Never ending pests...sigh...

[Chicken101-07]

Last year spring I had snakes getting into coop because I had chicks,decided to put concrete all around the coop to stop them from coming in,summer I had mice coming in the shed to eat the chicken feed so I put it inside the garage,mice followed it,so I moved it back to the shed ,that stopped it,later in summer I tried letting my chickens free range the whole day,meaning I had the coop door open the whole day,found out that 2 squirrels were getting in and helping themselves to the food in the feeder,trapped them inside and let my dog in to give them a scare,hoping they wouldn't come back because I hate killing any animal other than rats,they still kept coming back so I ordered a metal pellet air rifle,that put an end to those squirrels.late winter I found a hole in one side of the shed where I keep all the feed that goes to my animals ,one day I come in and I find a squirrel,it escaped so I left my dog inside the shed during the night to see if would come in,next day I found squirrel dead,so I fixed the hole,a few days ago I see that the corn for the chickens is running out really fast,so I moved all the feed once again into the garage and set some glue traps,they are empty until today,cheese is gone from 3 of the 6 traps,1 goes missing ,couldn't find it inside the shed,another glue trap,literally has a piece of it missing where something chew at it,a tiny amount of slug/snail poison along with the bag that it was in goes missing,the grass mower seat and speed shifter destroyed because something chewed it really badly,do mice really get this desperate when there is no more food?I find 2 more holes in the plywood and there is big long pieces of poop that I'm thinking that are from big rats,could someone correct me if I'm wrong?sorry for the long text but Ireally appreciate the help from you guys.

 

[sourland]

It looks as if you are dealing with rats.

 

[sloanbychoice]

That sounds frustrating for sure.
For one thing, keeping all feed in secure bins or trash cans will keep pests from getting it.
Second, yes, the little creeps will eat anything they can and cause a wake of destruction in their path.
I have a chair that I keep at the coop, and mice ate every bit of the foam from the handles while it sits right next to exposed feed.
Squirrels, mice, and rats are relentless!
The only thing you can do is keep trapping and keep feed secure.

 

[dawg53]

These old school traps are still available and still work perfectly. Most hardware stores have them.

 

[Al Gerhart]

I do not get it. There are already dozens upon dozens of rodent threads on BYC.com. Why not research and take advantage of years of posts with solutions?

Put the bulk feed in metal trash cans and buy a treadle feeder with a heavy counterweight and a spring loaded door. Clean up any places the rats can hide although this is far less important than getting you to stop feeding the rodents. Cut off the feed, the rodents will leave. Guaranteed.

 

[Deleted member 551573]

I do not get it. There are already dozens upon dozens of rodent threads on BYC.com. Why not research and take advantage of years of posts with solutions?

Put the bulk feed in metal trash cans and buy a treadle feeder with a heavy counterweight and a spring loaded door. Clean up any places the rats can hide although this is far less important than getting you to stop feeding the rodents. Cut off the feed, the rodents will leave. Guaranteed.

Maybe scroll up read her post and look at the posted photo, she was asking the question of whether she was dealing with rats or not. You can't research an unknown topic.