Rodent Problem - Please help & give advice

[Chickenmama_]

First time chicken mom here- I’ve had my chickens since last spring. I started with 6 and recently have 4. One of my hens passed to due egg yolk peritonitis and the other one was an unexpected death. She was fine one night then the next morning she was acting off and died within hours. I’m starting to wonder if it possibly has something to do with the rodents.

We are experiencing a major issue with rats & mice. They are tunneling into the run of our coop. They also seem to be going underneath the coop as it is slightly off the ground. I don’t know how to get rid of them. We have tried the jaw like traps as well as the cornbread and baking soda mixture.

A lot of times my boyfriend sits out there with a pellet gun and tries shooting them when they come out of their holes. We have gotten probably 6-7 in total. I have seen many more with my eyes.

The rats are huge. We take the food out of the run at night and lock it up in our garage. I try to make sure we pick up what food is on the ground as well.

Sometimes at night we can even see the rats running in our back yard and we have even seen one go into a hole in our retaining wall on the side of our house. We have an old house and it was pretty poorly built. In our basement we have a “dirt room” due to the way the house was constructed. We have dug out all the dirt we can due to foundational issues and plan to finish it with concrete but it is not in the cards at the moment. Unfortunately this room kind of butts up to that retaining wall outside and I’m worried the rats may dig into the house.

I really need to get rid of the rats. I am worried for my chickens and them possibly getting into my house or garage. I don’t feel comfortable using poison and I really don’t know what to do.

I included a couple photos of my coop set up. We have pulled up some of the tarps under white rock and can see some of the tunnels. I don’t know how far/ exactly where they go. I can attach more photos of that tomorrow.

Sorry for such a long thread but- What can I do?

Edit: they have atleast 4-5 tunnels in the run and we have also seen them go underneath the coop. The coop is constructed well and no signs of anything in the coop itself.

 

[Kiki]

One of my hens passed to due egg yolk peritonitis and the other one was an unexpected death.

This is more likely caused by what the birds are feed and not by rats.

Have you started to use poison for the rats yet?

 

[Chickenmama_]

This is more likely caused by what the birds are feed and not by rats.

Have you started to use poison for the rats yet?

I have not. I’m not so comfortable using poison in the case the chickens somehow get to the poison itself or a rat that was poisoned.

 

[Kiki]

I have not. I’m not so comfortable using poison in the case the chickens somehow get to the poison itself or a rat that was poisoned.

I don't think you'll have a chance to get rid of them unless you start using poison soon.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Poison treats the symptoms, the current rats stealing the feed and damaging the foundations, but it doesn't solve the actual problem.

You have to stop feeding the rats.

Two ways to do this. First, and cheapest is the sanitation method. Bulk feed in steel drums with tight lids, a good treadle feeder that is actually ratproof, most are not (check the reviews carefully), and cleaning up the pathways that the rats use to get from their den to the food sources so natural predators help control their numbers. You will spend a couple hundred bucks doing this.

Second, build a fort knox coop. Tight, not a single hole or gap larger than 1/2". Expensive, sounds like that isn't an option.

Poison, if it worked, would kill off the current rat population leaving the same problem and another colony of rats will move in. Like traps, the rats wise up quickly so trapping or poison is rarely effective UNLESS you have used one of the two methods to starve the rats to the point they take risks.

Do a forum search on rodents, rats, mice, chickens as keywords on this very BYC site. Find the excellent posts by Howard E. on rodent control. Read the recent thread on the silly cornbread/baking soda cure for rats. All scientifically debunked, all disputed by long time respected forum members who actually trapped rats and tested the old wives tales. One of the best replies was a guy who realized he had wasted so much time trying the old wives tales and let things get too far before doing what needed done and solving the problem.

BTW, taking the food in at night just means the rats eat during the day. It helps the first night, the second day the rats eat just that much more.