Daytime rats eating chicken feed. Not allowed to use rodenticide in my area due to owls, Hawks, coyotes and domestic dogs of course.

[RoyalChick]

Rats are incredibly intelligent. They'll take a few nibbles of a new food and then leave it. If it gives them a stomach ache or other negative symptoms, it's likely they won't touch it again. That's one reason why RatX only works on super hungry rats; they're less likely to test it first, thus they'll get the full dose. Your rats have probably recognized that RatX isn't safe to eat.

Sigh.
I am definitely being outwitted by them!

 

[TOMTE]

From this article, which is about how understanding wild rat behavior can help us manage them:

Clearly, the rapid breeding of rats is one of the reasons for their success. Detailed knowledge on their reproductive behaviour in the wild, for example factors that promote or supress it, is needed to either prevent reproduction in the wild or promote reproduction in the laboratory. For instance, pregnant laboratory females resorb their embryos, if they smell cat urine in their nest during the first third of gestation (Voznessenskaya et al., 2002). This could be a non-invasive tool to discourage and prevent wild rats from nesting and breeding. Furthermore, contraception and contragestion as management tools have been recently revisited mainly because they are non-lethal (Miller and Fagerstone, 2000; Witmer et al., 2017). Importantly, mathematical models showed that such fertility control methods can be as effective as more traditional methods, such as baiting and trapping (Zhang, 2000). Still, reproduction in the wild is understood only very little.

 

[RoyalChick]

From this article, which is about how understanding wild rat behavior can help us manage them:

Thanks for sharing that.
I will certainly continue with food exclusion and contraceptives. And it looks like my deployment of used cat litter in the burrows may actually help!
Still wish they would eat RatX though!

 

[McChooky]

Which is why I have switched to a rat proof feeder. Doesn't seem to make RatX any more appealing to them.
Have you any experience of making RatX palatable?

With hw cloth over everything top to bottom they don't have access

 

[RoyalChick]

With hw cloth over everything top to bottom they don't have access

Yes.
They march in through the open door when the chickens are out ranging. In the middle of the day.
My hardware cloth apron is a little shy of 2' wide. Last night the rats burrowed out of my Chicken Palace and the tunnel exit outside was 3' away from the Chicken Palace wall. I nearly missed it because I didn't think it would be that far away.
I am taking tunneling out as a good sign - I assume they are getting frustrated at the lack of food inside since I installed the rat-proof feeder.
Maybe they were also wanting to get away from the cat litter.

 

[McChooky]

Thanks for sharing that.
I will certainly continue with food exclusion and contraceptives. And it looks like my deployment of used cat litter in the burrows may actually help!
Still wish they would eat RatX though!

You could possibly extend the apron a couple more feet and cover it with gravel.

 

[TOMTE]

Thanks for sharing that.
I will certainly continue with food exclusion and contraceptives. And it looks like my deployment of used cat litter in the burrows may actually help!
Still wish they would eat RatX though!

If the cat litter does work, on top of the contraceptives, it will take months or years to see a reduction in the colony's overall numbers depending on the size of the colony and how effective the contraceptives are. Still, it's a better and more effective method than trapping and especially poisoning in the long run imo from a logistical and ethical standpoint. I recommend reading the whole article, it's a bit of a lengthy read but it has a lot of insight that could be helpful in brainstorming solutions.

 

[RoyalChick]

If the cat litter does work, on top of the contraceptives, it will take months or years to see a reduction in the colony's overall numbers depending on the size of the colony and how effective the contraceptives are. Still, it's a better and more effective method than trapping and especially poisoning in the long run imo from a logistical and ethical standpoint. I recommend reading the whole article, it's a bit of a lengthy read but it has a lot of insight that could be helpful in brainstorming solutions.

I did read the whole article. Quite interesting.
The colony size of 150 rats was a bit alarming but I have nothing like that number (I have cameras and get video of their antics).

 

[Al Gerhart]

Which is why I have switched to a rat proof feeder. Doesn't seem to make RatX any more appealing to them.
Have you any experience of making RatX palatable?

Give it a few more days, the rats will begin to starve. They might have a bit of food stored but it will only last a few days. Just keep those door springs as tight as you can and still let the little chicken work the treadle.

If you ever see that the door isn't opening, that means the feeder got swarmed and you have some dead rats inside, smothered. Rarely happens, usually the rats leave before they figure out ten of them will open the feeder but the first time a rat dies inside the feeder will be the last time they touch that feeder. Like everyone says, they are smart.

If you ever do find dead rats blocking the door, pull the feeder up off the bracket, dump the feed on a tarp or into a big bucket, then once the feed in the lower feed tray is shaken out there will be enough room to shake the dead rats out. Dump them in a trash can with six inches of water just in case they are just stunned and you caught them before they died. Rats can jump out of an empty barrel but with a bit of water they can't. Clean out the feeder with bleach water and you are good to go.

This has only ever happened on commercial farms with thousands of rats, each feeder got swarmed in turn. First day, one angry customer called me. Second day, he called back, they had swarmed another feeder. Third day, he called back ecstatic, the rats were leaving the cleaned feeders alone and choosing a new feeder to swarm. They went through all 24 feeders. At the end of the week either all the rats had smothered themselves or left.

 

[RoyalChick]

Give it a few more days, the rats will begin to starve. They might have a bit of food stored but it will only last a few days. Just keep those door springs as tight as you can and still let the little chicken work the treadle.

If you ever see that the door isn't opening, that means the feeder got swarmed and you have some dead rats inside, smothered. Rarely happens, usually the rats leave before they figure out ten of them will open the feeder but the first time a rat dies inside the feeder will be the last time they touch that feeder. Like everyone says, they are smart.

If you ever do find dead rats blocking the door, pull the feeder up off the bracket, dump the feed on a tarp or into a big bucket, then once the feed in the lower feed tray is shaken out there will be enough room to shake the dead rats out. Dump them in a trash can with six inches of water just in case they are just stunned and you caught them before they died. Rats can jump out of an empty barrel but with a bit of water they can't. Clean out the feeder with bleach water and you are good to go.

This has only ever happened on commercial farms with thousands of rats, each feeder got swarmed in turn. First day, one angry customer called me. Second day, he called back, they had swarmed another feeder. Third day, he called back ecstatic, the rats were leaving the cleaned feeders alone and choosing a new feeder to swarm. They went through all 24 feeders. At the end of the week either all the rats had smothered themselves or left.

That is good to know and good advice. I have a camera on the treadle - mainly so I can be sure that my slow learners have got it. It has picked up several 'investigations' by the rats, but so far no attempt to swarm the treadle - just one poor guy bumping his nose against the door.
I haven't adjusted the springs - they are as you sent them - and it seems pretty good to me. Little Chicken (her name is Pooh) is doing great with it - actually I think she finds it fun - she stops by for a snack many times a day!