Rat Problem

[Big Doggie]

Oh right.

I haven’t read all the responses but 1/2” hardware cloth properly installed will keep EVERYTHING out except bears.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I agree on the 1/2" hardware cloth. That is the route i took, and have had very few rodent issues in my coops/runs. It was expensive tho. Due to very large coops and runs, spent thousands to completely wrap sides & top, and also have aprons extending out 3 feet. Every winter i still see/hear evidence of rodents here and there. They first move into the outbuildings & sheds. If i didnt consistently keep the rodent population down with poison during the winter, i have no doubt they would eventually make a move for the chicken feed inside the coops. My chickens free-range dawn til dusk, so im pretty certain rodents would move in. (Have had minor problems here and there in past; hence wintertime poison behind the nest boxes.) My personal experience has been that meadow mice & wood rats move into the storage sheds first to seek shelter. I dont wait for them to discover the chicken feed. I understand the dangers of poison, & that not everyone agrees with its use. But after reading so many stories about rat invasions, i decided poison was my best choice. Ive only ever found a couple dead mice in the open, & never any dead rats. Only smell of decomposition was a dead possum in a shed that obviously ate the poison. I stayed far away from that shed for a couple of weeks!

 

[Meg-in-MT]

@Meg-in-MT i thought u made a very good point so decided to research issue. From what i could see, chicken lice and mites are GENUS/avian specific; live happily on bird species but not long on mammals. Unfortunately that means the lice and mites from rodents CAN & do feed off humans and other mammals. Another reason to keep rats away from human dwellings.

Thanks for checking into it, Allsfair!

 

[Weeg]

How is it going @cluckmecoop7? What is your plan of action?

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Hi Weeg!

I set two traps that I already had out in the chicken pen last night. The light turned on more than 5 times, so I'm sure there are still rats. We checked the traps around 9:00 PM and there was nothing in the traps but we SAW a RAT run into a hole! This morning, the food around the run was gone but the traps were untouched. Grrrrr! How smart are these things?

( More details later )

 

[Weeg]

Hi Weeg!

I set two traps that I already had out in the chicken pen last night. The light turned on more than 5 times, so I'm sure there are still rats. We checked the traps around 9:00 PM and there was nothing in the traps but we SAW a RAT run into a hole! This morning, the food around the run was gone but the traps were untouched. Grrrrr! How smart are these things?

( More details later )

We used live maze traps to catch them, and it totally worked. Caught 10 a day! The problem is, you have to find a way to kill them after you catch them alive, which isn't fun, but those traps were defenetly catching them! link- https://www.amazon.com/RUGGED-RANCH...19483&sprefix=muti+catch+live+,aps,281&sr=8-7
Once again, this one is expensive, but, we were catching 10 rats a day, for sure worth it!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thanks! That looks awesome! I might get it!

Do you think I could flood the rats out of their holes during the day and then shoot them?

 

[Weeg]

It is possible that they aren't going into the traps because they have figured out what they do. That can happen. try switching up your traps, you can try metal snap traps too off amazon.

You could totally flood there hole with a hose, and shoot them. BUT, make sure that you are cutting off food, and water supply, and you are filling in the hole slick the article suggests! Otherwise, the survivors will keep coming back, and reproducing.
Have you read through the whole article? It is really interesting, with all the facts, and I love the way it is written too!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thanks for the info!

I read almost all of it, and I'm going to finish it today! Thank you again for the help!

 

[Weeg]

Thanks for the info!

I read almost all of it, and I'm going to finish it today! Thank you again for the help!

Ya! No problem! Glad I can help out! Did you check your hens for parasites too?