Rat problem need more advice

[lpalm]

I have had a mixed flock of chicken and ducks for about 2 years. Over the last year we have had a huge rat problem-not only in numbers but in size. These things are like small cats (Norway rats)!

I have read all of the information on here and found some wonderful advice, but I wanted to get some detailed advice if I could.

Things I have tried:
Snap traps (work sometimes)
Uhlik repeater trap (worked great at first, not so much now)
Contra (did not see a decline in population)
Poison while my flock has been moved during construction
Moved the food to the garage and store in metal cans

Our chicken and duck coops have been 2 10 x 10 dog kennels with plastic sheds inside where the chickens and ducks sleep. We are in the process of replacing those with a 16x20 shed that has a wood floor.

Their "run" is a 10 x 20 area fenced in with chain link and covered with netting (for the hawks).

So these are my plans/questions after reading through things.

1. I will dig down 6" around the shed into the ground and put hardware cloth around the entire base of the new shed and up near the roof where there are any gaps.
2. I will purchase one of the recommended treadle feeders and keep that inside the shed. I guess inside the shed is the best place?
3. I will make sure to empty their water each night.
4. The ducks have a large plastic pond in the run area. It is not economically feasible to empty it every night. Should I try to make some kind of cover for it at night? Do you have any recommendations?
5. I am not sure what, if anything I can do for the run area since rats can easily come through the chain link fence. Maybe just hardware cloth underneath? Do you have any recommendations?
6. Put out a bait trap
7. Try the contra again

I am debating about getting 2 "barn cats", but I really hate that cats kill birds, so I have been putting it off.

Thank you in advance for any input/advice about any of this!

 

[SmiYa0126]

I don't think cats would help against rats, it was rat terriers that were used to kill rats.

I'm so sorry about this issue, ugh!

 

[ViKulik]

Mix baking soda with corn meal add to crumbles and put it out in your old chicken feeder, the one the rats are accustomed to eating from. The baking soda won't hurt the chickens but will kill the rats

 

[SmotherHen]

I have had a mixed flock of chicken and ducks for about 2 years. Over the last year we have had a huge rat problem-not only in numbers but in size. These things are like small cats (Norway rats)!

I have read all of the information on here and found some wonderful advice, but I wanted to get some detailed advice if I could.

Things I have tried:
Snap traps (work sometimes)
Uhlik repeater trap (worked great at first, not so much now)
Contra (did not see a decline in population)
Poison while my flock has been moved during construction
Moved the food to the garage and store in metal cans

Our chicken and duck coops have been 2 10 x 10 dog kennels with plastic sheds inside where the chickens and ducks sleep. We are in the process of replacing those with a 16x20 shed that has a wood floor.

Their "run" is a 10 x 20 area fenced in with chain link and covered with netting (for the hawks).

So these are my plans/questions after reading through things.

1. I will dig down 6" around the shed into the ground and put hardware cloth around the entire base of the new shed and up near the roof where there are any gaps.
2. I will purchase one of the recommended treadle feeders and keep that inside the shed. I guess inside the shed is the best place?
3. I will make sure to empty their water each night.
4. The ducks have a large plastic pond in the run area. It is not economically feasible to empty it every night. Should I try to make some kind of cover for it at night? Do you have any recommendations?
5. I am not sure what, if anything I can do for the run area since rats can easily come through the chain link fence. Maybe just hardware cloth underneath? Do you have any recommendations?
6. Put out a bait trap
7. Try the contra again

I am debating about getting 2 "barn cats", but I really hate that cats kill birds, so I have been putting it off.

Thank you in advance for any input/advice about any of this!

i've heard that feeding the rats a mixture of blueberry muffin mix powder and baking soda will kill them. they can't burp. I don't know if this will affect the chickens if they get into the mix though. Anyone else have experience with this method?

 

[nao57]

Interesting ideas. Its worth trying to confirm the research and try.

Also... I have to warn you, rats WILL kill and eat small chickens and ducklings. You want to not wait.

There are people who train their dogs to be 'ratters'. Wonder if any are in your area?

As ducks swim pretty good. If your pond is an escape spot for them from the rats I'd probably not cover it then?

 

[Al Gerhart]

Before you go to the expense of trying to rat proof the coop you really should first do the first step of the three step process; sanitation. You got the idea, bulk feed in metal containers and a real treadle feeder. Add to that a general clean up of the area to remove any cover the rats might use coming and going so the natural predators can control their numbers.

