Mice and Rats

[lechugababy]

Good afternoon! We just finished up our coop and my 4 babies are almost 5 weeks! It's pretty hot here in Central CA so they have been spending a decent amount of time outdoors and I believe they will be ready for the coop very soon! In the past we have seen some rats and mice in the area. We live behind a big open field so occasionally we will see them scurry along the fence line and we have seen 2 or 3 in the garage. I have not seen any for the last 2 or 3 months but I love my chickens and I am so so paranoid that something will happen to them once they move out to the coop. Does anyone have any suggestions or preventative measures that they use? (There will be more hardware cloth put down as a skirt around the run my local hardware store ran out but I have some coming in!)

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Cute coop. My #1 rodent prevention tool is adopted feral cats that live outside. I built them houses and I feed them but I went from an abandoned property with rodents to zero rodents. #2 is keep your feed locked up. Don't leave it out at night. I put feeders in galvanized garbage cans when I lock the girls up at night. No food, no shelter, no water and danger = my place is not attractive to rodents.

 

[lechugababy]

Cute coop. My #1 rodent prevention tool is adopted feral cats that live outside. I built them houses and I feed them but I went from an abandoned property with rodents to zero rodents. #2 is keep your feed locked up. Don't leave it out at night. I put feeders in galvanized garbage cans when I lock the girls up at night. No food, no shelter, no water and danger = my place is not attractive to rodents.

Thank you! We do have an outside cat we adopted but he seldom goes into the backyard maybe we can convince him to with some treats. I will invest in some good feed containers as well for sure! Thank you friend for your input!! <3

 

[nuthatched]

Side bar, I'd add some more ventilation in the walls before summer gets here.

 

[lechugababy]

Side bar, I'd add some more ventilation in the walls before summer gets here.

There are vents on the sides as well as vents and a solar exhaust fan on the back

 

[nuthatched]

There are vents on the sides as well as vents and a solar exhaust fan on the back

Those are great, but more is always better. Especially in hot climates.

 

[Al Gerhart]

If you are trying to exclude the rats, make sure there is no hole larger than a quarter. Gotta be metal, they will chew through wood.

At five weeks they are way too small for a feeder so don't waste money on something fancy. A cake pan will do. Yes, they will waste some. But if you manage to tighten up the coop and keep ahead of the rats trying to chew through in a couple of months you will be ready for a good treadle feeder.

Taking the food in at night helps but the rats will eat during the day. You really need to figure out what is already drawing the rats, almost always some food left out by humans or animal feed or trash. Get that food source dried up or the rats will never leave and will test you from now on.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

So true, you want to be pro-active with Rodents because once you have them it changes your life. Many years later, after purchasing a property with the issue existing and working very hard to eliminate it, I still every day when I go to the coop have to keep things in check. Example is that I used to store my extra chicken building lumber and supplies behind my coop. Well, leaning pieces of metal and wood against the coop makes hiding spots for rodents. I've had to completely de-clutter and make sure I have a visual on every square inch of my coop interior and exterior. It's that serious to make sure they dont take up residency again.