Rat help

[Luv_my_babies]

Well my husband says he saw a rat in our chicken coop tonight, please help. I need to know if anyone knows how to get rid of them without hurting our chickens. Also, our the eggs safe to eat still and will they attack our chickens. PLEASE HELP if you can! Thanks

 

[Wolftalk]

Well you can set up traps. But rats shouldnt bother your chickens, they mostlikely just want thier food. And i would also do rat poision that is the cubed kind. DONT USE THE PELLET RAT POISION!!!! Chickens will eat that, and it could hurt them! But thats what i would do. Also im pretty sure rats arent fans of light. Maybe if you light up the coop they will aviod it. Just some thoughts. Good luck!

 

[Cowgirl75446]

Just One Bite is a good bar poison, just keep it out of reach of dogs/cats. I also purchased the Riddex Sonic Plus, it is suppose to keep rodents and insects away. I just put in my new chicken barn, does anyone know if they work?

 

[cackydoodledoo]

I have a problem with mice not rats but really afraid to put poison out because if one dies in the coop and the chickens eat it then they might get sick or die from the poison. Has anyone had any experience with this?

 

[Luv_my_babies]

I just started a new thread about one of my hens eating a mouse that may have been poisoned. The reason I say may have been is because I am not the one who set out the poison. I rent my home and my parents rent the barn and they did not let me know that they had put poison out for mice...thanks for that. They also wanted there dog to be a barn dog and left her at the barn and she killed 5 of my hens a couple of months ago, NICE! So I am trying to find out what will happen to my hen since she ate that mouse whole and also worried about her eggs!!! WORRIED!!!

 

[mommanine]

My daughter put poison out last year, but didn't shove it far enough into the rat holes, and I ended up losing a few chickens. So I'm hesitant to try the poison route. We're having rat problems now- I'm going to go buy traps. I know the rats won't generally disturb the birds, but they do eat feed and they can definitely help themselves to eggs! My daughter just moved the tractors her silkies and Japanese are in, and found nests underneath with a bunch of eggs hidden away. She wondered why the egg laying seemed so low lately! We have dogs that love to find varmints, but I think the rats just move from tunnel to tunnel, so the dogs haven't had a whole lot of luck digging them out. They sure love to try, though!

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

My daughter put poison out last year, but didn't shove it far enough into the rat holes, and I ended up losing a few chickens. So I'm hesitant to try the poison route. We're having rat problems now- I'm going to go buy traps. I know the rats won't generally disturb the birds, but they do eat feed and they can definitely help themselves to eggs! My daughter just moved the tractors her silkies and Japanese are in, and found nests underneath with a bunch of eggs hidden away. She wondered why the egg laying seemed so low lately! We have dogs that love to find varmints, but I think the rats just move from tunnel to tunnel, so the dogs haven't had a whole lot of luck digging them out. They sure love to try, though!

I have used rat bait bars in my coop and never lost a bird. I place the bars inside a 2 foot long piece of PVC pipe (either3 or 4 inch will work). I drilled a hole in the pipe in the center. I wrap wire around the bait bar and then insert the wire thru the hole i drilled pulling the bait bar to the center of the tube and then wrap the wire around the pipe so bait can not be pulled out. I set several outside my coop and 1 inside with bait bar on the bottom of the pipe. I have no rat problem anymore.

 

[mommanine]

Thanks for the idea- sounds like a great one. I did go buy a couple of the rat traps tonight- the kind with the bait hidden inside. Hopefully they'll take care of the problem very quickly. I might look into your PVC pipe one, too- could use a few more for the other coops.

 

[speedy2020]

Snap trap work best for me. I tried live trap and home made bucket trap without any success.

 

[Garden GirlS]

I decided to use a sticky trap at the suggestion of my pest control guy. I put my feeders on top of a double-wide milk crate, number 1 to weight things down in case the rat was struggling about, and 2 to keep the chickens away from the sticky trap . The rat slipped through the holes on the side of the crate, also later that night dug two tunnels to direct him under the feeder and simply turned around and covered the trap with dirt! Worthless attempt to rid ourselves of this menace. He's become so brave that I see him often. Seems he likes the heat lamp too. My girls are livid and have stopped supplying eggs and squawking loudly at his presence. Finally resorted to the One Bite product and it worked but their were others in the family hanging about. Still fighting the battle.