Rats!!!

[jibmaster]

I've got dozens of rats coming into my coop at night and eating the food. Small rats, the size of mice.
There are several neighborhood cats that can't seem to keep up... I was thinking about electrifying the chicken wire with a car battery. Turn it on at night only.
I come into the coop at night after work and 10-30 rats are climbing all over the chicken wire - rat poop in the food, etc.
And no, I don't have the time to feed them by hand - I'm gone a lot(wouldn't leave the power on when gone) and have feeders out.

Do you think that would be enough to kill/discourage the rats?

Would the voltage be enough to hurt the chickens if they touched the chicken wire in the morning before I got a chance to turn it off.
Wouldn't want to harm any songbirds that hang around.

 

[halo]

You may have to do what I did. Got some rat bait (Just One Bite) and put it in a cage at night so just the rats could get into it, nothing else. You will have to pick up all the feed, tho, at night. Took me about a month, but I eventually got rid of nearly all of them. If you have that bad of a problem now, if you dont do something soon, it will be a nightmare.

 

[Pigeonrh]

The rats will find a way around it. For sure. If they are the size of mice they are more no more then 4 weeks old so they are most likely breeding very near by or in your coop most likely. During the winter I have a few rats that always move in from the corn fields out back. I put poison sticks and snap traps under the coop and they are usually gone in a week or 2. With that number of rats i think poison in your best bet. Just make sure its out of reach for the chickens. I sometimes put mine in small gage chick wire and nail it under the coops so they have to chew it out.

 

[jibmaster]

So I put an electric wire around the base of the chicken coop. Mostly to deter coons/possums, etc. from digging under the coop and killing my chickens. Works perfect. I put the food away at night, which saves money - I'm not feeding the rats anymore!
This wire also kills lots of rats!
I'm going to get some new chicks soon and want to put them out in the coop right away. Will keep them seperate from the older chickens of course, but I was wondering what the rats would do about the small chicks at night...
Will the new chicks be safe from the rats, or will the rats eat the new chicks?

 

[grandpaw roo]

POISON THEM! The best way to get rid of them.Build wooden boxes and bore a 2 1/2"hole in it.Load it with the all weather bars/blocks.Rats can get in but you chickens can't.The stuff that looks like dog food ends up getting stashed and not eaten.As long as they are eating it keep feeding and DON'T STOP till they stop eating.Remove your chicken feed at nite BUT make sure there is water for the rats to drink.This is a MUST for it to work!

 

[jibmaster]

What the...?!

I do need to poison the rats more. Tons of them. They are huge.
Seriously.

But the electric wire kills about 3-5/week.
I need more wire.

But the point/question I was trying to convey - If I keep really young chicks outside in the coop...
they will be warm, they will be safe from the older chickens...
BUT - they will be in the zone where the rats have access.

Will the rats have an impact on the chicks survival?

I talked my neighbors into getting an electric wire for their garden.
They have chickens as well, and have been having trouble with the rats eating their vegies.
My garden is out in the open and the rats don't touch it.
Too many hawks/eagles.

But my neighbors have had much success with killing tons of rats with an electric wire strung strategically throughout the garden...

Cool!

So - what impact will the rats have on some young chicks living in a box out in the coop from day 1?

 

[Ashburnham]

Rats will take and kill very young chicks.

Build a maze out of bricks (so chooks cant get in) and put rat poison at the centre.

(How dare this website try and tell me to spell centre CENTER!!)


xxx M

 

[grandpaw roo]

Rats will feed on chicks! When you have high populations,they need MORE food.Once they get the taste for blood,they go for anything including full sized chickens!