Rats!

[Folly's place]

So sorry for your loss, Cari. It's hard, and some chickens just don't live as long as we would like.
The bait I've used is colored sickly green, nothing like food. Yuck!'
When I have bait out, it's in a bait holder that only little critters (rodents) can enter, and it's not available to anyone else.
I lost many eggs and three nice bantams to rats in my coop last spring, it was awful! I had insulated the coop walls and covered it with plywood, a perfect rodent haven. Look hard at your coop and fix any openings larger that 1/2" diameter, and don't have hollow spaces like I did.
You should have a coop/ run large and safe enough to have your birds locked in at times, because this isn't the only predator problem that you'll ever have!
I'm most concerned about rodent bait and my dogs and cats, and they are nowhere near the bait, and not able to get to those dead critters.
Actually, I've used bait for rats in my barn twice, and at the coop this year, and never seen a dead rodent! I use broudificon (now harder to find) which is a warfarin type poison, and I think the critters go back to their dens and die there. Better for everyone else too.
Mary

 

[microchick]

Just a note of caution about using the bait holders. I have employed them for years with no difficulties until our mixed breed Jack Russell Terrier decided to try to break into one of them. She didn't succeed, thank GOD! But a call to the ASPCA's poison hot line made for an interesting afternoon as we were afraid she had ingested crumbled residue from the trap. We had to get two ounces of hydrogen peroxide down her and then wait for her to vomit so we could see if she did indeed ingest any poison. When she vomited, it was like an eruption. Poor dog. Turns out she didn't and I really doubt if she learned anything from her experience but we did. The poison holders are now in the barn in the loft and nowhere near where a dog can get access to them. Thank goodness they are well constructed.

I have seen rats around my coops. One of my coops has a metal skirt around it, 3/4s of which is buried underground so nothing can dig under it and with metal skirting on the ground around it also to dissuade digging. There are several vulnerable areas where I have put a removable panel that I can unscrew, toss One Bite poison into the crawl space and then lock it back up again. Seems to work as I occasionally find a dead rat and the crawl space is way too tempting to them.

I read somewhere here on BYC that if you keep food AND water picked up over night it will not attract rats or mice as the vermin are more drawn to a water source than a food source.

Might be worth a try also.

 

[Folly's place]

Make sure that your dogs and cats are not able to get to the bait stations!!! Keep them inside also when you are baiting those rats! I also warned the neighbors that bait was present, so their cats would be inside.
There are choices at the rodent bait section at the store; pick something that has an antidote in case of the wrong critter eating it! Ask your veterinarian if you need to. Mary

 

[microchick]

The antidote for One Bite is vitamin K. Also keep hydrogen peroxide on hand to induce vomiting.

 

[Cari C]

Hi Mary, Hi Microchick,

Thanks for your sympathy about my Sophia. I swore I wasn't going to get that attached, have had and worked with animals most of my life. I also swore I would never use bait, but dear lord, there seems to be no other solution. I have those dog proof bait stations as well, I think Tomcat made them. I know the chickens can't get into the bait, but someone has recently mentioned that the rats might chew some off and carry it out, stashing it around.... THAT is what made me worry that it was poison that took Sophia. I have 2 types of bait, the green one, which I think is the warfarin type, and some One Bite, I think it's called, it affects the nervous system, that is the one that once you break it off it looks just like their crumble. Either color, if rats are carrying it around, then I don't know what to do. Have you heard of that happening? My dogs only have access to my front yard, my cats are indoor only. I live in the city, but we have coyotes, hawks, owls, an occasionally bobcat, & raccoons (which I didn't realize are making a comeback in Phoenix.). My mare keeps the mammals out, but not the birds, I stepped outside yesterday to almost get hit by a hawk in chase! Luckily, my chickens have lots of safe places to get to.

 

[Cari C]

I have seen rats around my coops. One of my coops has a metal skirt around it, 3/4s of which is buried underground so nothing can dig under it and with metal skirting on the ground around it also to dissuade digging. There are several vulnerable areas where I have put a removable panel that I can unscrew, toss One Bite poison into the crawl space and then lock it back up again. Seems to work as I occasionally find a dead rat and the crawl space is way too tempting to them.

I read somewhere here on BYC that if you keep food AND water picked up over night it will not attract rats or mice as the vermin are more drawn to a water source than a food source.

Might be worth a try also.

Burying your fencing is the BEST way to do it, nice job! My coop is built-in on cement, so no worries from the bottom, but I free-range mine 24/7, they roost, but the door is always open. I had to make a decision one way or the other and they can't stand to be locked up, which I have to do on occasion. Water is always out, because they share the yard with my old mare, so I'm kind of stuck, but no food, and I keep it in metal garbage cans with tight lids. My issue for the last 2 years is my eggs getting stolen.

 

[microchick]

My big problem is my main coop is an old converted shed. It is sitting on a concrete slab but last winter I noticed that I had rat holes chewed through the wood so they could access the inside feeder that I have for them in the winter. I found areas outside the coop where they had found weak spots in the wall and tunneled in that way. This spring I was given corrugated metal siding that I lined the inside walls with as much as I could. I still need to get out before the ground freezes rock hard and stuff chicken wire around the outside wall where it overhangs the foundation a bit.

One thing I learned, rats and mice are determined. My chickens will take out a mouse but obviously not a rat. I can just mentally see those silly birds up on their roosts watching the vermin and not doing a thing about them. Free entertainment?

 

[Cari C]

My main coop is just built around 2 walls of an old workshop, so the same scenario ~ cement floors, but plywood walls! I hear you!! I know there are ways in through weak spots as well, but it's just me and I'm not super savvy with real repairs, nor do I have a work table or good tools (or spare $), so everything is very makeshift or just plain good enough as it is. My neighborhood is full of chickens, but I have yet to meet the people of them...

 

[microchick]

I got very lucky. A friend of my husband's is an elder gent who was trying to clean out his yard. He asked DH if we had any use for a roll of chain link fence and a stack of corrugated metal siding and naturally when DH asked me if I could use it my eyes lit up and started spinning with excitement. There was enough metal to side the shed outside and inside along with build a wall. Hopefully that will bring an end to the incursions by rodents except one hole was halfway up a window. Still can't figure that one out.