Rat Poison

[BillM2]

We have rats invading our coop. Bold ones too taking food in broad daylight from the feeder. We’ve tried snap traps with partial success. What rat poison is recommended? We’ll likely use a bait station that we’ll pick up in the mornings so the hens can’t get to them.

 

[azygous]

Having lost my share of chickens to accidental poisoning, I shudder at the thought of rat poison anywhere near chickens.

I use roller bucket traps set up year round and manage to catch mice and rats in them almost every day. It seems to be the one trap that rodents never seem to be able to figure out and avoid like all the traps sitting on my garage shelf gathering dust because the varmints are on to how they work.

Go on Amazon and you'll find the parts to assemble them yourself or you can buy the ready-to-use product. In winter, I add salt to the water in the bucket to keep it from freezing. Even when it freezes, it still catches rodents.

 

[Howard E]

If you want the long version......

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-control-the-video-series.1337456/

If you want the short version......ultimately you will have the best success by placing chicken feed in a rat proof feeder.....and stored feed in metal trash cans. Read....."sanitation".

You starve them out and they will move on.

Do your research on rats and you will quickly discover that it's next to impossible to trap them out. And in any event, trapping, poison, etc, are the 3rd and final step....."elimination". You only go to that if the first two fail.

 

[cmom]

I had a severe rat infestation in one of my coops. When I tore out the ceiling and walls dozen of rats of all sizes came pouring out. I tried many things even the water bucket but I didn't have any success with it. I floated some sunflower seen in the water and still no takers. I put a ramp up on the bucket and still nothing. I decided to use poison. I bought some rat bait stations and put them in my barn which is behind my coops since I had seen some rats in there. There were also tunnels around the coops from the rats. I didn't find any dead rats around but I'm pretty sure they went into their tunnels and died. This is what I used. The bait station has a little window above the bait so it can be checked often and the only things that can get to the bait is the rats and mice. There is a patrician down the middle of the bait box the rats have to go around to get to the bait. I tried some different baits and this one worked best for me. Good luck...

 

[Al Gerhart]

Ditto on what Howard E wrote. Poison works when rats are starving and literally have no other choice but to take a chance. Plus your poisoned rats are now poisoning the natural predators that should keep them in control. Clean up the mess, store the feed, get a proper rat proof feeder and be done with it.