How big of a problem is a rat?

[MissouriDogMom]

Tonight I found a rat in the coop. I'm wondering if this one rat is a danger to my two chickens. I have no baby chicks. I collect the eggs daily and don't leave food out, but our bird feeder has been getting raided, and something knocked over a container of dog biscuits in the barn. Obviously where there is one rat, there are two, and where there are two, there are multiple. We have eight outdoor cats, so I don't feel a real need to panic yet. Or should I?

 

[Folly's place]

We had rats in the coop a few years ago, and they ate eggs and killed three nice bantams at night. Traps won't ever get them all!
Ours were tunneling in through breaks in the concrete foundation, which we covered in hardware cloth. They also chewed through particle board into the insulated walls, which had to be torn out. And bait stations finally got them all. Most will go into their tunnels to die, and sometimes bait is the only solution, in an imperfect world, sorry.
Mary

 

[McChooky]

They need to be dispatched whatever method of catching them you use.They can't be relocated or they'll become someone elses problem or starve.Its more humane to kill them .

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Just wanted to add, if you have cats or dogs DO NOT use poison or bait blocks. The rats will wander off into your yard and die and become an easy snack for your pets and can kill them.

It can also unintentionally kill wildlife, as other animals will pick up the rat carcasses to eat and become poisoned.

 

[Happy Helper]

I like your idea of putting bait cubes down their holes and covering with pavers. This is what I saw this morning when I checked my trail camera. I saw at least five out there. They can come up from various spaces since the chicken run is attached to the barn. I think they are completely "out of hand" at this point. I am now going to read all the suggestions out there. Hopefully, I can do something before baby chick time.
Helen

 

[Callender Girl]

I fought rats all through one winter. They were tunneling beneath the frozen ground and traveling between two of my coops/runs. Because they carry disease, eat feed and can harm chickens, I was nearly hysterical.

Although I hate to kill critters, (except mink; they started the war with me when they killed three hens and a runner drake), I tried several strategies.

1. I already stored all extra feed in metal garbage cans, but I started making sure that there was no leftover feed in the runs and coops at night.

2. I installed hardware cloth under EVERYTHING -- inside the small runs, under the floor of the tall coop, outside the runs where I made aprons of the wire and put concrete square stepping stones on top of the hardware cloth.

3. I plugged all the tunnels I could find and stuffed essential-oil soaked cotton into them. I think all that accomplished was making the rats smell better.

4. I did catch a few with the giant snap traps that look like oversized mouse traps. The advantage to these is that they can be placed outside the runs at night. I hot glued dog food to the trigger so the rats would have to work at taking the food, and I attached a chunk of 1-by-6 lumber to the bottom of the trap so no one would wander away to die elsewhere with my trap still attached. One downside is that you have to get mighty close to a mangled rat to clear the trap.

5. I bought a battery-operated electronic trap that I could put in the bigger coop. The opening doesn't allow chickens in, but will easily accommodate a rat. It is electrocuted immediately and you don't have to touch the corpse.

Good luck with your battles!

 

[Folly's place]

They can also kill chickens, while they are roosting. Happened here a few years ago.
Chickens need very safe housing, at least overnight. No openings larger than 1/2" diameter!
Rats never come alone, always family groups, growing exponentially!
Mary

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Tonight I found a rat in the coop. I'm wondering if this one rat is a danger to my two chickens. I have no baby chicks. I collect the eggs daily and don't leave food out, but our bird feeder has been getting raided, and something knocked over a container of dog biscuits in the barn. Obviously where there is one rat, there are two, and where there are two, there are multiple. We have eight outdoor cats, so I don't feel a real need to panic yet. Or should I?

‘Tis the season! I have been trying to trap them recently seeing them in the evenings.I have seen three or four, so I figure there is probably four times that amount! I can usually trap them pretty easily but these ones seem to know what’s up! I caught two last night! These ones have to be tricked! They don’t go near the traps, so I have to leave them un set and baited for a night or two before they take the bait when set. They will nibble on your chickens while they are roosting if there is enough of them! They also spread disease and have fleas that can be transferred to your chickens.

 

[cmom]

Just wanted to add, if you have cats or dogs DO NOT use poison or bait blocks. The rats will wander off into your yard and die and become an easy snack for your pets and can kill them.

It can also unintentionally kill wildlife, as other animals will pick up the rat carcasses to eat and become poisoned.

Not necessarily true. Secondhand poisoning can happen but is rarely fatal. If a animal eats the poison directly then yes. I use bait stations and put the bait stations in pet carriers on shelves in our barn. There are little windows above the bait so it can be checked often. Rats are good climbers and nothing but the rats can get to the poison baits. I have also noticed tunnels around the coops which I think the rats have made. I did not find dead rats laying around so I assume they went into their tunnels and died. I had a coop that was infested and when I renovated the coop, dozens of rats of all sizes poured out. During renovation I did find rats nests in the ceiling and walls.

 

[dawg53]

We had rats in the coop a few years ago, and they ate eggs and killed three nice bantams at night. Traps won't ever get them all!
Ours were tunneling in through breaks in the concrete foundation, which we covered in hardware cloth. They also chewed through particle board into the insulated walls, which had to be torn out. And bait stations finally got them all. Most will go into their tunnels to die, and sometimes bait is the only solution, in an imperfect world, sorry.
Mary

x2
I've found rat holes around the pens and shoved a poison bait cylinder down the hole as far as I could. Then covered the hole with a paver. A few days later you can smell the dead rats.