I feel your pain. It made me feel yucky too. And I had a friend with the most beautiful coop I've ever seen but she had rats eating eggs, bringing her to tears, I felt not alone... I WILL write a article this weekend and share with you. In the meantime I can tell you that I read alot from Al Gerhart about feeders and always recommending Howard E's rat methodology. I think I even debated a bit with Al (I dont do that anymore because you never know when it's someone's kid on BYC, fyi.) I just didnt want to do ALL THAT work. But it is what it is, I relented and did the work. AND I got feral outdoor cats as a control. Rat's gone now for years. As for feeders, I dont use rat proof feeders. Instead I put feeders up everynight and there is no spill on the ground. I'll get you all of the other details soon. You are NOT alone!
Details of this projectpretty please?!