Many, many rats

[WindingRoad]

I have a red light on the coop all night. But these rats are out all day long, which makes me think maybe they’re mice not rats. I will try sweeping up food, though. That’s smart. My ladies make a mess sometimes!

I have 2 large feeders. Hold 66 lbs of feed. I bought 2 large rabbit trays ( really poop boards) and put them under the feeders. I drilled some holes in them for the rain to run out. At night I sweep up the flicked out feed with a dust pan and brush. Put it back in the feeder.

 

[One Lucky Momma]

If you’ll do a search (here, on BYC) for oatmeal and plaster of Paris, you’ll find some threads dealing with using that combination plus maybe some sweetener as a rodent killer that won’t harm another animal that might subsequently consume the treated rodent. Also, there are a couple of versions of a mouse trap made from a bucket that drowns them, search for “5gallon bucket mouse trap. It looks like a good project for a crafty person.

Good luck!

 

[Emrosenagel]

If you’ll do a search (here, on BYC) for oatmeal and plaster of Paris, you’ll find some threads dealing with using that combination plus maybe some sweetener as a rodent killer that won’t harm another animal that might subsequently consume the treated rodent. Also, there are a couple of versions of a mouse trap made from a bucket that drowns them, search for “5gallon bucket mouse trap. It looks like a good project for a crafty person.

Good luck!

Thanks very much! I’m an extremely crafty person.

 

[cmom]

I had a rat infestation in one of my coops. When I started to renovate it, dozens of rats of all sizes came out. There were rat nests in the ceiling and walls which I removed. I tried several things and still had lots of rats. I finally bought a couple of rat bait stations and put them in the barn behind my coops where only the rats could get to them because I had seen rats in there too. The baits that came with the bait stations the rats didn't seem to like it so I bought some bait that the feed store down the road used. I like the bait stations because they have a little window above the bait so I could check it daily. The rats loved the new bait. Eventually it got to the point that the baits were hardly touched and I didn't see any rats. I never found any dead rats. I did notice some tunnels around the coops so I assume the rats went into their tunnels and died. Now I check the baits weekly and have had no activity. This is what I used. If you are worried about a pet getting to the bait, put it under a laundry basket or something similar with a block on top or in a location where only the rats can get to it. Rats are good climbers. Nothing should be able to get to it but the rats.

 

[Al Gerhart]

The rats are there for the chicken feed, get a treadle feeder so they cannot get to the feed and they will leave. Doesn't matter if you clean up spilled feed and remove the feed at night, rats will feed all day long if there is some cover nearby. Rats and mice tend to live within a few dozen yards of their food source to avoid being caught by their natural predators. Clean up anything that gives them some cover or concealment to and from the coop, force them out into the open and the hawks will get more of them.

Which leads to a major problem, the rats and mice drawing owls, hawks, and other birds of prey. You can solve so many problems by securing the feed in a proper treadle feeder. Do a forum search for treadle feeder here on BYC and you will find a ton of info and reviews. Also Google chicken feeder reviews or treadle feeder, just do plenty of research before spending your hard earned money. Some treadle feeders are near useless.

 

[WindingRoad]

The rats are there for the chicken feed, get a treadle feeder so they cannot get to the feed and they will leave. Doesn't matter if you clean up spilled feed and remove the feed at night, rats will feed all day long if there is some cover nearby. Rats and mice tend to live within a few dozen yards of their food source to avoid being caught by their natural predators. Clean up anything that gives them some cover or concealment to and from the coop, force them out into the open and the hawks will get more of them.

Which leads to a major problem, the rats and mice drawing owls, hawks, and other birds of prey. You can solve so many problems by securing the feed in a proper treadle feeder. Do a forum search for treadle feeder here on BYC and you will find a ton of info and reviews. Also Google chicken feeder reviews or treadle feeder, just do plenty of research before spending your hard earned money. Some treadle feeders are near useless.

I paid big $$$ for 2 treadle feeders from Premier 1 Called smart feeder. Waste of money. I found a rat caught in the trough the other day. The door hadn't quite closed all the way. The chickens bail the food out with their beaks. The tough fills up TOOOO much and the hens like to eat out of the ends of the trough and flick the feed away until it builds up high enough to spill over the edge. I put out motion detector lights in from of the treadles That keeps them away at night but not during the day. And my chickens don't chase them away either.

I was using ex-lax and duculaz tablets but they stopped eating that. So now I am mixing oxocodone and Ativan in cat food. They snatch the can under the coop and I can't see if they are eating it or not. I have found 2 dead rats, But I know. I have more. I am moving my coop onto a cement pad. That will take care of one "home".

