My step-by-step plan for rat control + question about using dry ice

[citychicks99]

I posted here recently about a bad rat problem I'm having. It took me a few days to process what to do and come up with a plan but here it is:

Step 1 - secure chickens
From the advice of another member here I'm going to apply hardware cloth to the walls and floor of my coop and cover the floor with exterior grade plywood and seal up any remaining holes with steel wool

Step 2 - kill rats
From the research I've done I think dry ice would be the most effective to kill the rats from under their coop and a few places with rat burrows. I'll seal up the holes from around the coop and crush up dry ice and stuff it into one hole and cover it with dirt. I'll do this in the day time when the chickens are not in the coop.

Question - will this be safe for the chickens to get back in or should I put them somewhere else for the night?

Step 3 - maintenance
I'll pour sand in the remaining tunnels so new rats can't take over. Then I'll build the chickens a run with a hardware cloth skirt so they can be contained and rats won't be able to get in and bother them again. I'll continue leaving rat traps out and maybe even poison since the chickens won't be able to get to it after this

What do you think of my plan? I don't have any experience with building things and there's no one to help me so I'm a bit nervous but excited and I think I can do this.

 

[Rise722]

Rats are getting to be a big problem everywhere. I've lived on my farm for 40 years and only saw three rats - until last year....now I've seen about 5 dead ones my cat has brought me. I had an exterminator under my house, and am taking more steps to rid my place of this unwanted vermine. Your plan seems ok - but do keep the chickens out of any poisons, as you said. I place any poisons I have underneath low areas, such as under the barn hay storage boards - nothing but a small rodent can get under there. But be advised, if this poison is not "one life" then whatever eats it later might be poisoned, too.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Oy vey.... why in the world don't people search the forums for solutions before posting? OP, search for "rats chickens mice" in either this pest and predator forum or in the feeding and watering forum or just search the entire site using those key words.

Find Howard E.'s posts on rodent control.

And the solution is so easy as long as you have mostly full sized hens. Stop feeding the rats and they leave! If all you have are silkies or poults and chicks you have to go to the second method, exclusion.

 

[Kiki]

Oy vey.... why in the world don't people search the forums for solutions before posting? OP, search for "rats chickens mice" in either this pest and predator forum or in the feeding and watering forum or just search the entire site using those key words.

Find Howard E.'s posts on rodent control.

And the solution is so easy as long as you have mostly full sized hens. Stop feeding the rats and they leave! If all you have are silkies or poults and chicks you have to go to the second method, exclusion.

This one?
Thread 'Rat Control - the video series' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-control-the-video-series.1337456/

 

[Al Gerhart]

The very first l link in that post you linked to has Howards Rodent control 101 post. The video post is great too but his 101 post is all you need.

Thanks for looking it up!

 

[Kiki]

The very first l link in that post you linked to has Howards Rodent control 101 post. The video post is great too but his 101 post is all you need.

Thanks for looking it up!

Aha. This one:
Thread 'Rat Control 101' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-control-101.1283827/

 

[Al Gerhart]

Bingo....

 

[citychicks99]

Oy vey.... why in the world don't people search the forums for solutions before posting? OP, search for "rats chickens mice" in either this pest and predator forum or in the feeding and watering forum or just search the entire site using those key words.

Find Howard E.'s posts on rodent control.

And the solution is so easy as long as you have mostly full sized hens. Stop feeding the rats and they leave! If all you have are silkies or poults and chicks you have to go to the second method, exclusion.

I'm pretty sure I tried searching before I posted and found a lot of information but not a lot that was very helpful. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[Al Gerhart]

That is a very true statement. So much old wives tales are given as advice, usually with "I heard this works....". The right key words is the key.