Rodent control around feeders...

[b2c2chicks]

what do y’all do? My last post got me thinking. We’ve always packed the large rat holes (outside of the coop, of course) full of poison every few months. It occurred to me the rats are probably back due to eggs disappearing, or being busted in the nest boxes on the ground...and I found one rolled in between where no chicken could dream of fitting...along with an increased amount of feed.

Are there other options to rid your coops of rats?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We get rats coming in usually every fall. We put out the bait box, and generally they are gone until next fall here. Poison is the only thing that works here even though it makes me nervous every year.

Rodents is about maintenance as they come and go.

 

[Folly's place]

Me too. We've worked hard to make our coop as predator proof as we can, and that includes keeping rats out. Mice are more difficult to exclude, and we do use bait stations for both. There's no way to keep every morsel of chicken feed off the floor, and the birds are roosting at night, not hunting mice!
Currently we don't have a barn cat, also not good. Kitties help a lot, at least with mice!
Mary

 

[rosemarythyme]

Make sure to take in or cover up feeders at night and clean up spills around feed areas if possible, as that's attractive to rodents. Also, do you know how the rats are gaining access, i.e. do have an apron around your coop and run, are all holes/gaps 1/2" or larger covered up?

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

What I do is hang my feeders or another coop I have trained the birds to step on it to open it, that helps keep mice out
Another thing I do is hang their water so that it doesn’t get poop in it

 

[Folly's place]

Chicks and small bantams can't operate those treadle feeders, so I don't have them here. Otherwise, they look useful.
Mary

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

Yeah I agree so that is why I have one hanging until they are big enough to use it

 

[andreanar]

We use bait stations, cover every hole or crack with hardware cloth. We don't feed inside the coop, feed is in the run and picked up every night and stored in a metal can. We keep all debris picked up to avoid places for them to hide.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Once your birds are large enough and heavy enough (both, not one!) you can use a treadle feeder to stop the rats from stealing feed. A well made feeder will have a spring loaded door to stop the vermin from pushing the door open and a heavy counterweight for the door to add mass that needs moved to open the feeder.

Once the feed is cut off, if you have enough rats or mice that you are seeing them (see one, you have fifty), the rats will begin to starve and they will leave. Rats are smart animals, they won't hang around with no food or bad food. Yeah, they can eat poo, dog or chicken, but they will like it about as much as we would.

That is when the poison suddenly becomes effective, hungry rats with babies to feed and no food. They will eat the poison. They will begin coming out during daylight hours to search for food where the cats and dogs can get at them. The bigger the population the faster they become desperate and leave or die.

 

[Folly's place]

Remember that those rats also kill and eat chickens!
Mary