The rats I have won't touch any commercial rat bait. Waste of money there too.

 

[Al Gerhart]

I paid big $$$ for 2 treadle feeders from Premier 1 Called smart feeder. Waste of money. I found a rat caught in the trough the other day. The door hadn't quite closed all the way. The chickens bail the food out with their beaks. The tough fills up TOOOO much and the hens like to eat out of the ends of the trough and flick the feed away until it builds up high enough to spill over the edge. I put out motion detector lights in from of the treadles That keeps them away at night but not during the day. And my chickens don't chase them away either.

I was using ex-lax and duculaz tablets but they stopped eating that. So now I am mixing oxocodone and Ativan in cat food. They snatch the can under the coop and I can't see if they are eating it or not. I have found 2 dead rats, But I know. I have more. I am moving my coop onto a cement pad. That will take care of one "home".

The rats I have won't touch any commercial rat bait. Waste of money there too.

Yeah, those so called "smart feeders" are a new design but basically some old mechanisms cobbled together. Too complex, not enough spring tension on the door to keep the rats from just pushing it open and climbing in side. But at least they copied my feeder and put a spring on the door, they just did a poor job of doing it.

I haven't seen one of those "smart feeders" in person but I am not surprised they allow feed to pile up. That is quite tricky designing a feeder to do that which is why my feeder has a 4" tall lower front panel and a 1/2" wide lip protruding into the feed bin to stop raking feed out of the feeder.. Even then every three or four months you will hear from a customer that has a hen that will defeat even that and they order and install one of our feeder lip extenders that adds about 1.25" in height, that stops the old biddies.

One thing you might try on the smart feeders, make sure they are attached solidly to a wall or post to cut down on the vibration from the door slamming shut. You can also choke off part of the feed throat up inside the feeder, a strip of cardboard will do. Check it for a few days and remove a bit of cardboard till you have it allowing enough feed to get through but not too much.

Oxocodone and cat food, not sure if that will kill them or make them very happy and laid back and coming back for more. You get an A for creativity though.

The rats will happily tunnel under the concrete pad. You could sink the foundation six feet into the ground and they would just make their tunnels out side the pad.

I always tell people to check the reviews on the treadle feeders including my feeder. The in house reviews are worthless, most shopping carts allow you to approve reviews or reject them. Amazon is more interested in making their 15% commission and the huge fees so they have vast loop holes in their reviews. The only time a product gets yanked is when too many returns happen. But there are plenty of reviews on treadle feeders online. Just ignore the ones that have Amazon links, they are affiliate members and get a nice commission from feeding customers into the Amazon pipeline. We have an affiliate program on our shopping cart but we do not use it because it creates a moral hazard for people that review the feeder on their blog.

 

[lynx04]

Rodents HATE mint. I mix a healthy dose of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint soap with water in a spray bottle and spray my coop (inside and out) every few weeks. It's worked really well. In addition, I bit the bullet and bought a Granpa's Feeder, which also has worked really well too. If there's no food, there are no mice. It's expensive but works. The only thing is you do need to check it at night to make sure the peddle didn't get stuck and the lid stays open. If it happens once in a while and you're keeping up with the peppermint, it should be okay, but even with the peppermint, some persistent critters will try to get in if the food is plentiful and easy to get to.

 

[WindingRoad]

Rodents HATE mint. I mix a healthy dose of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint soap with water in a spray bottle and spray my coop (inside and out) every few weeks. It's worked really well. In addition, I bit the bullet and bought a Granpa's Feeder, which also has worked really well too. If there's no food, there are no mice. It's expensive but works. The only thing is you do need to check it at night to make sure the peddle didn't get stuck and the lid stays open. If it happens once in a while and you're keeping up with the peppermint, it should be okay, but even with the peppermint, some persistent critters will try to get in if the food is plentiful and easy to get to.

I put out Peppermint so pungent that I could hardly stand it. Cough, burning eyes, etc. I had to wear my covid19 mask. Gladly. My chickens didn't lay any eggs for 2 days..

 

[LizzzyJo]

I have a red light on the coop all night. But these rats are out all day long, which makes me think maybe they’re mice not rats. I will try sweeping up food, though. That’s smart. My ladies make a mess sometimes!

If you have a friend with a barn cat, you could try the natural approach.
Why do you light the coop at night? You mean for a few hours or all night? I’m not sure about this. Hens appreciate their sleep.