Rat Advice, please.

[ZenHens]

Agh, freaked out. I left the porch door cracked last night when I was setting up feed for the morning outside. I came back and was about to go into the house when I saw a long tail skittering across the porch windowsill. (The porch is where we leave our treats and brooder). Like any girl, I squealed and threw a tub of Clorox wipes in its general direction. It ran back outside fast.

I hate the prospect of setting kill traps, but nor do I want citrus rats running around. We live in the suburbs, so I don't know where I'd (or my husband) would release them. I know there are probably 100 since we have fruit trees. Advice, please. I have young chickens and while the coop is pretty secure, I don't trust rats. We also have young children and the fact they're now near the house makes me nervous. The brooder is unused and clean, but maybe they can still smell it. I'll move the treats to the shed with the feed. But the chicken coop is only 20 yards away, so I need to have some kind of trapping regimen, I think. No poisons.

 

[sumi]

You are going to have to set traps. I hate them too, but we have such a mouse problem, we didn't have a choice. Poison's out of the question here, as my chickens like eating mice and we have owl and other cool creatures here that will eat them.
I know it's horrible, but don't wait, like I did, until they cause damage.

 

[Rhodetoegg]

I have only had my two chucks for 6 days and we have a brown rat that is getting into the run but not the coop during the night. We have set rat traps in the hope that we will catch him and take him miles away. No joy yet. I want to know if he will attack my hens that are fairly large. Help please:/