i'm a kid and i'm new to chickens what should i do about a rat stealing my chickens food during winter when i cant put the food inside???
You need to secure your coop with galvanized hardware cloth (1/2 " mesh). I have my run entirely wrapped with the hardware cloth and dug down into the ground about 1 1/2 feet so that the critter can't dig under, but you don't have to dig it down. You can bend it out towards you (away from the inside of the coop) so that it rests on the ground about a foot. When the rat/racoon/fox tries to dig - it will dig at the base of the coop fencing, but will be met with more mesh covering the ground. Does that make sense?
Posted to another query: My understanding is that rats/mice are everywhere. They will congregate and breed where there is available food, water, and shelter. Look closely around any fast food restaurant and you will see rat bait stations. They will eventually come, the idea is to prevent them from establishing a colony. If you see 1, there are probably fifty. If you see two or more holes, expect dozens. Keeping a rat trap/bait station baited 24/7 hopefully keeps the population from establishing near your food source. Once established, they are very difficult to eliminate. Remember, chickens don't attract rats, food does. That said, I fabricated black 4 inch circular x 18" long drainage plastic pipe as a bait station. Placed along the outside of my coop, looks like drainage pipe (not unsightly). I put a t fitting in the center, capped, for easy viewing once a week. Inside I maintain commercial rat poison. My run has food scraps 24/7. My coop has food access 24/7. Water access 24/7. 5 years, no sign of rats or mice... Hope this helps.
We know we have one rat. Guessing on five acres it's wishful thinking to think it is the only one, but there is a tunnel under the hen house that is usually full of feathers. Mostly, we have no issues. In the winter, we'll see a little trail from the hen house to the barn and the pesky bugger is out in the open for less than five feet before being in the cover of the hay so not much chance for the cat to get it. It's attacked chicks, though, and my son is already attached to the chicks he hopes to hatch out next year in his new flock! We'll look into this bait station and see what we can come up with that won't endanger the other animals!
