Rodent discovered last night inside coop

[LMVB]

We got home well after dark last night and went into the run to check for eggs in the coop, and the feeder. My husband found either a big mouse or a small rat inside the coop, where the feeder is located. Let me explain the strange habits of our chickens: We have a small covered run with a roost which is where they roost at night, NOT in the custom-built, expensive coop we had made for them last fall. We put the feeder inside in an effort to encourage them to go inside which the hens do walk thru to get to the nesting boxes. SO, what to do about the rodent? I'm not one to just catch and kill it, even it I could catch it. I would prefer a more humane death, or relocation (I know many find this silly.) Should we turn on a light inside the coop, remove the feed? I imagine the rodent will find it wherever. I could take a couple photos of our setup if that would help. Any ideas?

 

[junebuggena]

Chickens don't eat after they go to roost, so when you go out to make sure everything is shut for the night, simply remove the feeder and bring it in. As for using the coop, did you coop train them first before giving them access to the run?

 

[Sara Ranch]

People will ask for photos of the whole set up. It's what we do.

I am not a fan of food in the coop. Only the original coop has water bottles in it for the flock until I get the outside water thing set up. No food in the coop. The coop is for sleeping and for laying eggs and for coming in from the rain. (This flock WILL come in if it's storming badly enough.)

The rest of the "coops" do not have water or food in them. The chickens can eat outside. They can drink inside. I bring in ALL water devices/containers (except for what is in the coop -- and I lock that up tight each night AFTER I check to make sure no other animals are in there). My flocks free range with a little supplement. (I do a visual check on the crop to make sure they are eating enough. Under some circumstances, I supplement with feed.) I check to make sure all is gone before they come in. I think the last supplemental is by 3pm...and the kids go to bed by 8:10 pm.

** In emergency circumstances, I will put food and water in the all of the "coops" -- but it has to be pretty darn urgent for me to do so.

So it's a choice. What would work best for you?

Relocating the rodent is a humane thing to do. How far are you willing to drive to relocate the critter? Think your chickens will eat it?

 

[LMVB]

Chickens don't eat after they go to roost, so when you go out to make sure everything is shut for the night, simply remove the feeder and bring it in. As for using the coop, did you coop train them first before giving them access to the run?

Yes, they were coop trained, but the original coop (a pre-fab deal that said holds 6-8 chickens-must have meant bantams!) was just WAY too small. Last summer, the poor ones on the lower end of the pecking order ended up just sleeping on the open ground, so we had the new, and expensive custom coop. That said, there are 3 roosts inside the coop, but none use it is, even in the winter. That said, we are in Central Texas so the winters are not too harsh but can get into the teens. When that happens, we put plastic around the attached run where they roost (it's about 3-4 feet wide and roughly 5 feet in length, 8 feet tall.). Bringing in the food sounds reasonable. I just wish that rooster would get that rodent himself, but he probably doesn't even know it's inside.

 

[LMVB]

People will ask for photos of the whole set up. It's what we do.

I am not a fan of food in the coop. Only the original coop has water bottles in it for the flock until I get the outside water thing set up. No food in the coop. The coop is for sleeping and for laying eggs and for coming in from the rain. (This flock WILL come in if it's storming badly enough.)

The rest of the "coops" do not have water or food in them. The chickens can eat outside. They can drink inside. I bring in ALL water devices/containers (except for what is in the coop -- and I lock that up tight each night AFTER I check to make sure no other animals are in there). My flocks free range with a little supplement. (I do a visual check on the crop to make sure they are eating enough. Under some circumstances, I supplement with feed.) I check to make sure all is gone before they come in. I think the last supplemental is by 3pm...and the kids go to bed by 8:10 pm.

** In emergency circumstances, I will put food and water in the all of the "coops" -- but it has to be pretty darn urgent for me to do so.

So it's a choice. What would work best for you?

Relocating the rodent is a humane thing to do. How far are you willing to drive to relocate the critter? Think your chickens will eat it?

 

[junebuggena]

Did you train them to the new coop? You have to retrain them to the new coop.

 

[LMVB]

Well, our chickens DO NOT go inside, even in rough weather. They prefer the attached run roost, so when it's cold and rainy, not too bad normally here in central TX, we wrap plastic around the open area of the attached run. It's not very big, but they much prefer it. Weird, especially after all the expense of the custom coop. I'll take and post photos shortly. Thanks for the the input.

 

[LMVB]

Did you train them to the new coop? You have to retrain them to the new coop.

HOW??? The ramp opening into the enclosed coop area has no door, so even when I've run them inside, they just walk out the opening and down the ramp! Ideas?

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I hate rodents

 

[Birdinhand]

once upon a time I was a tree hugging peace nick and would have said just meditate with the Deva of Rats and make a deal with them on a spiritual realm. all these years later, it's not that I'm not pro peace or progressive or spiritual, it's that I have seen some pretty nightmarish situations with rats and chickens so I take the presence of a rat in the hen house very seriously and stop at little to make sure they don't get back in. hardware cloth all the way around and over and even under or at least two feet in the ground with gravel backfill is the key, IMHO. I have rat traps out pretty much all summer long just to keep the population from exploding, and that's with no way that they can get in to the coop where the food is.