Many, many rats

[mviera101]

How about putting a pro on the job, certain dog breeds will hunt them and take care of the problem. They are doing what they love and "nature" is taking its course. We had a scrappy little rescue dog , Lemmy , who found his purpose in locating these critters. Much to our surprise, and disgust, one day while we were out back in the yard. He quickly found one, before we realized what he was doing, and disposed of it.

 

[WindingRoad]

How about putting a pro on the job, certain dog breeds will hunt them and take care of the problem. They are doing what they love and "nature" is taking its course. We had a scrappy little rescue dog , Lemmy , who found his purpose in locating these critters. Much to our surprise, and disgust, one day while we were out back in the yard. He quickly found one, before we realized what he was doing, and disposed of it.

They are living under my coop only about an half inch to and inch above the ground. A dog can't get under there.

 

[hayley3]

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.

I bought the same poison and it seems to be working. Tomcat they didn't touch. I stuffed mine inside the tunnel and check every day to make sure there is no specks of it on the ground although my chickens spend their day in another area. Also it's yellow which is easy to see.

 

[M Brennen]

Rats are nasty creatures. We have had rats forever. I never used rat bait because I was afraid of other wildlife eating the dead rats. The rats would get under my coop and chew holes between the walls to get in. I patched numerous holes. I would also bring in the food in at night. Nothing worked. This year I decided to really secure the coop. We made a new run with 1/2 inch hardware cloth. We laid a 2 foot apron around the base. We screwed boards around the bottom of the coop then closed off the opening under the coop with hardware cloth and an apron. We installed two new air tight doors. It wasn’t cheap, but I’m feeling a lot better about the rats. I think the only way to get rid of them is to secure the coop against them.

 

[lynx04]

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..

Did it work?

I don't put it that strong. Just a little dab seems to do the trick for me.

 

[M Brennen]

Did it work?

I don't put it that strong. Just a little dab seems to do the trick for me.

Where do you buy the peppermint? I have uses fresh mint from my garden and that didn’t work. I have also tried a sonic beeper with no luck.

 

[cmom]

Rats are nasty creatures. We have had rats forever. I never used rat bait because I was afraid of other wildlife eating the dead rats. The rats would get under my coop and chew holes between the walls to get in. I patched numerous holes. I would also bring in the food in at night. Nothing worked. This year I decided to really secure the coop. We made a new run with 1/2 inch hardware cloth. We laid a 2 foot apron around the base. We screwed boards around the bottom of the coop then closed off the opening under the coop with hardware cloth and an apron. We installed two new air tight doors. It wasn’t cheap, but I’m feeling a lot better about the rats. I think the only way to get rid of them is to secure the coop against them.

I had a coop that was infested but I also have several more coops and a barn behind the coops. When I started renovating the infested coop, DOZENS of rats poured out and a couple almost landed on my head when I took out the ceiling. I had noticed tunnels around the coops that I'm sure were made by the rats and that they went into the tunnels and died. That's probably why I didn't find any dead rats. I would think with all of the rats that came out of the infested coop that I would have found some dead rats but didn't, but they did chow down on the baits. Eventually the baits were still in the bait stations not being touched and I haven't seen any or any signs of them. In the infested coop I had walls inside the studs. The rats made nests in the walls and ceiling.

 

[Cinnamon11]

They are also frequently carriers of Salmonella which they can pass on through their feces.

It’s true. I’m pretty sure one got my hen sick and she passed away!

You could try to put baking soda in peanut butter got rid of a couple here for me never saw them again

 

[M Brennen]

I have been told (not sure if it’s true) that you always have rats. If you actually see them then you have a bad infestation.

 

[Georgia460]

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.