Rat Control in winter *edited with pictures

[SnowyChickenMomma]

I live in Maine and currently it's a whopping 6 degrees out. I never saw a rat in my life until my neighbor made an uncovered compost pile back in September. Now I haven't seen any in my coop but I can see holes about the size of a ping pong ball or larger going under my doghouse that I use as the chicken house. I plugged up the holes with steel wool and managed to find a few rocks that weren't frozen to the ground and put them on top. Now there are 2 new holes and I don't have any more rocks because the ground is frozen and covered in snow.

I can't lift my coop off the ground til spring but I know that I will have to do that because keeping it on the ground just isn't going to work. The rat holes and right inside the nesting boxes too. Creepy thinking about going to get an egg and having a rat pop out.

How can I rat proof the coop in the winter? They can chew through frozen ground? Will the steel wool hurt my chickens if they try to eat it?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not sure if this will work for you (depends on size and shape of your coop) but what I did was put down a temporary apron using 3' tall hardware cloth laying directly on the ground, from the edge of the coop out, pinned in place with bricks. It is possible for rats to slip in between the boundary so you may possibly have to bend the edge by the coop up a few inches to prevent that, but this worked for us. We then placed traps around the perimeter where holes had been. Rats are very smart and wary so you might not catch them immediately.

 

[bucky52]

I live in Maine and currently it's a whopping 6 degrees out. I never saw a rat in my life until my neighbor made an uncovered compost pile back in September. Now I haven't seen any in my coop but I can see holes about the size of a ping pong ball or larger going under my doghouse that I use as the chicken house. I plugged up the Hole with steel wool and managed to find a fee rocks that weren't frozen to the ground and put them on top. Now there are 2 new holes and I don't have any more rocks because the ground is frozen and covers in snow.

I can't lift my coop off the ground til spring but I know that I will have to do that because keeping it on the ground just isn't going to work. The rat holes and right inside the nesting boxes too. Creepy thinking about going to get an egg and having a rat pop out.

How can I eat proof the coop in the winter? They can chew through frozen ground? Will the steel wool hurt my chickens if they try to eat it?

 

[Stayc]

Saw this on here once i copied the pic in case i ever ran into this problem. It is a trap for those rodents so your chickens can't access the poison. Best of luck

 

[Nardo]

I feel for you. I moved into our house 4 years ago and have been fighting rats and field mice ever since. I tried all of the remedies except poison because we have dogs who will eat the already poisoned - but not yet dead - rodents.
A barn cat finally wandered up and adopted us and he now lives in my workshop which shares the chicken run on one side and the coop and greenhouse on the other. The hens are too big for him to bother and I have not seen a LIVE rat nor mouse since. I realize that not everyone can be so lucky, but I am offering my experience in case it helps. PS His name is Marvin

 

[lazy gardener]

My condolences. This is also the first year that I've ever seen rats on my property. I saw them in a hay bale garden, in my veggie garden, and no doubt they are in my HugelKulture mound. I also think they have taken up residence in my green house. And there may be some in my outdoor wood pile. I put out multiple, different style traps with varied bait. No takers. So, I resorted to bait. Unfortunately, the only bait I could find was the Neurotoxin. I have a bait station in the green house, near the HK, and in my garden. Have seen nibbles in the station in the green house, while the other stations have been buried under snow since Nov. The battle will continue in the spring.

I would prefer to use the Warfarin style bait, and it must be outside my dog's range, in a station that would prevent pet or chicken access.

You're hands are tied until the ground thaws enough that you can lift your dog house/coop. In the mean time, if you could set up a feeding station for the rats AWAY from your coop to lure them away, while at the same time removing feed from your coop at night, that will help. Once you get the rats feeding away from your coop, you can substitute poison. I've heard that with snap traps you should put feed in the trap for multiple nights without setting the traps. Use multiple traps. Get them feeding from them with confidence, then set all traps on the same night.

Steel wool will hurt your chickens.

 

[lazy gardener]

I desperately need a Marvin. How much do you feed him?

 

[Howard E]

Holes the size of ping pong balls may not be rats. They may only be mice. Not as bad, but really not something you want hanging around either.

Whatever the case, steps in control are to rat proof the structure and also remove access to food and water to the vermin. This all takes a lot of work. Spilt feed on the ground is likely what attracted them and will sustain them, so if that is going on, whatever feeder or feeding method you are using will have to change. Perhaps hand feeding only what the birds will eat. All else gets taken up and stored in METAL containers. I used a rat proof treadle feeder on my mouse problem and it went away.

If you do decide to go "kill em" route, be thinking poisons in proper bait stations.....the kind with pins in them to hold the bait blocks in place so nobody drags one outside where your birds, pets, kids or other unintended targets might find them. As near as I have been able to find out, the risks to birds, pets, etc. from poisoned rats is not as bad as some fear, but the risk of exposed baits that have not been washed through the rat first is.

Start with one of the anticoagulant baits, which may take 5 days to a week or so to see some response. It has to accumulate over time. You can monitor it by how fast the bait blocks go away. Then when that dies down, switch to a fast kill / one bite block to pick off any stragglers. If you do have rats, most likely they are brown rats (aka Norway rats), which often times are too big for traps to nab. You can try trapping, but don't expect much success from traps. Traps alone won't cut it. Most rat colonies can populate faster than dumb rats can be trapped.....or at least they can keep up with no sweat. Rumor has it if they sense a drop in numbers, they get busy in the bedroom so to speak so as to catch back up. They are that tough to deal with.

 

[bucky52]

I am dealing with the same problem.Muliple traps set.My coop sets close to the ground and underpend with cinder blocks.we have even resorted to putting poison under their coop.I don't like using poison. I open the coop door the other evening after my hens were on the roost.it was a huge rat in the coop with in a foot were they were roosting. We have been battling them for months.

 

[Boonie Stomper]

Rat holes discovered re-opened and larger than when caught one last fall during night outside locked coop with snap trap...
Tried new approach last night. Here is the successful result!