question about rats.

[Johnn]

In the winter i usually ahve rats and i like to give my hens alot of food as they cant find alot free ranging but rats just eat most of it and its so annoying i would put the feeder up high but i have a ancona bantam and i dont think she could reach. any ideas?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

It is possible for you to put the food away at night in a secure container?

 

[Elite Silkies]

The best mouser's I have are my cats. I wait until it's dark, and then I take my cats in the coop with me. My best girl got 3 last night

She often sleeps with my birds, but she is the only one I trust to sleep with them yet. If you get a kitten and raise them up with the birds, they will protect them and keep the mice/rats down. I have acquired a new kitten (drop off, we get a few of those a year). I think he is going to be pretty good. He likes to love on the birds

. He did go after a black baby the other day, but he thought it was a rat. He didn't do anything to the chick after if ran and screamed, guess he realized it wasn't a rat. Not all cats are good for the job, but there are many out there that will help protect your birds and keep the rodents down.

I have also thought about putting moth balls around the coop, but have to research if that is okay. We killed a opossum last night. He has been trying to get into my coops for the last week.

 

[aprophet]

I use an old truck toolbox to store my feed in they cannot get to it it is getting harder to find the metal trash cans here in the city but they work too with bungee cords attatched for the coon

 

[Olive Hill]

If the rats are getting inside your coop to eat the food I would not just remove the food at night as they can and will eat chickens and may just switch over if you remove the easier feed source. You rat proof the coop and cut back the population. Poisons, traps, cats, dogs, etc can all be helpful and, of course, removing sources of food that draw them in.

As an aside, rats and mice are known carriers of salmonella. When they crawl around in your chicken feed they contaminate the feed which the chickens then eat. They also can contaminate your nest boxes, bedding, roosts, etc. Cook your eggs well.

 

[Johnn]

no i leave the pop hole open 24/7

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
Well, that would be a start. Close the door to the coop at night to keep rats and other pests and predators out. Secure the food so as not to attract rats.

 

[Johnn]

if i did decide to lif the feeder off the ground how high would it have to be ??

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
In my opinion, raising the food will not deter rats. In order to not attract rats to the food, you will need to store it away in a secure container at night. When you go out at dusk to close the pop door to the coop, you can take the food and store it away at that time. Then when you go out at dawn to raise the pop door, you can put the food back.

Considering the predator issues you have posted about in the past, closing the pop door at night seems to be of the utmost importance...in my opinion.

 

[Olive Hill]

Rats can climb, shimmy, jump, etc. You are highly unlikely to be able to get it positioned such that a chicken can get to it and a rat cannot.