rats in my chicken coop

[melandstacy29]

We have the same problem rats are everywhere in our farm 9 chicken coops. 47 chickens. Have to feed and water in the mornings and pick up at night so rats cannot eat the feed . Any suggestions on how to get rid of the rats safely ? We have three farm dogs as well ? The rats are tunneling underneath and coming inside

 

[Howard E]

Thread is pretty old. OP only had 3 birds and didn't respond to Al's advice, so is probably long gone.

But for to help melandstacy.......

This thread will get you up to speed.....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rats-when-the-army-went-to-war-on-them.1216226/

Watch the video on the very first post, then skip on to page 2 of the thread where the good stuff resides. Two more videos explain what you are up against and the rest explains how to go about resolving your problem. This is not going to be easy. Starts with drying up access to the feed, and almost always includes the use of rat poisons served up from secure bait stations. Poison won't be effective until they have nothing else to eat and are forced to take it. Forget dogs and cats, traps, shooting, etc. Those alone will barely dent the population.

This is the feeder that Al Gerhart posted about that is used to limit rats access to feed, yet let the chickens eat at will. He makes and sells them.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-proof-feeder-review.1180514/

Word of warning........if you live in an area populated by weasels, you have that to worry about too. Large populations of rats often attract weasels (along with snakes, owls, etc), but weasels in particular are one of natures most potent weapons against rats. They move in and kill a bunch and stay with it. But they will also transition to your birds and kill a bunch of those too. Kill em and leave em. If rats can get in, so can weasels and weasels will wipe you out completely.

So do get serious about ridding yourself of the rats.