the trouble with rat poison is that it does not know when to stop killing as it moves up the food chain from rat to raptor or cat or whatever. dying from rat poison is a pretty misserable way to go, no matter what kind of critter you are talking and it's not all that successful, only kills about 60%, meaning the surviving population is becoming ever resistant to it. in the long run, rat poison is not the solution, IMHO. rodents are everywhere, the key is to reduce access to unlimited food, having access to unlimited food is when their populations get really out of hand. hardware cloth is also a key ingredient to deterrence, wall to wall, ceiling and skirted around the perimeter of the coop. I have no more than a half inch gap anywhere in my coop. in 3 years I have had 1 rat figure out how to dig down and under and that rat is no longer with us. my feed kept in metal containers and I keep black plastic traps set with food around them. the traps are around the outside of the coop and I catch a few rats a year month, keeping the overall population manageable.
These little critters have taken over my kitchen at night. I actually heard a family of them, squeaking and making all kinds of noises. My husband was sweeping the floor in the living room this morning, moved the couch and guess what he saw......tons of rat poop, YUCK!!! Now I have to figure out how their getting in, it has to be from the garage. Going to the hardware store today to get some plaster or drywall sand to serve them up a nice treat tonight! I just hope they don't die where I can't locate them.
