Rat hole in the run

[Natalieschickiebabies]

Hello,

We have been having problems with rats in our neighborhood. Today I noticed a rat hole in the coop. We tried to prevent this by putting wire material down on the ground a few inches but they dug under that as well. Does anyone have any ideas to stop the rats or fill the hole?

Thank you.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

This is a common post so if you do a forum search you can read all sorts of ways and ideas. Mine is Feral Cats. All you do is provide a shelter for them and rats are gone forever. That and Just One Bite is what I do......

 

[Natalieschickiebabies]

This is a common post so if you do a forum search you can read all sorts of ways and ideas. Mine is Feral Cats. All you do is provide a shelter for them and rats are gone forever. That and Just One Bite is what I do......

Yes. We're are thinking of getting a cat or two!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Yes. We're are thinking of getting a cat or two!

Awesome! I'm glad you're considering it because my opinion is that all of the other ways to get rid of them are a pain and don't really work. My house in the woods, on a river, was abandoned for 2years before we bought it and moved in. Rats ate my truck wires twice and hot tub wires! It wasn't even a chicken problem at first but of course chickens just gave the rats even more to enjoy about our place. I put Just One Bite inside my truck and hot tub and under my coop where nothing but a rat could get it for a while. This definitely killed them but then to make sure it never happens again, I adopted 2 Feral Barn Cat's from the Feral Cat Society. You get to select the level of Feral that you want. Mine are medium, they are fine with me being around the cat house I built for them but they do not want to be lap cats or come inside my house. It's such a win/win!!

 

[Natalieschickiebabies]

My only concern is that once we get our fence up in the next couple weeks, we would like to let our chickens out into the yard while we are out there. Is that possible to do with cats?

 

[Alagirl]

My only concern is that once we get our fence up in the next couple weeks, we would like to let our chickens out into the yard while we are out there. Is that possible to do with cats?

what chickens do you have?
I am thinking that a full grown chicken is a bit too big for a cat to take on.
Having said that, my one cat is a lump at #14. And she likes to hunt birds.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

My only concern is that once we get our fence up in the next couple weeks, we would like to let our chickens out into the yard while we are out there. Is that possible to do with cats?

Yep! I now have a total of 3 Feral cats and they have zero interest in Chickens. I would think that they would go after small chicks but for sure they won't go after adult chickens. I saw one of my poor feral cats trying to cross through my run a few weeks ago and she was charged by 2 full grown hens. She took a meaningless swipe at one of them and ran off as fast as she could.

 

[Natalieschickiebabies]

what chickens do you have?
I am thinking that a full grown chicken is a bit too big for a cat to take on.
Having said that, my one cat is a lump at #14. And she likes to hunt birds.

I have 6- 2 and half month old Pearl Star Leghorn chickens. They are fairly big right now. But no where near full grown.

 

[Natalieschickiebabies]

Yep! I now have a total of 3 Feral cats and they have zero interest in Chickens. I would think that they would go after small chicks but for sure they won't go after adult chickens. I saw one of my poor feral cats trying to cross through my run a few weeks ago and she was charged by 2 full grown hens. She took a meaningless swipe at one of them and ran off as fast as she could.

Okay good to know. We would definitely want to rescue a cat or cats. Maybe I can call around and see. Thank you for the information!!

 

[Natalieschickiebabies]

Okay good to know. We would definitely want to rescue a cat or cats. Maybe I can call around and see. Thank you for the information!!

They will definitely be eating good around here! We have a neighbor cat named Blaze that can't hold down the fort all by himself lol.