Getting ahead of a rat problem before it starts

[Chickensaurus Rex]

So I live on several acres about half of which are forested. There is a large one acre pond. We DEFINITELY have field mice I've had to seal out of the main house. There's also an old barn and a shed on the property that at least harbor field mice but would make nice rat homes until I can repair them. I've got 9 chickens (8 weeks old; brahmas and orpingtons) with a secure coop and predator resistant 10x18' run. We're going to go on vacation in a month and I'm trying to make choices about what feeders to buy. We're in this for the long haul. My biggest concern is staying ahead of a rat problem by not letting one ever develop; this is easy to do when I'm home every day to put up feed but it's not realistic to have someone check the chickens twice a day.

Right now I'm using an ordinary borrowed gravity feeder like you buy at tractor supply. Have something similar for a waterer.

Here's my questions

1) is it worth trying to teach my flock to use water nipples over the many other systems available when there's a natural water source 100-200 feet away? Or should I stick with a 5 gallon bucket with the little cups attached?
1a) can I teach my birds to use water nipples in a month? Temperatures while we're gone could be mid 80s to 90s depending on what GA feels like.

2) Is it worth getting a Rat Proof Feeder (the brand) specifically before we go on vacation? Can my little 8 weekers be taught to use it in time assuming I follow the training instructions exactly? Or would I be better off getting the feed port attachments for a 5 gallon bucket and get the Rat Proof Feeder later when they're heavier/more grown?

Thank you all for your insight!

 

[RojoMarz]

So I live on several acres about half of which are forested. There is a large one acre pond. We DEFINITELY have field mice I've had to seal out of the main house. There's also an old barn and a shed on the property that at least harbor field mice but would make nice rat homes until I can repair them. I've got 9 chickens (8 weeks old; brahmas and orpingtons) with a secure coop and predator resistant 10x18' run. We're going to go on vacation in a month and I'm trying to make choices about what feeders to buy. We're in this for the long haul. My biggest concern is staying ahead of a rat problem by not letting one ever develop; this is easy to do when I'm home every day to put up feed but it's not realistic to have someone check the chickens twice a day.

Right now I'm using an ordinary borrowed gravity feeder like you buy at tractor supply. Have something similar for a waterer.

Here's my questions

1) is it worth trying to teach my flock to use water nipples over the many other systems available when there's a natural water source 100-200 feet away? Or should I stick with a 5 gallon bucket with the little cups attached?
1a) can I teach my birds to use water nipples in a month? Temperatures while we're gone could be mid 80s to 90s depending on what GA feels like.

2) Is it worth getting a Rat Proof Feeder (the brand) specifically before we go on vacation? Can my little 8 weekers be taught to use it in time assuming I follow the training instructions exactly? Or would I be better off getting the feed port attachments for a 5 gallon bucket and get the Rat Proof Feeder later when they're heavier/more grown?

Thank you all for your insight!

I have a Ratproof Feeder. We also have 8 week old chicks. Our girls learn the Ratproof feeder from the other chickens. As of now, I don't believe the chicks are heavy enough to open the door nor are they large enough to reach the feed while standing on the treadle.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Great advice from RojoMarz, eight weeks is too young for pullets to use almost any treadle feeder and especially our Ratproof Chicken Feeder which by definition is designed specifically to require more weight and more reach. You can add a duck step for $5.00 and reduce the reach needed and you can tinker with the spring tension to allow lighter birds to operate the treadle but you reduce the ratproof abilities of the feeder when you do that. If you have some full sized birds like RojoMarz has you can get away with using our feeder as the sole feeder even with some smaller birds or younger birds. Not chicks though! They will get trapped in treadle feeders.

If you are using a standard gravity feeder now and removing the feeder at night, that in itself doesn't stop the rodents from eventually finding the feeder that much but it helps. Once they do find the feeder they will eat during the day, at least the bigger mice and rats, the little ones might not survive the biddies attentions.

That said, for the upcoming vacation, I would hold off buying a treadle feeder until the birds are at least 3/4 grown and if you can wait till they are full size even better. Just use the gravity feeder for now. I like selling feeders but I hate it when a customer is unhappy so better to wait till you have the best chance of success.

BTW I loved the fact that you mentioned following the directions exactly. That solves so many problems, the vast majority of complaints or requests for assistance are tracked back to not following the instructions to the letter. The second most common issue is customers not checking their spam filters, so many commercial emails wind up in spam, we reply to folks CRM message and their spam filter keeps them from knowing we responded with the advice they need to be successful.

 

[FunClucks]

I agree, 8 wks is too light to really utilize the rat proof capability of the treadle feeder. I love mine though, now that my chickens are heavy enough. Mine were heavy enough by about 3-4 lbs.

For nipple waterers, I would train them to use them. Yes, you have a water source close by, but I think it would give you peace of mind knowing that they will for sure have a source of clean, fresh water. Especially if there's a possibility they could be shut up in their coop or run due to a predator attack - make sure they have water in there. One 5-gallon bucket with 4 nipples would last at least a week for the number of chickens you have. I like to put two buckets, so there's always a second option and a backup, in case one leaks all the water out or the venting doesn't work or something. I've had both of those happen - thank God I had two in there or I could've lost chickens by the time I found out about the issues. Also, always vent your waterers.

Chicks as young as 4 wks can use a horizontal nipple waterer - any younger and they're not bright enough or strong enough to figure it out. But whenever mine are 4 wks old, I do the happy dance because I am SO READY to retire the chick waterers - I hate those things. 8 wks will be just fine. You have to make sure they're watching you, and are curious about the waterer. Then use your finger as a beak and "peck" the metal rods to make the water come out. Do this a bit for each nipple. Eventually one brave bird will try and figure out where the water is coming from. They can smell and see the water, and will try to drink it, and hit the bar by accident, and wow! more water comes out!!!

Once one figures it out, the others will copy, but do watch for a bit to be sure they've all got it. It doesn't take super long. Like ten minutes. I'll give a demonstration, then watch them a bit. If they don't seem to get it, I'll try again in half an hour. It helps if they're a normal amount of thirsty, so if there's any other waterers around, I'd pull them for half an hour or so, no more than an hour at a time.

Good luck, and enjoy your vacation!

 

[FunClucks]

I neglected to mention - I love the nipple waterers because there is a source of clean, fresh water ALWAYS available. It's always clean and fresh, and all you have to do is refill it. I wash out the whole thing every few weeks up to a month to remove any biofilm. So much easier than any other option I've found. No dumping out dirty cups, no extra water mess in the run, and they last as long as your bucket does.

That being said, having the occasional bowl of water for them to splash in is a great idea also.

 

[Al Gerhart]

So true on the amount of time spent training birds. Ten, fifteen minutes, if they don't pick it up try again later. They have to be motivated and curious before they will learn new things.