Rats? A Cat? Something Else? What killed my chickens?

[BDutch]

Well, kind of a rough update. Not a fatality, but I just watched on my Ring camera a really disturbing rat attack on my rooster, Bernard. First one of the rats basically flushes him down off of the roost. Then as he wanders around in the dark, they keep jumping up at him, biting him and chasing him. From the looks of it, this attack went on for well over half an hour before he somehow found a roost where they couldn't get at him.

My phone was really low on battery and charging, so I hadn't checked the camera as often as I've been, and was horrified because this all happened almost 4 hours ago. Sprinted out to the run before finishing watching the footage. Thank goodness he's alive and from the look of it mainly has some superficial bites. I cannot overstate how upsetting it was watching him stumbling around in the dark, unable to see and unable to notice the rats creeping up on him from different directions.

Today I got about 1/4 done building a secure roosting box for them, and now I'm determined to finish it before they go to bed tomorrow night. I'm kind of scared for my other flock now, as I'll have to build them their own box and there are only so many hours of sunlight. (I work tomorrow from 9-2).

I've got my barn cat with an attitude, Oliver, out with them now in the run, and I think I'll get my hammock out and join them.

Rats! *shakes fist*

Thanks for sharing the update. Good luck with the rat proof coops.
Is it possible for you to upload the footage and share it here next week?

 

[Anon112]

Thanks for sharing the update. Good luck with the rat proof coops.
Is it possible for you to upload the footage and share it here next week?

I'll try to figure it out and upload it.

Going back to something Al said earlier in the thread about proper roosts where the rats can't get at their toes: the only chickens who have been attacked are the ones who sleep on top of the coop roof, which forces their feet at a wider angle. So far (she said, aware of bad luck), my chickens who roost on a narrower roost have not been attacked. Just a thought for anyone else who might be in a similar situation.

 

[Anon112]

Update: I've been alternating sleeping out in the chicken run in my hammock (with my sassy barn cat) with snap traps. Thus far I've gotten 4 rats with the traps. Every night I've been moving any chickens on the coop roof to the more proper roost, and I've moved my camera to point at where all the chickens are roosting so I can check on them with my phone.

I got my "chicken box" 3/4 built yesterday, but cold temps and early sunset are challenges, as by the time I get home from work there's about an hour of daylight left at best, so I'm not sure how much work I can do until the weekend. Even with flashlights and lamps I can't see all the corners and how things exactly fit together, and obviously leaving a gap would be worse because they'd be trapped in a box.

If anyone is reading this just out of sheer interest: I really, REALLY regret not being more intense when I first realized there were rats coming into my coop. Yes, I took steps, but only casually, and I was treating them as more of a nuisance than a serious threat. There are lots of things I'd do over again as a chicken owner--LOTS of things---but for sure if I could go back in time I'd take steps to exclude and deter rats before they were a problem and be more thoughtful about things like leaving treats out in the run.

 

[Anon112]

Okay, I've uploaded some footage from the rat attacking Bernard
View media item 7974559
View media item 7974558
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. Honestly, I find this really hard to watch, so I just pulled a few clips. One where you see it flush him down off of the roost, and then two where you can see them attacking and stalking him. This went on for over 30 minutes. Just terrible.

Also, if you have thoughts (ie critiques) about my run setup---now is not the time, thanks!

 

[McChooky]

Well, kind of a rough update. Not a fatality, but I just watched on my Ring camera a really disturbing rat attack on my rooster, Bernard. First one of the rats basically flushes him down off of the roost. Then as he wanders around in the dark, they keep jumping up at him, biting him and chasing him. From the looks of it, this attack went on for well over half an hour before he somehow found a roost where they couldn't get at him.

My phone was really low on battery and charging, so I hadn't checked the camera as often as I've been, and was horrified because this all happened almost 4 hours ago. Sprinted out to the run before finishing watching the footage. Thank goodness he's alive and from the look of it mainly has some superficial bites. I cannot overstate how upsetting it was watching him stumbling around in the dark, unable to see and unable to notice the rats creeping up on him from different directions.

