If I get chickens, will I have rats?

[OBnurse]

I live in Northern WI. In the sticks.
We have 20 acres of woods and a small pond on the property. My husband and I are talking about getting chickens and building a coop next summer. When I told my parents our idea they thought it was nuts and said we would have rats if we have chickens. We already have a huge mouse problem and I would prefer to not have rats also. What are you thoughts about this,

and is there any tips to decrease the likelihood of rats?

Thank you!

 

[Mahonri]

Probably.

Just buy some bait tubes and some "Just One Bite" on your next trip to the feed store.

 

[theFox]

It is the food that attracts rats, if you have mice now you really should clean up the area and get rid of them before getting any birds.

If you provide a buffet you should expect diners and it won't just be rats.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

And get a kitten when you get the chicks.

 

[OBnurse]

Thanks for the responses!
I dont think we can get rid of the mice.
We dont have a farm. Just a house and a shed. No mess at all.
We live in the woods. There are mice everywhere in the woods. I think it comes with the territory.
We dont have any in the house though. So thats a plus. And I havent seen any rats? I am sure they are out there though.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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Chickens don't attract rats, but chicken feed does. If you keep the feeders picked up at night, try to exclude them from the coop, and bait for them they won't be much of a problem.

Don't listen to the naysayers, even if they are your parents. My mother just loves to give me advice about things that she knows nothing about, especially chickens. It doesn't matter that she knows nothing about chickens and that I produce $100,000 worth of organic eggs per year. She thinks she knows better... I just smile and nod and tune her out.

 

[theFox]

You need to remove any slash piles, old logs, etc...

Also when doing that watch out for stinging insects and other nasties like snakes if they are around your area.

In short getting rid of the mice really means getting rid of their shelter and food supply that is on your land and close to where your coop and run will be. Otherwise you'll be resorting to poison or traps or the local rodent control troops to do the job.

You will not like the local rodent control troops once you get the birds, weasel just love mice (in fact it is common to bait weasel boxes [wooden boxes in which traps are set] using scratch or cracked corn to attract the ever piddling mice into the boxes before traps and normal bait are added during trapping season), as do owls, fox, coyotes, .... I hope by now you have the picture.

 

[Jeeper1540]

Is there any poison that you can give to mice, and not worry about the chickens eating the dead mouse and dying themselves?

 

[OBnurse]

Yes, infact any animal that eats a dead mouse will die too from the poison. And can go on to any animal that then eats that animal can then too die.

Incuding:

Your dogs, cats, and wild animals.

I would highly recommend finding a different solution other than poison!

 

[Jeeper1540]

I just was wondering if there was any brand that wouldnt kill animals that ate the mouse. I knew that it can happen but i thought maybe they had something
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