Rats, rats EVERYWHERE! ☹️

[Painted Calls]

Cockerel

Obviously.

 

[Ann With A Plan]

I am mobile and can’t quite go through all the pages, but have you considered having a ratter come in? There’s a guy on YouTube called the Mink Man who trains mink to go in and help eliminate rodent problems, but he’s got incredibly talented dogs that help with it as well. If you had a way to secure your birds in a small coop of sorts (out of sight and safe) and had someone with a good rat dog come in, or had a dog of your own that’s good with it. Long story short, I have an Australian Cattle Dog who is a ratter, and gets everything from field mice to giant gopher rats. She’s trained to check locations you signal, and has a great nose. Very fast reflexes. Maybe something like this can help? Just a shot.

I was going to mention the Mink Man.

 

[Cot Cot]

Okay, this is the same thing I say to every member, read this article! It decimated my rat problem! I suggest the feeder (Grandpas feeder) that is suggested in the article! I bought one and love it! Fo more reasons then just keeping out rats! Look here for the Q&A section, and here for the purchase section! There is also another brand of feeder that will probably come up here, one made my Al Gerhart with also looks well made. You want to do everything that the article says, I highly suggest not using poison, for all the reasons and more listed in the article. I hope this helps! Article- https://backyardchickenproject.com/how-to-get-rid-of-rats-in-the-chicken-coop-the-definitive-guide/

DITTO DITTO DITTO, I LOVE LOVE MY grandpa's feeder. I even have 2 I love them so much for my 5 chickens. I agree. This is a game changer for clean feeding, no waste and NO rodents.

 

[Weeg]

DITTO DITTO DITTO, I LOVE LOVE MY grandpa's feeder. I even have 2 I love them so much for my 5 chickens. I agree. This is a game changer for clean feeding, no waste and NO rodents.

Agreed! There are conflicting opinions about the Grandpas feeder with other members, but I LOVE mine!

 

[WindingRoad]

It's the exact same one. The only one I've ever seen here.

It's not very big. I've seen bigger elsewhere.

Who did CPR on it.

 

[WindingRoad]

Hows a no waste feeder gonna do anything more helpful then a rat proof feeder?
And why quote my post. My opinion is first and foremost is eliminate the rats asap then do whats necessary to keep them from ever getting a foot hold again.
My point was if you leave the colony intact and remove all food that isn't gonna make them eat themselves or run off starving to death in the night.
They will first turn to eating your birds.

That's not what others here say. They say to not have any feed around to starve them out. Now which is it. No feed = starvation. and moving on. Now you say that's not so. Why not quote your post?

If a rat proof feeder wastes food from the birds flicking it out, it's no good.

 

[WindingRoad]

That's not what others here say. They say to not have any feed around to starve them out. Now which is it. No feed = starvation. and moving on. Now you say that's not so. Why not quote your post?

 

[WthrLady]

I'm a HUGE fan of battery operated, electric rat traps. Done wonders here.
We just bait with a couple pieces of corn.

 

[Painted Calls]

Who did CPR on it.

Nobody I hope! It was gone the next day. Though by bets are on the skunks. Doubt that stiff thing walked away on it's own.

 

[Tiniest Farmstead]

This all started last year when my neighbor unloaded some rat-infested materials. They quickly came up to my house. Plentiful food supply, right? Well. I cant take it anymore. There’s stupid rats EVERYWHERE by my chicken pens. And I can’t use poison and no amount of traps would ever get all those dang mice.

Do I rehome my flock and start anew later?? It seems the rat population keeps growing and growing. My feed bill is sky high because I’m feeding more rats than chickens. It’s to the point where my chickens are absolutely starving if not fed twice daily.

If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.

I already have 4 cats.

I have had some issues with rats as well! We have 2 chickens and 2 ducks and stored the feed in a Rubbermaid shed. The rats chewed into the shed to get to the food and also fed from the chicken feeders at night. I moved the feed into the house and brought the feeders inside at night as well. I invested in a bunch of these traps from Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Professional...work&qid=1607140305&sprefix=rat+traps+&sr=8-3

(I hope that works as a link, if not they’re KatSense traps, I literally searched “rat traps that work” !)
I bait them with the feed, and they’re really effective. I also have found a number of drowned rats in the wading pool I fill for the ducks. this makes me think that the bucket traps would be effective, though I haven’t tried them.

I also have used a bait that is billed to be safe for other animals and not to affect wildlife (RatX)
Anyway, this combination has helped to greatly reduce our rat problem, even though we’re not super vigilant.
Just a few suggestions about what has worked for our small place!