One-inch rule for predators entering coop

overlay your doors (that means the frame of your door sits on the frame of your unit).... instead of fitting it inside the opening... that way you can control the tightness of your gap by your lock...

 

A rat can easily get through a 1" opening. Even a LARGE rat. 1/2" may keep them out.

 

Rats can fit through an opening the size of a quarter, mice can fit through one the size of a dime. Basically, if the skull can get through, so can the rest

 

When I built my run I didn't get my door quite square, so I had a gap on one side that was bigger than I was comfortable with. I just took a piece of 3/4" pvc pipe and used galvanized screws to screw it into the wood in that gap. I didn't have any scrap wood that would work at the time. You might have some that would work or you can buy pressure treated 1"x1/2" wood strip very reasonably. Just cut a length to fit the gap and nail it in. Problem solved. No gray hairs!

 

Quote:This is the solution I would recommend. Take a piece of wood slightly larger than the gap and screw it into the back side of the door frame, overlapping the edge of the door. Rats are found everywhere, so you definitely have the potential. Depending on where you live, you may also have snakes.

 

Quote:This is the easiest way to fix it. Just use a piece of trim or something screwed to the door across the gap.

 

I've posted this a number of times, including on my BYC page, but I lost 15/18 chickens to a weasel last spring that got through a hole that mice chewed through the bottom of a door. That hole was less than half an inch in diameter. Remember weasels prey on rats and mice by going into their tunnels so if a mouse can fit, so can a weasel.