Rats in our chicken coop!

[EmeraldRuby]

I am new to BackYardChickens and our chickens our 9 weeks and 2 days old. We let them free range from their coop and I went to check on the coop and a baby rat was eating some watermelon we gave them. Me and my mom scared it off,but it's is a baby and it has to have a mom. Can rats kill chickens? If so how do we get rid of them?

 

[Hinotori]

Yes, rats can kill small chickens.

Use 1/4 inch metal hardware cloth all around to keep them out. I have a big coop I put down cement pavers to keep them from digging in and screened in around the bottom. Over in my 10x10 silkie coop I did put down metal hardware cloth on the ground and around the bottom three feet. I used 3/4 inch plastic hardware cloth for the top three feet. I haven't had rats chew through it that high, and it keeps out the birds that steal food.

I had a horrible infestation start in winter 2012. First time we had actual rats. We got kittens to grow up and kill rodents and they do a good job with smaller rodents. It took the dog to kill off all the rats. Several times a night we'd go out and look at all the spots that the rats would hide that I left on purpose. I'd chase them towards her and she'd kill them. It took almost a year but we managed to kill them all off. The dog would hunt for them during the day. She'd sniff and listen at the ground and pinpoint where they had their nests buried. If the chickens saw her digging they'd run over and wait to grab the baby rats.

 

[CMV]

2012 was a bad year for rodents everywhere. Actually, it was a great year for rodents, just bad for those of us that had to deal with the rodents. I killed more rodents that year than I have every other year combined.

Rodents are a big problem. They eat feed, kill chicks, chew the toes off older birds on the roost, spread disease, invade your house, muck up your drawers, crap all over everything...They just suck. It is important to keep their numbers in check, or you will have a serious problem before too long.

The hardware cloth should keep them out of your run and coop, but it sounds like you may need to start do some trapping. I used snap traps placed under milk crates, and bucket traps placed in dog kennels. The cages around the traps kept other animals (like chickens) out of the traps, but left them open enough that the target animals were able to access the traps. The bucket traps were spectacularly successful. There were some mornings that I would check the bucket traps and find 4-6 animals in each bucket. My record was 7 animals in one night, in one trap.

If there are enough rats around that you are seeing them, then there are a lot around.

 

[Kazfam]

honestly - a couple of outdoor cats will help immensely.

is it possible to get some from the animal shelter...make sure they are fixed...males are more friendly than females, females will wander less than males (in my experience). so...it's a preference thing.

keep the cats out of the coop/run.

full grown chickens will usually intimidate a cat to the point where the cat will stay away from it (if you free range). our cats (we have 4) were curious and now seem to ignore them.

 

[RonP]

Posted to another query:

My understanding is that rats are everywhere.
They will congregate and breed where there is available food.
Look closely around any fast food restaurant and you will see rat traps.

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/poison station bated 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 6 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...

Hope this helps.