Chicken-Safe Dogs for Rats? Your experience?

[PopoMyers]

I believe I have a very smart rat (s). It took the bag of rat pellets into its tunnel, won't touch the rat bars, but has not been back in the coop lately. It eats the wheat berries left in the hay I have used to mulch the garden, which is adjacent to the chicken run, with a fence between. How would I catch this one? It has also sprung a traditional rat trap without getting caught. Any ideas welcome.

 

[cmom]

This is very much a noobie question, and I'm just looking for general thoughts and opinions. We've got a rat infestation on the property and poison is not an option (yes, we know about the other options). We've been discussing getting a dog, but I've read so many horror stories of dogs going after chickens... Obviously this behavior is largely a question of training, but does anyone actually have experience with a dog that has gone after rats and didn't bother the chicks/chickens?

Thanks in advance!

Rat poison can be used responsibly. I had an infestation in a coop. I tried several things to no avail. I moved the birds to another coop and renovated the infested coop. When I started taring out the ceiling and walls, dozens of rats of all sizes poured out. I did come across some rats nests as well. I did resort to poison. I bought some rat bait stations. There is a little window above the bait so it can be checked regularly. There is a partition down the middle inside the bit boxes that the rats have to go around to get to the bait. Less chance for them to get the bait out. The rats didn't care for the bait that came with the bait stations so I used a different bait and they ate on it. I put the bait stations in pet carriers on shelves in our barn which is behind the coops. Slowly I noticed the rats weren't touching the baits and I wasn't seeing any evidence of rats. No dead rats laying around. There were tunnels around the coops and the barn so I assume the rats went into their tunnels and died and that is why I didn't find any dead ones. Even if a predator was to eat one of the rats it's unlikely to kill it. It may make the predator sick but not usually fatal unless the predator eats the bait directly then it may die. Good luck...

 

[Al Gerhart]

The surest way to get rid of rodents is to stop feeding them. It is that simple. Get your bulk feed in a metal trash can or barrel, buy a treadle feeder that has a spring loaded door and a counterweight, clear up the pathways from the coop to any nearby cover where the rodents can live. And you are done. No continual purchasing of poison, no risk, the feeder will pay for itself from the feed savings, and you have chopped off a huge pathway of disease and pests like fleas and mites.

Rarely will you need anything other than this. I had a lady email me this week after installing a feeder. Her hens learned in one day (she followed the darn directions!), on the second day the rats ate her entire crop of beets, the third day the rats were gone.

You need full size birds, if you have a few banties or silkies they will learn to eat when the big birds eat. If you have an annual batch of broiler chicks you aren't likely to attract rats before they are large enough to use a feeder if you have had a treadle feeder in use.

 

[eveliens]

While I agree with Al, if you stop feeding them they will move on, but it sounds like you really just want to get a dog Bravo on this ironclad reasoning!

Terriers were specifically bred as ratters and are very smart, so you could train them to leave the chickens alone. Dachshunds and chihuahuas are also ratters as are mini schnauzers, brussels griffins and mini pinchers. You should do some serious breed research before committing because all of these breeds have different levels of trainability/grooming/energy/noise. A lot of them have high prey drive and high energy levels because they were bred to gogogo all day to control pests on the farm.

And I would never let the dog out with the chickens unsupervised, regardless of training or breed*. I have little fluffy lapdogs that are afraid of everything, including the chickens, but all it takes it a moment where their little brains switch into instinct mode and there's a chicken in their mouth. Once a dog learns chickens are fun to chase and chomp, it is very hard to break them of such a joyful activity.

*the exception being LSGD which were purposely bred and trained to guard stock

 

[FloorCandy]

My female frenchie has a very high prey drive. We don’t have much vermin, and what we have stays close to the fence for a fast escape. I had worried when I started with quail, that she would go after them. But she has never tried to get any in the brooder, which she can easily reach. I don’t put lids on until they are able to fly a bit, and she has never taken any. All 3 of my dogs like to watch the quail show tho, and they stare at them for hours. Outside, she also shows interest, but I had one fly out a couple weeks ago and she leapt right up and picked it out of the air, and held it down with her paws. The bird was missing a bunch of tail feathers but was otherwise unharmed. I think she determined the birds are mine, and she should be careful of them. The male frenchie has no prey drive tho, he would never harm one of the birds, but I don’t think he would harm a mouse or rat either. I think females have more natural talent for hunting.