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 project pretty please?!