hens waking up in middle of the night

[JPadronMiami]

Have you heard of or tried that spinner thing you can put on top of a 5-gallon bucket? They crawl up there, fall in, and drown. We don't have rats, and that sounds gross, but if I did have them, I'd try it. The neighbor farmer uses those and catches tons, then tosses them out for the other varmints to eat.

thanks for the tip, i will google it and see what i can come up with.

 

[Debbie292d]

thanks for the tip, i will google it and see what i can come up with.

If you have an Ace Hardware, here is their version. I'd have to ask but I think the neighbor farmer makes their own.

 

[azygous]

Here is a link to purchasing the roller for a bucket trap. https://www.amazon.com/PAWMATE-Roll...07&sprefix=bucket+roller+traps,aps,255&sr=8-8 The five gallon bucket can be found in any hardware store for $5 or $6 dollars.

I have two bucket traps set up in my runs at all times. They help a lot to keep the rodent problem at a minimum. Since I've had these bucket traps, I haven't had a rattlesnake in my run in years.

 

[JPadronMiami]

If you have an Ace Hardware, here is their version. I'd have to ask but I think the neighbor farmer makes their own.

Ive seen an Ace Hardware in the area, have to find it, $14.00 not bad at all for this device that can be used over and over.

 

[McChooky]

I don't know how many chickens you have but it shouldn't be too difficult to move them temporarily so you can kill this colony out

 

[JPadronMiami]

I don't know how many chickens you have but it shouldn't be too difficult to move them temporarily so you can kill this colony out

65

 

[McChooky]

65

I stand corrected ! You'll need to build them a permanent predator proof coop with an apron and an automatic feeder to prevent it again

 

[Fluffy_Butt_Hutt]

I have this issue and it is one waking up which wakes up the whole flock, or one climbing over another (because my chickens like to do this even though they have more than enough room to walk around), however this doesn't seem to be your case. Chickens are definitely light sleepers, but they only make noticeable noise when distressed/alerting. Mine are not audible from 6 ft away ever at night, so I agree that they are panicked for some reason.
Rat bucket traps are the answer, like someone mentioned above, highly effective and low maintenance. Another less-direct solution is lights at night to deter wildlife but make sure it doesn't disturb the chickens' sleep.

 

[Mamagirl3]

Just want to jump in and say all the suggestions here are excellent-- we made our roller buckets.. if you know anyone that buys cat litter in those plastic buckets... ask for a few. We used those buckets with a piece of PVC .. just large enough your rope doesnt prevent it from spinning... put your rope thru the pvc... the pvc need to be cut short enough it doesnt quite touch the side of the bucket.. tie each end of rope onto bucket. Smear some peanut butter in the middle of the pipe... when they step off on the pvc to get to the peanut butter.. it rolls and the rat takes a swim! You do need to set it in a place they can crawl up on it... they cant just go up the side of the bucket. You can put them anyplace on your property you want to!! Also want to share a recent thing we just experienced! Mice will make noise and run across their toes and cause chaos!! But recently i kept hearing our rooster go to crowing during the night... hubby kept blowing me off... finally i narrowed it down to around 2am... almost nightly... then i realized the only nights he didnt do it was if it was stormy or heavy rain... then we also noticed the hens were not laying as well... convinced then that there must be a critter!! Friend brought over one of those trail cameras and set it up... BUSTED!! it was a huge opossum.. was climbing up on top of the lid to the protruded area where nest boxes are... then getting on top on coop... running around up there... trying every night to get in the pen for food... we learned many moons ago to use very strong wire... something that cant be chewed!! Plus in the beginning hubby sprayed some coating stuff in some areas so he could see if it was messed up he knew something was trying to get in. Well this opossum never got in but running around on top of their heads had that rooster crowing out warnings --- bought a live trap and it only took a couple days to trap him! Then called daughterNlaw to get her brother to come get it -- haha he works for the forest service and knows the folks that will relocate critters or put them down depending on issues of diseases at the time-- but for the past 2 weeks.. no rooster crowing... and today we are almost back up to egg count!! We did give them some poultry cell in their water for a few days... chickens can really deplete their vitamin/mineral stores during stress! Best of luck! Hopefully you find your source! Just your neighbors chickens sounding out alarm in the night will get yours sleep disturbed even if they just hear the others.