Be careful when purchasing a feeder. Read the negative reviews carefully and give them more weight than the five star reviews, those negative reviews are the folks that had a rat problem that didn't get solved. For large rats the Chinese made feeders like the Grandpa feeder will NOT stop them, you need a narrow and distant treadle step AND a spring loaded door to prevent the rats from overwhelming the treadle or just pushing the door open or up. Avoid all feeders that ask you to leave the feeder blocked open for "training" because you will be training the rats too.

You will need to set that feeder action pretty stiff to deal with such large rats so ONLY the full size birds will be able to use the feeder, the little ones like bantams or silkies will have to learn to eat from the side when they can.

The three steps of rodent control come from Howard E.'s posts a few years back. Sanitation, exclusion, elimination. Do the first and you don't need to do the more expensive exclusion and you can have free range as well. If you feel the need to do the last one, elimination, the treadle feeder and general clean up will make it more likely that the rats will take the bait from starvation. But, protect the feed first, give it a week or ten days, you will rarely need anything else. Once the colony has starved out you can get by training new poults or chicks with open feed and generally not cause a relapse.

Good luck!

 

[nao57]

Before you go to the expense of trying to rat proof the coop you really should first do the first step of the three step process; sanitation. You got the idea, bulk feed in metal containers and a real treadle feeder. Add to that a general clean up of the area to remove any cover the rats might use coming and going so the natural predators can control their numbers.

Be careful when purchasing a feeder. Read the negative reviews carefully and give them more weight than the five star reviews, those negative reviews are the folks that had a rat problem that didn't get solved. For large rats the Chinese made feeders like the Grandpa feeder will NOT stop them, you need a narrow and distant treadle step AND a spring loaded door to prevent the rats from overwhelming the treadle or just pushing the door open or up. Avoid all feeders that ask you to leave the feeder blocked open for "training" because you will be training the rats too.

You will need to set that feeder action pretty stiff to deal with such large rats so ONLY the full size birds will be able to use the feeder, the little ones like bantams or silkies will have to learn to eat from the side when they can.

The three steps of rodent control come from Howard E.'s posts a few years back. Sanitation, exclusion, elimination. Do the first and you don't need to do the more expensive exclusion and you can have free range as well. If you feel the need to do the last one, elimination, the treadle feeder and general clean up will make it more likely that the rats will take the bait from starvation. But, protect the feed first, give it a week or ten days, you will rarely need anything else. Once the colony has starved out you can get by training new poults or chicks with open feed and generally not cause a relapse.

Good luck!

Thanks for trying to help.

 

[nao57]

You know I thought of another thing you can try in conjunction with some of these other ideas...

A few years ago I was asked to look at a farm that had a bee problem. Since I was a beekeeper. They thought they had a rogue swarm in one of the feed bins because there was always bees in there trying to get in. And it was early spring where there wasn't any protein around sprouted yet, so the bees were taking the animal protein in the feed because there weren't any dandelions yet.

Anyway... the short of the story is we set up a decoy feeder away from that one. Then covered the main feed bin so the bees couldn't get into the animal feed. And it helped.

You could do something like securing your main feed like Al mentioned. And then set a decoy at some nearby spot that's trapped with these other things. You'd have to make sure traps weren't where the other animals could get into them though...

 

[Zmajor]

Hi there I’m dealing with rats too and have listed a lot of methods we’re trying to eliminate them in this post: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...nation-around-the-coop.1593506/#post-27097245

You definitely will have to get a really good treadle feeder if you cannot fully keep rats out of the coop and run. Rats are prolific climbers so the chain link is like a jungle gym for them, if you can at least cover overlay a cheaper smaller material to the chain link (like chicken wire), I’d think that would really help? But nothing beats hardware cloth.. it’s just so pricey to get enough to cover floors and entire walls.

 

[Folly's place]

If your coop is totally predator proof, no openings larger than 1/2" diameter, and big enough for all your birds at night, it makes a difference. A small attached run, also predator proof, will be a good investment, so your flock can be safe while this issue is resolved.
Absolutely no openings larger than 1/2"!!!
Then feed and water only in these safe spaces, the duck's pool outside, and bait stations for those rodents, where no other animals can get to them. If you have tunnels, bait down the tunnels and then cap the openings with brick or something.
Most rats will die in their tunnels, so few of any will be found above ground. Dispose of them in the garbage. We lost three nice pullets to rats in our coop years ago, fixed the coop to be safer, and no more issues.
Rat killing little terriers can be found, maybe. Few cats will take them on! Our barn cats considered rats a human issue to manage.
Mary