Neighbors have a rat problem

[busymama9]

Yeah I suppose. It is a very nice well maintained home. Seems like just really really bad luck. I am really hoping we aren't next.

 

[Birdinhand]

poultry netting, AKA chicken wire is worthless for keeping rats out and should be discontinued. the true chicken wire is hardware cloth, it's half inch and keeps adult rats from getting in and that dramatically keeps the population down. it's serious business getting your coop rat proof but if done right is done once and not really has to be thought about again. the hardware clot needs to be nailed with "U" nails, overlapped by a few inches, and it needs to go down into the ground about 24" or go all the way under the coop. rats are a big deal, they are smart, amazingly destructive and have been known to start fires by chewing on electrical wire, they took out my heat pump wiring, chewed up the wiring loom of a neighbors expensive car (far enough away that I know they were not my rats, phew). you have to hit them hard, and make a tight envelope, leaving nor more than a half inch gap around the doors or any other thing. they even eat chicken droppings, so removing the food at night helps but is not enough on it's own. show your neighbors that you are putting in a good effort and "mending the fence" and all should be good.

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

1. NO residence is rat proof.

2. Rat poison is far more effective.

Unfortunately, I have a neighbor about 75 yds away from me that is a disgusting hoarder. Their filth overflows to the outside of their house. Rats...the size of groundhogs... When I saw the first rat, out went the poison. There's months before I see another...

 

[busymama9]

poultry netting, AKA chicken wire is worthless for keeping rats out and should be discontinued. the true chicken wire is hardware cloth, it's half inch and keeps adult rats from getting in and that dramatically keeps the population down. it's serious business getting your coop rat proof but if done right is done once and not really has to be thought about again. the hardware clot needs to be nailed with "U" nails, overlapped by a few inches, and it needs to go down into the ground about 24" or go all the way under the coop. rats are a big deal, they are smart, amazingly destructive and have been known to start fires by chewing on electrical wire, they took out my heat pump wiring, chewed up the wiring loom of a neighbors expensive car (far enough away that I know they were not my rats, phew). you have to hit them hard, and make a tight envelope, leaving nor more than a half inch gap around the doors or any other thing. they even eat chicken droppings, so removing the food at night helps but is not enough on it's own. show your neighbors that you are putting in a good effort and "mending the fence" and all should be good.

My run is 6 feet tall and 10x16 feet. Would the hardware cloth need to cover the entire thing? Everywhere the wire is now?

The exterminator did say they will eat dog poo too and almost all the neighbors have dogs. It seems a futile effort to eliminate all source of food for them. I still need to talk to the exterminator myself to see what the best options are. If covering my whole coop with hardware cloth and digging down 24 inches etc is needed I will probably have to re home them. I already have a lead there so that is good. I know many many chicken owners in my area and none of them have had any problems. So sad that it hit here and so soon after I got them.

 

[Birdinhand]

My run is 6 feet tall and 10x16 feet. Would the hardware cloth need to cover the entire thing? Everywhere the wire is now?

The exterminator did say they will eat dog poo too and almost all the neighbors have dogs. It seems a futile effort to eliminate all source of food for them. I still need to talk to the exterminator myself to see what the best options are. If covering my whole coop with hardware cloth and digging down 24 inches etc is needed I will probably have to re home them. I already have a lead there so that is good. I know many many chicken owners in my area and none of them have had any problems. So sad that it hit here and so soon after I got them.

rats are climbers, diggers, chewers and thinkers, they are resourceful, persistent and can go from 2 rats to 1,000 rats in 6 months if exposed to an unlimited source of food. the very best way is to go wall to wall, ceiling and floor with deep eves so that the area where the wire is exposed to the ground is relatively dry. I burry mine about 8 inches below the surface if I am going all the way under or two feet down around the edges at a 45 degree angle. it will feel like overkill when you are doing it, but by keeping rats out, you keep everything else out that could be a problem, it's a once and for all solution.

 

[Naser]

Use rat proof chicken feeder, treadle feeder or Grandpa feeder, trigger happy chicken feeder is cheap and it works only if you fine tune the height in a way that hens have to stretch to get the pellets otherwise they trigger so often and end up with some left for the rats, if crows have access to your feeder, they will learn how to use it, use only pellets, Mash will be spreaded all over the place, use rat poison extensively in the beginning and then smaller amounts but continually

 

[jp57]

I don't have a rat problem, but i would definitely recommend never leaving food out overnight. I noticed when I left my feeders out 24 hours, they would have a crusty slime on them. I'm new to chickens (almost a year) so I thought it was maybe from the birds saliva or something like that. I went out one night to check on them due to noise coming from their coop area. There were slugs all over the feeder. I have a sealed bin that I keep on my porch that I put their feeder in every night. It's a shame my girls don't like to eat slugs.

 

[Howard E]

Employ a two pronged approach:

This for your feed.......and yes it really does work:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-proof-feeder-review.1180514/

And rat poison placed in bait stations.

So cut off their food supply so they are forced to go for the poison. In all the rat wars I've heard about, a lot of people have tried a lot of things, but in the end, poison is about all that ever works, and sometimes that only thins the herd to tolerable levels.

BTW, what you were doing before was the perfect setup for attracting rats. Rat nirvana.
Not on purpose, of course, but we often do a lot of things out of ignorance, not realizing the consequences until it comes back to bite us.

 

[busymama9]

Employ a two pronged approach:

This for your feed.......and yes it really does work:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-proof-feeder-review.1180514/

And rat poison placed in bait stations.

So cut off their food supply so they are forced to go for the poison. In all the rat wars I've heard about, a lot of people have tried a lot of things, but in the end, poison is about all that ever works, and sometimes that only thins the herd to tolerable levels.

BTW, what you were doing before was the perfect setup for attracting rats. Rat nirvana.
Not on purpose, of course, but we often do a lot of things out of ignorance, not realizing the consequences until it comes back to bite us.

Yeah I feel so stupid. i knew other birds would eat it but they can't get in. I don't know why I didn't think about mice as I knew those were around. I had no idea about the rats but apparently they've become a problem in our valley recently.

 

[Rugbygainz]

Hello, rats are intelligents, and will go where they can find easy food and/or shelter. An easy way to know if the rats are attracted by your chickens or your neigbours chickens is doing a search
1. under the coop, a common nesting place
2. around the coop, look for any rat holes
3. around the area enclosing the chickens area, they often make nests just outside the area so they can come in when it is safe from pecking birds.
4. basically check the area for any burrowing and holes.
5. if you see holes or any unusual fluctuations in the ground look for tiny dirt balls. This means the rats have been digging around your coop.
If none of this around, the rats are not there for your chickens. they may still come, but rats stratigically locate their nests.
Also dont forget to check under any big rocks or under trees or under anything that provides cover, you might end up uncovering a big nest.
Doing this check will rule them out for being there solely for your chickens.
The exterminator is not wrong though, rats are attracted by chickens(well by the free food that comes with them)
Hope this helps, I have a lot of experience with rats so feel free to ask any specific questions