Rat infestation

[BelovedBirds]

My farm cat is the best. He chases rats and foxes, too!

wow!

 

[BelovedBirds]

I may have to go to the shelter for a cat to work on these vermin

would muscovy, or geese, go after rats/perhaps foxes etc?

 

[FunClucks]

I put out live traps baited with tuna, and the first thing I caught was my buff orpington chicken who had escaped from the enclosed run. So no poison here. You never know where the chickens will turn up.

http://ratproofchickenfeeder.com

I use these treadle feeders, similar to grandpas but less likely to get the chickens heads hurt if they get caught. Not had a problem with mice or rats. Of course, I also covered the entire open air coop/run with hardware cloth, and put down a 3 foot apron. They haven't found their way inside yet as far as I can tell.

 

[DukesDucks]

would muscovy, or geese, go after rats/perhaps foxes etc?

The only 2 Muscovy I have lost to a predator was to a fox in the middle of the afternoon. I was nearby but not fast enough to save them. No more free ranging.

If you are looking to fill holes with steel wool, SOS pads work just as well and are way cheaper. Obviously can't be put in an area where they could get wet.

 

[Chicken poppy]

I’ve been keeping my coops closed up during the day so none get inside. I have to do this in warm months because of snakes too. Too bad snakes aren’t out in winter they could feast. Lol
Another reason I stopped using poison just recently a mouse came out during the day my hen snatched it up and ate it.

Hah. My chickens don’t even dig for themselves. I have to go out there with a hand shovel to dig grubs up for them.

Let alone mice, no, a mice stepped on my chickens foot and im not even joking when i say her neck bent back so far, like “how dare that thing touch me” and she held her foot up. Not once did anyone even make an attempt to go after it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh my word my chickens did holes deep enough for burial I even mention that to them when I come across one of their deep holes. My Runners love to nap in their holes. lol

 

[Miss Lydia]

I put out live traps baited with tuna, and the first thing I caught was my buff orpington chicken who had escaped from the enclosed run. So no poison here. You never know where the chickens will turn up.

http://ratproofchickenfeeder.com

I use these treadle feeders, similar to grandpas but less likely to get the chickens heads hurt if they get caught. Not had a problem with mice or rats. Of course, I also covered the entire open air coop/run with hardware cloth, and put down a 3 foot apron. They haven't found their way inside yet as far as I can tell.

Explain how these work since there isn't any explanation on the link. Just pictures. How many birds do you have and do you have more than one of these feeders? I have 28 birds total and put out 4 feeders so there aren't any squabbles.
I never see rats or mice in the feeders they are never left out overnight either.

My situation is probably different than many since My coops are sitting in over a half acre fenced which is actually their run. I don't actually have a literal "run"

 

[FunClucks]

Explain how these work since there isn't any explanation on the link. Just pictures. How many birds do you have and do you have more than one of these feeders? I have 28 birds total and put out 4 feeders so there aren't any squabbles.
I never see rats or mice in the feeders they are never left out overnight either.

My situation is probably different than many since My coops are sitting in over a half acre fenced which is actually their run. I don't actually have a literal "run"

Yea, that info was hard to ferret out. I have two size medium exterior treadle feeders - at one point I had 19 birds, so about 10 birds per feeder is what was recommended. I got two medium instead of one large so it would be harder for them to "guard" the food, and there would be a backup if one ran out unexpectedly. I mounted them on pallets lying on the ground to keep the feeders up away from water, and they're under my tarp on my enclosed run. I have a 10'x20' enclosed greenhouse frame run, with hardware cloth all over it, covered by a tarp on top. Open air run due to my weather year round. Putting feeders out and taking them in at night doesn't work in my routine, so I'm grateful for the peace of mind these feeders give me - they stay out in the run year-round. Sometimes the chickens manage to pull out some crumble onto the ground, but not very often. They're designed to feed pellets, but work fine for crumble too.

Not terribly easy to clean due to the joints, but manageable if you have to. I've had mine 8 months, and haven't needed to clean it yet - as long as the food and feeder stays completely dry and you don't get a bag of bad food into it, there's no issues.

The treadle foot is counterweighted so that when the birds aren't stepping on it, the door shuts and no animals can get in. The treadle foot is far enough away that chickens can reach the food when they stand on the foot, but rats and mice can't. There's also a duck attachment for the treadle foot. My flock usually has 2-3 birds eating, standing on the treadle foot at a time. The feeder is designed for standard chickens, but can be altered for smaller weight/length birds to accommodate older chicks - maybe 12 weeks and older, by putting a bar across the treadle foot so they can stand closer to the food. Also you can adjust the counterweight weight and spring strength. There's a balance between having chickens access the food and keeping the door shut strongly enough to keep out rats and mice.

The guy who makes them is a member on this site, so you can search rat proof chicken feeder and come up with a couple threads about his products, and product reviews. There's another website too in addition to the one I sent you that really describes how the feeders work, but I couldn't locate it quickly.

 

[FunClucks]

Explain how these work since there isn't any explanation on the link. Just pictures. How many birds do you have and do you have more than one of these feeders? I have 28 birds total and put out 4 feeders so there aren't any squabbles.
I never see rats or mice in the feeders they are never left out overnight either.

My situation is probably different than many since My coops are sitting in over a half acre fenced which is actually their run. I don't actually have a literal "run"

Here's Al's other website with more explanation of the feeders on it, and some cool stories for how he got started making them.

http://ratproofchickenfeeder.net/

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you for all the information.