rats

[pokey]

recently we found a HUGE rat tunnel beside my chicken coop. we set up the trail camera and discovered this rat is as big as our family cat. seriously! anyway, it has eaten 4 packs of rat poison in the last 5-6 days. how long does it take for it to die? the box says 4 days. i'm thinking there must be more than one. do they usually run in groups or families? i plan to keep out the poison until it stops disappearing.

 

[WriterofWords]

Rats multiply very rapidly and live in nests just like mice. They drag the poison packs down and those who eat it die and until the packs stop disappearing you still have them. Good luck, they are hard to clean out! The chickens can help with the babies, but be careful they don't eat a bunch of poisened rats!

 

[pokey]

i did notice that the rats were dragging the bait trays down the hole, so i gave them some help. i found the biggest fire ant hill i could in the field behind us got a great big shovel full and dumped it down the hole! BON APPETITE!!!! i can't believe how much food we have been going through.

 

[kf]

Hi,
I am planning to build a coop and want to know about rats. Will 1 inch chicken wire keep them out? I imagine if they are as big as a cat it will. But what about the scrawny ones? Should you also put wire under the ground? We have 'tree rats' and probably others as well. what about mice? I am planning a 7 foot square coop for 3-5 chickens. thanks for any advice, kf

 

[SwampChicken]

Tree rat, are you referring to a squirrell? I have called them that before but you sound as if you really have tree rats. Is there another tree rat other than a squirrell. Squirrells don't bother chickens, but they will clean out the feeder.

 

[kf]

Hi,
They are just rats. Maybe Norway rats. They climb. What kind of wire should I use to keep them out? I am concerned that they will eat the chicken feed. Is hardware cloth better than chickenwire. How about 2 layers of chicken wire? I think I used the wrong terminolgy in my first post. We a building a run that is 7x7. I hope the chickens will sleep in a rabbit hutch. In the daytime we will let them into a fenced garden. Thanks for your reply. PS We also have squirrels and we also call them rats with bushy tails...

 

[cmom]

I have never had rats get into my chicken feed, but they have gotten into scratch. Now I keep it all in 5 gal covered buckets and have decon under the pallets my wood is stored on.

 

[Jessika]

We have them here too....They don't mess with the pens...no they have been attacking my shed where the feed is. I feel for ya....currently on baiting and waiting myself....

 

[pokey]

i watched a show on animal planet, it said a grown rat can fit into a quarter size hole! un
but i finally am making headway the poison isn't disappearing . so i don't think chicken wire will deter them, better try a trap or poison.

 

[HorseFeathers]

If I were in your position I would have started this post with "Oh, rats! Rats!" Tee hee. Get it? No? Never mind then...

I saw that thing on Animal Planed too- except I was getting a filling at the time so i don't remember too well.