Many, many rats

[Callender Girl]

I don't like using poison because it can take out unintended victims. Last year, when rats were tunneling between two of my coops. I reluctantly invested $40 in a battery operated "electronic" trap that lured the rats in and quickly electrocuted them.

I also installed hardware cloth under both of those coops, eliminated hiding places outside the coops. began ground feeding far, far away from the coops, didn't leave any food in the coops or runs at night and made sure the lids on the garbage cans that hold feed were securely fastened down.

Good luck with your battle! And, my rats were MUCH larger than the mice who occasionally visit my coops -- where my girls like to EAT them! To be honest, I feel badly about having to kill rats, which I know are very smart animals. But they need to be smart enough to stay away from my babies!!!!

 

[Offshoreorca]

I would shy away from poison as it can harm wildlife (like owls, who will eat the rats sometimes after they crawl out from under shelter to die) or your chickens who can do the same. Use poison only as an extreme last ditch effort if other methods don’t work. Electronic traps baited with peanut butter are excellent at catching rats (but make sure to put a little peanut butter in them or the rats might ignore them). Many terrier breeds (like Jack Russells) are also excellent - they don’t need to get under the coop but patrol the area when the rats come out. We’ve never had any rat problems in the last 15 years after we started having Jacks.

 

[M Brennen]

I've only recently been dealing with a rat problem which has been frustrating trying to get rid of them. Never saw their droppings in my concrete pad shed/chicken coop before. After using Tom's sticky traps and regular traps with no success, I decided to move everything out trying to find the darn rat(s) - the war was on!
It startled me by coming out from under my unused dog house that was put next to the coop (inside sectioned off area). That joker leaped & climbed the wall like spiderman, ran across the beam & out through the overhang roof area (very, very small opening but all that was needed for its escape, and I imagine one of its entrances). I ran outside as I heard it scurrying on the metal roof, it jumped off the roof into the pasture where fortunately 2 of my dogs were out investigating. As that thing ran they did too and stopped it in its tracks holding it there long enough for me to get a spade shovel & kill it. After disposing of it I spent almost 5 hours sanitizing everything including the floor. For about 4 days I felt so good walking in the coop, no rat pellets, everything clean. Then it started all over again - these things are hard to get rid of! Don't want to use poison because my chickens free range, also have dogs and a cat. Maybe a treadle feeder will work. All I can say is these eggs are getting real expensive!!
Sorry not a post with a solution to the problem. Needed to vent and share my experience.

Rats are very frustrating! We had them so bad they were nesting their babies in my nesting boxes. (Did you know that chickens love to eat little pink rats?) As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have spent a lot of time (and money) trying to create a “rat proof” coop. I think I have slowed them down. We have recently seen one on the game camera digging holes in the only area I hadn’t put the hardware cloth apron down. I also found a huge one laying dead on the path to our chicken coop. I suspect we surprised a resident owl trying to make off with breakfast. Rats are opportunists, sneaky little buggers, and prolific multipliers. I do think when our cat was outdoors she kept them at bay. The only way to keep them from view in the coop is to make it impossible for them to get in.

 

[HortonCreek]

I accidentally discovered an amazingly effective rat trap. We started soaking and sprouting grains in a 5 gallon bucket for the girls a few months ago. I'll fill the pail maybe 1/3 with the seed and enough water so there's about 5 - 6 inches covering the seed. I'll wake up on any given morning and randomly have rats floating in the bucket. I've had as much as 8 drown in one night.

 

[M Brennen]

I accidentally discovered an amazingly effective rat trap. We started soaking and sprouting grains in a 5 gallon bucket for the girls a few months ago. I'll fill the pail maybe 1/3 with the seed and enough water so there's about 5 - 6 inches covering the seed. I'll wake up on any given morning and randomly have rats floating in the bucket. I've had as much as 8 drown in one night.

I tried the water bucket trick and only drowned one.

 

[Rosyboa12]

wow! that is a good method! I think I might have rats too, because sometimes when the hens raise a brood on their own I see the chick one day and the next day it is gone. Also I think the rats are stealing a lot of our eggs, and sometimes I hear the chickens going crazy and squawking down in their coop, and then I go down to check on them there is nothing there and there are no eggs. I don't know what to do!

 

[Rosyboa12]

I still have not seen any though.

 

[M Brennen]

I still have not seen any though.

I don’t think you need to see them to know you have them. I swear the rats were stealing my eggs too. I would find droppings in the nesting boxes. Ugh!

 

[RojoMarz]

I tried the water bucket trick and only drowned one.

We use the 'rolling log mouse trap', baited with peanut butter. It works really well for mice and chipmunks. Not sure about rats, as we don't really have them.

 

[cmom]

I know I have already posted this but I will still use the poison. I put it where other critters can't get to it but I also use the rat bait stations. If they are making tunnels I'm surprised they are not going into them and dying. I haven't found any dead rats and I have several cameras up. Nothing on the cameras predator wise either for quite awhile. Maybe with no rats there hasn't been any predators. Just a guess...