Rats...literally.

[cityslickers]

I know you have lots of pets..
Put all feed up at night
store in metal trash cans
and buy the big rat traps not the small ones those are for mice
Trap at night
and use peanutbutter
set them along the wall rats like to stay close to the wall
Clear all plants and shrubs away from house or barn
We had rats move from the neighbors to our house when they cleared out some shrubs what a nightmare..We tried those sticky ones and they were gone in the morning

Good luck hope this helps some...

 

[chickensioux]

We tried trapping, etc. I read online that pure peppermint oil was a deterrent. I bought some from GNC, put it on some cotton balls and put them down in their holes. I have not seen a rat or sign of a rat since. I don't know....it worked for me.

 

[Chiefs Mess]

I had this problem with one rat couple of years ago. I was sitting on the deck and watched the rodent come from under the coop, run inside of the coop to get some food then went back down his hole. My BIL called it a field rat, to me a rat is a rat. Hubby wanted to shoot it with the shot gun, yeah I will have a big hole in my coop.
Went to the feed store and explain to the lady my situation and also I have dogs, cats, owls and other critters who might get the rat. She sold me Alfalfa Cubes (cannot resist the alfalfa) that were laced with poison. She told me to throw couple down the hold and within an hour or so it will kill the rat. Also any babies down there too. It worked! Only problem was the smell coming from the hole. Just threw some lime down and filled it in.

 

[jjthink]

Cute pic Sheila

The best and safest long term solution is to make your bird areas inhospitable to rats and that means every scrap of food locked up tight at night and doing everything you can to make the coop inpenetrable (you can, for example, stuff scrambled up chicken wire firmly into any holes you think they might be using for entry.
They will generally soon find that the grass is greener elsewhere. No risks this way.
And give that peppermint oil a try too.
For mice, there is a product by Bonide called 'Mouse Magic', a repellent made of peppermint and spearmint leaves. They sell it in packets and you can scatter the packets wherever you like. I keep them a bit of a distance from my birds because sometimes birds are senstive to scents we find totally innocuous and even lovely.
I'll never use poison - the thought of potential unintended victims slays me and I just can't do it.
I do understand that folks don't want rats in their midst though. Nor do I. They don't really bother me except that I know if they set up shop and get too comfortable there will be too many of them. So I work hard at keeping them out and removing enticing attractions.

JJ

 

[Hatrick]

Quote:
They aren't getting into the coop, we keep the hens food up at night and just out in the middle of the yard during the day. The rats and their FOUR babies now just run out into the yard eat out of the bowl and then run back. I tried putting out snap traps but I found the trap sprung and the food gone. Sneaky buggers.