How do you rat/mice proof your coop?

[wachicklady]

We had a rat problem, then ended up placing our feed in Behrens garbage cans and buying the Grandpa Feeder for the food in the run. Now, we have no issue.

 

[Lynn Manes]

I have read there are certain plants you can buy to ward off rodents. I'd suggest you do research online as to which plants are good. I think mint is one. But mint will spread everywhere,so it may be wise to contain the plants in pots. Put your plants all around the outside perimeter of your coop and run. If your chicken eat it that's ok, bc it's good for them. There are many other plants that you can add in the mix to help with your problem. Using this natural way could be a benefit in several ways. You can rid yourselves if the badty mice and rats and they ste herbs that are healthy for your chickens. You can protect the plants using bird netting or even chicken wire so you flock doesn't totally decimate them, and still feed a few leaves or flowers now and then your flock. Put them in their nest boxes. They will love that. Good luck and I hope you are able to rid yourself of these nasty rodents.We had them in one of coops 2 years in a row. We'd go out after dark with an air gun and shoot families of them til they finally stopped coming in. That was before I knew about using certain plants to ward them off.

 

[Assmith]

Good to know! Do you know what causes rats to come to the coop?

The feed

 

[Vicker]

I've had rodents here and there but never really had a problem with them getting in the coop. I don't do anything in particular to prevent them. We live in the country with lots of field mice. I store feed in metal trash cans, but that's about it.

 

[Charlenesmom]

We had a rat problem, then ended up placing our feed in Behrens garbage cans and buying the Grandpa Feeder for the food in the run. Now, we have no issue.

Where did you get the Grandpa Feeder, I can’t find them, out of stock indefinitely.

 

[Borders3]

Where did you get the Grandpa Feeder, I can’t find them, out of stock indefinitely.

Search for "Chicken Treadle Feeder" I use them for feeding my hens in the yard, rodent and weather proof. All my feed is kept outside in black plastic garbage bins. We live on a farm the chickens free range morning to night and there is no way we can stop the rodents, they have not got into my chicken coop that I know of, there is nothing in there for them but they are underneath the coop, warm and dry. The rodents are more for where the cattle in the farmyard are, lots of feed in there for them, sometimes it is literally overrun with rats, we both spend time with the air-rifles thinning the numbers down, I don't want to use poison because of secondary killing, we have owls nesting in the old windmill, also the chickens eat dead rats if they aren't cleared up.

 

[KaseySnow]

If you toss a lot of treats or feed on the ground for them, of if food is kept out at night, that will attract rats. Best solution is to put the feed away at night (we put ours inside of a metal trash can) or to use a treadle feeder, as Borders suggested, if you want them to have access to food at all times.

As many have noted, quarter inch hardware cloth (aka galvanized steel mesh) all along the interior walls of your coop and run, as well as dug 6"-12" straight down into the ground or out underneath the soil so they can't dig under the fencing is the way to go. If you have cement floors you will only need to secure the mesh tightly to the inside walls and they won't be able to get in. I've heard anything from 6 inches to 2 feet as far as how high up the walls you should go.

If you have access points such as windows that run higher than two feet, I'd cover any joints, gaps, or other "weak points" with the mesh as well as many species of rats have no trouble climbing and will chew right through wood in a night or two if they really want to gain entry.

If you want to eliminate a current problem, I highly recommend "RatX" as an alternative to poison and traps. Here is a video on the best use of the stuff and explanation on what it is:

In summary, there is no risk of secondary poisoning as it is not really a poison. It is basically a very dense grain food that coats the GI tract and blocks the thirst receptors in the rodents' gut so their brain never gets the signal to drink water. Instead, they dehydrate and go into a coma down in their holes before dying in 2-4 days. This thirst receptor process is unique to rats and mice and as such no other animal that eats the dead or dying rats would be harmed.

The most effective way to use it is to actually spend a few nights intentionally feeding the rats a food that they like (sunflower seeds are a good choice) at a "feeding station" of your choosing. If I were you, I do what the guy in the video does and plop a wooden board down somewhere where you know they frequent (look around for rat droppings) and out of reach of the chickens(again, it won't hurt the chickens if they eat some, it will just be a waste). Pour seeds on the board every night until you notice them cleaning the table of seeds regularly. Should be 3-7 days, most likely.

Once they get used to eating nightly from the feeding station, pour a bunch of ratX on the station instead and just sprinkle seeds on top so they trust it as a new food. You should only need to do this a few nights in a row before you start seeing less and less of the food being eaten at night. This means they are dying off.

Pro tip: wear gloves when touching any sort of rat trap, feeding station, or bait so that it doesn't smell like humans and warn them off.

Good luck!

 

[mangotangolango]

Our chickens are just like dinosaurs in chicken costumes

 

[Idahocowgirl60]

I have been told by many that chickens attract mice or rats, and I really dont want that to happen. How do I prevent this from happening?

Mine eat mice and toads and about anything they can. Freaked me out the first time I saw it.

 

[Araucana1]

Good to know! Do you know what causes rats to come to the coop?

Rats are not attracted to chickens, they are attracted to the feed that’s fed to them.