Rats running into coop!

[mmccarthy781]

Hi everyone,
So yesterday evening I was looking out the window at my coop, and I saw a dark object scurrying back and forth from my chicken coop to a snow bank. I went outside but whatever it was had left, but I found 2 burrows in the snowbank I saw the animal go to. I'm pretty sure that it was a rat judging by it's size and by the size of the 2 burrows. Tonight, after I lock the chickens in their coop, I plan on putting out snap traps to try and get rid of the rats. But my question is about what health problems the rat may have given the chickens. I read that they can spread diseases like salmonella. What should I look for to make sure they are healthy?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Peplers chicks]

I dont know how good does hamster's interact with chickens, but I used hamster's with my rabbit flock to keep the rats away, rats are very scared of hamster's,

 

[GD91]

I remember this too, my mums shed always used to have rats because we kept the animals food in there. When I was a kid I put 2 syrian hamsters in there in their separate cages for the summer & the rats disappeared.

Have no Idea why hamsters should scare rats so much, maybe its because hammies are such foul tempered little

And hamsters will attack birds. I've even had button quail murdered by Mongolian gerbils when I was a kid (what? I was ten!)

Hamsters & gerbils will kill each other, rabbits & gerbils sometimes get on (my old rabbit mothered our gerbils when they were in her hutch) Gerbils terrify guinea pigs & may try to attack them, Rabbits & guinea pigs get on well so long as the guinea pig never gets kicked, Mice & rabbits get on, rats get killed by rabbits, birds hate rats, rats kill birds......


Basically every animal generally hates the sight of a rat!

Maybe its just so built in to avoid them, after all wild rats are greedy, they push other animals out & eat & spoil their food, kill their offspring, contaminate the area.....

I don't have one species of animal that will tolerate a rat happily.....

 

[conny63malies]

I heard the same stuff about guinea pigs. Anyways if the whole the rats made are in the floor , mix some plaster of paris with broken glass and smear that into the hole. When the rats try to go in again they will hurt themselves and hopefully give up. Tip from my german grandma

 

[sgtsalt79]

We have a rat problem too and I'm wondering if it's too dangerous to the chickens to put out rat poison under the coop. Will the rats spread it to where the chickens might eat it?? Don't have much of a stomach for snap traps.

 

[Peplers chicks]

We have a rat problem too and I'm wondering if it's too dangerous to the chickens to put out rat poison under the coop. Will the rats spread it to where the chickens might eat it?? Don't have much of a stomach for snap traps.

I would not take that change, I experienced a rat shift a 250 gram soap bar underneath a bed that was about 15 meters away