Today I got about 1/4 done building a secure roosting box for them, and now I'm determined to finish it before they go to bed tomorrow night. I'm kind of scared for my other flock now, as I'll have to build them their own box and there are only so many hours of sunlight. (I work tomorrow from 9-2).

I've got my barn cat with an attitude, Oliver, out with them now in the run, and I think I'll get my hammock out and join them.

Rats! *shakes fist*

I sprinkle garden sulfur inside the pallet walls of my chicken coop to deter rats and mice,parasites,etc .If you have any rat tunnels,etc. you can put it in there too. It kills parasites and rodents too if it get its on their fur.I'm sorry to hear the rats are attacking your rooster and hope you can find a way to control the rats before they hurt anymore.I've seen them attack a full grown cat .Rat terriers excellent rat killers

 

[McChooky]

Okay, I've uploaded some footage from the rat attacking Bernard
View media item 7974559
View media item 7974558
View media item 7974557
. Honestly, I find this really hard to watch, so I just pulled a few clips. One where you see it flush him down off of the roost, and then two where you can see them attacking and stalking him. This went on for over 30 minutes. Just terrible.

Also, if you have thoughts (ie critiques) about my run setup---now is not the time, thanks!

Bless your heart that's hard to watch! I'm sorry you're going thru this! On the bright side your chickens have a lot of room to get away which helps.In a smaller set up it would be worse.I despise rats with a passion!

 

[Al Gerhart]

I know I discounted rats when they first appeared in my coop way back in 2011. Thinking, a little feed stolen, what else could they do?

But, they are a disaster and it is amazing to watch the lengths people will go to to get rid of them.

The advice remains the same though, stop feeding the rats and they have to leave unless other humans have another source of feed nearby. Feed in metal barrels with tight lids, clean up the pathways to force the rats out into the open where natural predators help thin their numbers, and get a good treadle feeder that is actually rat proof. Check those reviews and believe the negative reviews before the five star reviews.

 

[McChooky]

Rats eat half of every bag of cat food my neighbor buys because she keeps it on her porch.Her chicken feeds kept in a metal trash can with a loose fitting lid in the yard. Wildlife usually eats it.The rats she has are huge

 

[BDutch]

If anyone is reading this just out of sheer interest: I really, REALLY regret not being more intense when I first realized there were rats coming into my coop. Yes, I took steps, but only casually, and I was treating them as more of a nuisance than a serious threat. There are lots of things I'd do over again as a chicken owner--LOTS of things---but for sure if I could go back in time I'd take steps to exclude and deter rats before they were a problem and be more thoughtful about things like leaving treats out in the run.

I suppose we all have made mistakes. I did for sure when I started keeping chickens.

We had a rat problem too in the first years, because a neighbour had chickens and rabbits in the same run. They spilled feed and attracted rats. Rats came in their run through the tunnels the rabbits made. The rats and rabbits attracted other predators. After loosing a few rabbits and 2 catastrophes with surplus killing by a fox, they quit having rabbits and chickens.

After a few chicks of mine were taken by a rat who had found his way into my chickens run, I secured the run and cleared the undergrowth around the run. I suppose foxes eliminated the rat population. I haven’t seen any rats for years now.

 

[Anon112]

I suppose we all have made mistakes. I did for sure when I started keeping chickens.

We had a rat problem too in the first years, because a neighbour had chickens and rabbits in the same run. They spilled feed and attracted rats. Rats came in their run through the tunnels the rabbits made. The rats and rabbits attracted other predators. After loosing a few rabbits and 2 catastrophes with surplus killing by a fox, they quit having rabbits and chickens.

After a few chicks of mine were taken by a rat who had found his way into my chickens run, I secured the run and cleared the undergrowth around the run. I suppose foxes eliminated the rat population. I haven’t seen any rats for years now.

That's awesome. The location of my run makes it very hard to dig, which has made installing a proper apron really challenging.

I think that my best steps moving forward are being really rigorous about not having any food just out and available in the run and keeping the area around the run really clear of leaves or other cover. I've been raking around the run to make it easier for the local predators to get at the rats.

Last night I stayed inside due to the weather we were going to get (the place where I hang my hammock is open to the sky and we had a winter storm). I set out a ton of snap traps. No attacks, nothing in the traps, and no sign of any rats on the Ring camera footage.