sort of disease or bacteria which can pass onto me and my family. Are there any signs that Hens will show that they are sick at all from possibly eating Rat droppings or drinking water which has been contaminated?

I get around 20 eggs a day from 25 hens which i am no longer eating incase of contamination(5 are too young i i think to be laying).

I had a operation which made me have a long hospital stay and my helper didnt look after my hens as good as he had told me and let them get in a terrible state! Which id guess had attracted the rats very badly. Before my operation i hadnt seen any rat droppings,nests or even any gnaw marks on the coop. I kept it very clean as i love my little hens and enjoyed eating the eggs! In the past month iv trapped and shot nearly 50 rats and on one occasion i i shot 12 in 1 night! Iv never seen rats as big in my life, i can add pictures of the giant rats if its any help or pictures of my hens poops or anything you guys need.

I think iv managed to make my new coop very hard for the rats to get in and havent noticed any holes or gnaw marks,i used steel which is dug 1 foot deep and 1 meter above ground all around my coop which cost me a bomb!

Im just scared/worried incase my hens have already been infected/contaminated by the faeces and urine from the rats.

Do you think im over reacting? Do you guys think its fine for me to restart eating my eggs? My hens seem very happy and are laying very well since iv stopped the infestation.

Are there any minor or major signs of contamination for example my chicken poop or the behaviour of my hens?

Please anyone if you have any advice id appreciate it.


Thanks,
Andy.

 

[Criticalicious]

It's not eating the eggs you need to worry about. The eggs will be fine. You may want to wash them thoroughly (and your hands after handling them) in case of salmonella. But what you need to be worried about is when YOU clean the coop, the dust from the rodent droppings are what can carry disease. If your immune system is compromised, you may want to pay someone else to clean your coop until you recover.

 

[20andy19]

It's not eating the eggs you need to worry about. The eggs will be fine. You may want to wash them thoroughly (and your hands after handling them) in case of salmonella. But what you need to be worried about is when YOU clean the coop, the dust from the rodent droppings are what can carry disease. If your immune system is compromised, you may want to pay someone else to clean your coop until you recover.

Thanks for the reply.

I believe my immune system is back to normal but i used a respiratory mask and overalls just incase. Are there no way that any of the diseases/bacteria can get inside the egg before it is layed? I have collected 20 eggs this morning and have washed them in a light bleach solution which someone advised me. Will it be safe to eat the eggs which have been in a light bleach solution which was warm before the eggs where washed in advised by the same person that the warmth of the water makes the inside of the egg expand to prevent any bacteria getting through again could someone confirm this if you can.

On a positive note, one of my hens which had taken her self away from all the rest and was sitting on eggs has become a mother to 12 so far this morning , a further 7 are piping . Fingers crossed there hens, they are quite funky coloured which one is as a completely black colour.

 

[Criticalicious]

If the eggs are clean and your birds are healthy, the odds of catching something passed by rats to your birds is extremely low. If you're cooking the eggs properly those odds go close to zero. It sounds like you're taking all precautions. Here's a list of the 4 diseases you can catch from your chickens. Most of these have mild symptoms in healthy adults.

 

[cheekychick3]

Hi so sorry, you have had to go through what you have. It really annoys me
when you place your trust in another person, to take care of your flock. While you
was having operation. Because it was you, and your flock that suffered not them.
What a lovely suprise from your girl, with her new chicks, too. Bless her. Hope
things will now be easier for you, and you will be on the mend soon.

 

[cmom]

I had a rat infestation in one of my coops last year. I renovated the coop after I moved the birds into another coop. I wish I had my camera when I was working on it. I was amazed how many rats came out. I immediately closed it so nothing but the rat could get in and put down some poison baits. For what ever reason we had put a ceiling in this coop along with enclosing around the bottom studs. The rats got into the ceiling and in around the bottom and nested in between the inner and outer wall and even chewed through a stud to get in between the studs.



This is what I used and it worked great. The birds and other critters can't get to the bait. It took a little while but no more rats. I do have a couple of the rat bait boxes in our barn which is behind the coops because I had seen some rats in there. I check the rat bait boxes and the bait boxes have been untouched for awhile but I keep them baited.