Rodents nest in my hen house

[SandyRiverChick]

Oh, there are still a few spats here and there with other cats in the area, however everyone is mostly civil. I love your garden! It's absolutely gorgeous! I only have one (besides my exstray Raven) who lets me pet them, a black and white tuxedo tom I named Simon Blackquill after the ace attorney prosecutor. He's clearly been in some fights butz few times he has walked up to me and demanded pets, even before checking out the food I placed!

Here's prosecutor Blackquill
View attachment 3928367

And here's my indoor kitty Raven whom I adopted off a backroad a year ago
View attachment 3928368

They're so beautiful!

 

[Loving my girls]

I have recently purchased a treadle feeder and now worship the ground it stands on. I have reduced my ‘rats walking in front of the coop’ from 16 per night to 2 . Proven by my trusty day night motion detector camera.
Mice Rats we, personally will always have them as we live in the country but i haven’t seen sight, sound or poop of them for months (touchez le bois ) except on the camera

 

[SandyRiverChick]

treadle feeder

How do your lightweight (if you have any,) chickens do with this? I've been concerned for my smaller chickens. I have 4 CCL's that are quite small...... I live in the country too, that's why rats don't need to live in my coop or hot tub, they have all of the Nat'l forest to make thier homes, they are not hurting for options.....

 

[Al Gerhart]

I'm also ok with humor at my own expense, I think it comes with age.

Definitely I've spent time looking at the feeder on your site and others, very close to buying but when I watch my live cam positioned by my feeders, all day long I see nothing. The feeders/set up I have, there is no spill but to your point, yes a rat could get up there and enjoy. And the moment I see that, I will go with your feeder. The cats I will always adopt, it's such a win/win. Barn cats that don't want to interact with humans are the least wanted. So I have 3 at a time, different parts of my property, I enjoy that I'm providing a much needed home and they are earning their keep for sure. I don't exactly understand why it keeps rats away as I have seen them eat mice, but not rats. They don't really "kill," rats. But it's working..... One cat lives in a house attached to my coop, another in a house by the truck and hot tub and another seems to like hunting the River bank. I live on River frontage and I know there are rats living in the bank.

I have seen this. There is a particular time of year, maybe spring? Where my dog has alerted me to areas like the wood shed and under stairs. But then nothing. I think they consider places and then decide it's not safe. Just like has been stated above, I've been diligent about removing anything that would provide a quick easy place to hide (moved the woodshed too.)

Thanks for the education, it's really helped me, sincerely.

For sure it is the cats that are getting you to the finish line so far. You have done 80% of the work needed and as long as it is working, stick with it!

 

[Loving my girls]

Oh, there are still a few spats here and there with other cats in the area, however everyone is mostly civil. I love your garden! It's absolutely gorgeous! I only have one (besides my exstray Raven) who lets me pet them, a black and white tuxedo tom I named Simon Blackquill after the ace attorney prosecutor. He's clearly been in some fights butz few times he has walked up to me and demanded pets, even before checking out the food I placed!

Here's prosecutor Blackquill
View attachment 3928367

And here's my indoor kitty Raven whom I adopted off a backroad a year ago
View attachment 3928368

How do your lightweight (if you have any,) chickens do with this? I've been concerned for my smaller chickens. I have 4 CCL's that are quite small...... I live in the country too, that's why rats don't need to live in my coop or hot tub, they have all of the Nat'l forest to make thier homes, they are not hurting for options.....

How do your lightweight (if you have any,) chickens do with this? I've been concerned for my smaller chickens. I have 4 CCL's that are quite small...... I live in the country too, that's why rats don't need to live in my coop or hot tub, they have all of the Nat'l forest to make thier homes, they are not hurting for options.....

My treadle feeder has three positions for the springs that lift the door. They are labelled with the weight of the hen so my smaller hens (about 2kg) can open it. I have two five month olds coming in September (SOOO excited) and I will be interested to see how they manage … or not

 

[Al Gerhart]

How do your lightweight (if you have any,) chickens do with this? I've been concerned for my smaller chickens. I have 4 CCL's that are quite small...... I live in the country too, that's why rats don't need to live in my coop or hot tub, they have all of the Nat'l forest to make thier homes, they are not hurting for options.....

How much do they weigh and what is their total body length? Assuming this is all you have, they need to weigh at least three to four pounds and be a foot long from butt to beak. If you already have a rat problem that would be the minimum.

If you have about the same number of larger hens, the smaller birds will quickly learn to eat with a larger bird or paired up with one of their own.

You might need the duck step to extend the treadle or make your own. Just set it back as far as you can and move it back a little bit each week till it is too far or you no longer need it. Or, if you don't currently have a rodent problem you might get away with keeping the duck step.

 

[Al Gerhart]

The safeed feeder is much better than the Grandpa, it has an inward swinging door, and it is very pretty, professional made in a factory, but it has some flaws which show up in the negative reviews. First the steps are too close, despite their product page warning about close in steps. They compensated by pushing the front of the feeder into the body of the feeder a couple of inches but while it helps on the rain you also have hens reaching too far into the feeder and they won't like that. Second is the lightweight wire treadle mechanism. 1/4" round bar is great for door axles if welded to some flat bar but for a treadle you need 3/4" x 1/8" flat bar set on edge so it is stiff and won't eventually bend.

This seems to be a UK marketed product mostly so the Amazon reviews are only three, one of which is five star but it seems to be removed, only two one star reviews left. One of those one star reviews I'd discount, they admitted they blocked the feeder open and now their chickens won't use the feeder.

For sure better than the Grandpa feeder and it is marketed for lightweight birds so maybe that is why they pulled the treadle bars in so close and used the lightweight 1/4" round bar treadle bar system. Might not bend if you only have 2 pound chickens using it.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

If you have about the same number of larger hens, the smaller birds will quickly learn to eat with a larger bird or paired up with one of their own.

That makes sense, thanks. For now I'm just fine, no rats. In the event that my process fails, I'll get one of these feeders.

 

[chickiemomy]

I agree 100% with @Al Gerhart . You have to clear all brush and cover for rodents around your coops to rid hiding and nest places for them.

It forces them to come into the open exposure to get to the coops. If you have predators (cats and hawks), they will begin to pick them off. They'll also begin to pick off your chickens too, so it's best to get rid of the rats before they draw other predators.

I'm in a generally low predator area, old farm with suburban overgrowth, and my bold suburban rats will meander across the lawn fat and sassy.

You will need to keep changing up poisons as they do get used to one kind. But keeping up the feed, removing brush, and setting poisons has been what has kept the population down (not gone).

Al, could you post the kind of treadle feeder you use? I often have broody hens with chicks at my feeders, so I haven't found one that the chicks could work too.

LofMc

if chicks can work the treadle feeder -- then rats definitely will too...

 

[Dandanthechickenman]

I tried many things, but it's almost impossible to stop rats from finding scraps, even if they can't get into the feeder.
Since I got this little guy, it's a surprise to see a single rat in a month. And all he leaves behind is a tail!