Rats under coop & run

[RojoMarz]

Once a predator tests the hot wires, it won't be back or will steer clear of the hot wires. A DC battery charger would work better in my opinion than a solar fence charger. I have several game cameras up on my property. I'm sure this coyote is teaching her young to steer clear of the coops and hot wires. They know the chickens are there. I don't shut the pop doors but nothing has gotten past the wires.

Understood, but, I can't run hot wire around my house...well, I guess I could. We prefer to not invite bears, at all, up the cliff, so remove the food at night.

 

[cmom]

Understood, but, I can't run hot wire around my house...well, I guess I could. We prefer to not invite bears, at all, up the cliff, so remove the food at night.

That probably works best for you and that's ok. My situation is a bit different. I have several coops and pens so the hot wires work best for me. I have had my share of losses in the past. I have 40# feeders in the coops but I have a lot of birds. My avatar are some of the coops. Good luck...

 

[CMcGrath71]

Wow, this thread has really taken on a life of its own! I appreciate those who have posted their experiences. Right now, we are digging out under the run, putting down hardware cloth under the gravel & wood chips & joining it to the perimeter/base--so the whole bottom will be encased in hardware cloth. I also got steel wool to put in any edges/corners. The main entry appears to be between under the coop & the run, so that will be sealed off as well. I'm talking with the guy who built the run for me to do a predator apron around the coop/run.

As I said before, I am removing food at night. I don't know that removing water will make a difference--I live next to a stream. I had already read the article that one of the posters linked to--as well as dozens of others! But thank you.

So far, no success with the traps. I'm going to keep trying, though, and hopefully have some success there.

Also--probably contributing to the problem--my neighbors have 20+ chickens. I know they had a rat issue this summer. Not sure if they are still battling it.

 

[cmom]

Rats will travel and they probably have been traveling between your properties probably at night. I think your rat proofing is your best option as you mentioned. They can tunnel but won't be able to penetrate anymore so they will probably move on once they realize it.

 

[CMcGrath71]

So, last couple days have involved setting multiple traps, getting hardware cloth under the run (underneath the gravel, which had to be dug out), and adding a predator apron around the coop. I caught one rat so far. It wasn't quite as disgusting as I had imagined and, poor thing was crying. I'm such a softie, even for a rat Anyway, I put the trap in a bag and took it on a looooong drive and let it go in the woods. Keeping fingers crossed that it doesn't hitchhike it's way back!

Anyone, a last question. Even with removing feed from the coop at night--there really isn't any way to clean up every last crumb that the chickens have spilled on the ground. I put a little stone platform under the feeder, so I can sweep it up when I clean up at night, but I'm sure there is still some feed on the ground I'm missing. Any suggestions for making sure there is NOTHING left to attract hungry critters?

 

[Al Gerhart]

Let's say you can clean up every last crumb. The rats will simply start eating during the day unless you have some exceptional chickens that will take on a rat. A few crumbs won't feed many rats, might supplement their natural food sources though and it will keep them coming back.

Again, two ways to stop the rats. Making a rat proof chicken pen or starving them out with a treadle feeder. Bringing the feed in at night works for one day. So you gotta build Fort Knox.

Be sure that there are no holes larger than one inch, better if that is 1/2 inch maximum hole or gap. They will test the defenses, you will need to watch out for chewing on any wood, even concrete. Doubt they could chew through a brick, concrete block yes no problem. Follow up with more hardware cloth where they are trying to chew into the coop. Might add some strips of hardware cloth around the door too, staple it down well so they cannot wiggle under it and get through a gap around the door.

Good luck.

 

[Fortune]

Hi There,

I have a coop and run that are built on top of a 6 inch foundation of gravel, surrounded by a thick lumber frame. I have hardware cloth around the coop, between the coop and the ground and covering any holes/gaps. The run has 1/2 hardware cloth walls and a floor that is wood chips on top of the 6 inches of gravel below.

I recently had put a few bales of hay in the coop for the chickens to hop around on. But I noticed one of the strings holding the bale together had been chewed. When I moved the hay bales, I was horrified to see that there were tunnels through the gravel underneath them. I removed all the hay bales and sealed up the tunnels, but I am pretty positive that one or more rats are now living under the coop (the tunnels led back to under the coop)--my dog is sniffing like crazy around the edges.

I have grandpa's feeder, (which I think I need to do a better job of cleaning up around when I put the chickens up at night (they spill some around the edges), but I put all other food/scraps away in a metal bin. For the last week, I've had up a motion-sensor camera and a trap with peanut butter. I've not caught or seen anything. I thought I was doing all the right things. Apparently not.

Any suggestions? I think the rats are burrowing under the coop and run, but but don't know how to get them out. (The coop is not moveable). Also--who would think rats would tunnel through 6 inches of gravel???View attachment 2428683

No POISON needed....nor wanted!

 

[electrycmonk]

No POISON needed....nor wanted!

I use the two other forms of live catching traps…