Grrrrrrr >: ( Rat in my coop!

[2DogsFarm]

I'd noticed lately it seemed like my hens were eating a lot in the evenings. Same for the chick feeder.
I was wrong.

The other night I went to do nightcheck on my way to the barn - about 9P.
I surprised a smallish rat inside the baby coop with my 6wk old chicks!
The chicks were fine, if unhappy - so I moved them to a roost and they spent the night there.
Babies have now spent 3 nights roosting with the hens and everyone seems to be getting along.

Last night same thing, so I put together 2 + 2 and hung the Big Girls' feeder out of reach and removed the chicks feeder from the coop.
I will not provide a free Vermin Buffet!

Today I'm headed for TSC.
Any suggestions for poison or traps that won't hurt my chickens but will destroy the rat?
The only thing I won't use is a glueboard - it might catch a chick and too oogy for me to dispose of after.

 

[Windy Ridge Farm]

Best thing you can do is get a good barn cat or kitten - worth their weight in gold when you have any type of feed around. Good luck!

 

[yelim]

22 with rat shot. dispose of properly.

 

[CMV]

Bucket trap. Here's how:

Good luck.

 

[ksct]

problem with barn cats or even a house cat... they will eat the chickens too... not just the rat.
our closest neighbor is about 1.5 acres away and they have a million barn cats..... they stalk our coop all the time....
A neighbor further down (we live in the country) did kill one of the cats because it got in his run and killed at least one of his birds.
I feel bad for the cats and am not an advocate of killing much actually but once they find an easy meal... they'll be back over and over again.
good luck with your birds too!

 

[jhm47]

If you've seen one rat, you most likely have dozens. Get some "just one bite" rat poison. It works, is quite safe, and will take care of your rats quickly. Lots of posts on here as to how to make your chickens safe while using poison.

 

[dieselgrl48]

Oh boy get rid of them ASAP.I never had a problem with rats until this year.They Iniliated like 25 graduated bird's in one coop.At first I thought maybe neighbor's dog.But took me day's of checking and penning and shutting the chick's in sep pen's and it was Rat's! They only went for the young dragging them behind wire etc.I put out bait's and got some pretty good size one's that were living underneath coop in cellar area.I have got more grad's in that coop now and haven't had any more problem's I keep fresh bait's in there away from the bird's and the dog's and kittie's.There are some good tip's on here and online for baiting to keep your pet's away from the poision.Good Luck hope your babie's are safe.

 

[2DogsFarm]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I'll check out the bucket trap when I can get to highspeed internet - I have dialup here in the boonies and YouTube takes For-EVER to load!

I do have a barncat - she is The Verminator - but she steers a wide berth around the coop.
She does do a smashup job keeping the barn rodent-free.

I put down about a dozen poison bait blocks in the coop - all in places inaccessible to the chickens. Not sure they are the One Bite ones but here's hoping they work ASAP.

jhm47:
You hit that nail right on the head!
When I flipped the light on in the coop about 1/2 hour ago at least 10 of the little bast***s ran squeaking.
Joke's on them - no feed in the coop, just yummy poison baits...

I will be out of town tomorrow with my horses and my neighbor will take care of the chickens.
I'm betting she & her DH will also do some ratproofing - she mentioned traps - as she cares for my hens like they were her own.

I understand the rats lost a food source when the corn came down, but if they think they can relocate to 2 Dogs Farm they have another think coming!

 

[ksct]

just make sure your cat can't get the poison either.
i'd hate to see that too.
good luck!