Rooster rat question

[Project Blue]

I was using a very gentle Blue Wheaton roo on my hens and hatched dozens of chicks with him. Despite being very attractive, and gentle with hens I decided it was time to do bring in some new blood as I'm working on a breeding project. The two young new roos I put in are more aggressive, as in one flogged my leg, and they brutally attacked another roo hurting him badly in about 5 seconds, that roo was a former housemate I tried to reintroduce to the bachelor pad. Meanwhile, the coop I put the roos in was having a rat problem I was having trouble solving, as I don't want to poison wildlife to kill rats. A day or so after putting the new young roos in the coop there was a dead young rat in the floor of the coop. It's body looked a little rumpled but no blood or obvious injuries. My first thought was the roo's killed it as it looked young. Now another rat is dead in the same place. This one was very big for a rat, had a much thicker coat and looked like it would be a major challenge to kill it. During the same time period I saw three rats at night on the wildlife camera coming out of the front of the coop, which hasn't happened in the two years I've been filming. Normally, I breed for temperament and these roos would be culled, but now I'm starting to wonder about that strategy. My fears are the rats are dying from a plague or something besides roosters. It would also seem to me if a wild predator was doing the killing it would kill the chickens as well and eat the rats, but I'm worried about that as well. Any ideas what's going on?

 

[ABQ chicken keeper]

I was using a very gentle Blue Wheaton roo on my hens and hatched dozens of chicks with him. Despite being very attractive, and gentle with hens I decided it was time to do bring in some new blood as I'm working on a breeding project. The two young new roos I put in are more aggressive, as in one flogged my leg, and they brutally attacked another roo hurting him badly in about 5 seconds, that roo was a former housemate I tried to reintroduce to the bachelor pad. Meanwhile, the coop I put the roos in was having a rat problem I was having trouble solving, as I don't want to poison wildlife to kill rats. A day or so after putting the new young roos in the coop there was a dead young rat in the floor of the coop. It's body looked a little rumpled but no blood or obvious injuries. My first thought was the roo's killed it as it looked young. Now another rat is dead in the same place. This one was very big for a rat, had a much thicker coat and looked like it would be a major challenge to kill it. During the same time period I saw three rats at night on the wildlife camera coming out of the front of the coop, which hasn't happened in the two years I've been filming. Normally, I breed for temperament and these roos would be culled, but now I'm starting to wonder about that strategy. My fears are the rats are dying from a plague or something besides roosters. It would also seem to me if a wild predator was doing the killing it would kill the chickens as well and eat the rats, but I'm worried about that as well. Any ideas what's going on?

PB,
How are rats getting into your coop?

 

[Project Blue]

PB,
How are rats getting into your coop?

The coop has woods on three sides. It was an old metal shed we converted into a chicken coop. They dig tunnels in. There were metal thingys laying about that look something like a gutter crossed with a feed trough about 8 inches wide and 2.5 high I put around the base. The thingys work well for normal diggers but only shelter the rats once they've started a tunnel. Rats can dig up to 4 feet deep but normally don't go more than a foot. Once they get into a coop they figure out quick its a safe haven. My other coops have a lot of lawn surrounding them so rats would have a hard time safely getting established. We also have karst limestone formations, essentially caves and sinkholes the rats take advantage of. One time I tried pouring water in a burrow and never could fill it. I've actually rotated my chickens to different coops and left the door open hoping predators will finish them off. The rats multiply like crazy once they get into a coop. We have no shortages of predators, coyote, foxes, owls, cats, raccoons, opossums, so the rats normally are kept in check by having to forage for food/water. Inside the coop they start eating more than the chickens. The rats are nocturnal so the chickens are sleeping while they raid. I have not had luck with step on food hoppers. I keep irregular hours so it's not reasonable to move food from the coop every evening. I have 12 hens and two roos so I want to make sure never to run out of food.

 

[ABQ chicken keeper]

The coop has woods on three sides. It was an old metal shed we converted into a chicken coop. They dig tunnels in. There were metal thingys laying about that look something like a gutter crossed with a feed trough about 8 inches wide and 2.5 high I put around the base. The thingys work well for normal diggers but only shelter the rats once they've started a tunnel. Rats can dig up to 4 feet deep but normally don't go more than a foot. Once they get into a coop they figure out quick its a safe haven. My other coops have a lot of lawn surrounding them so rats would have a hard time safely getting established. We also have karst limestone formations, essentially caves and sinkholes the rats take advantage of. One time I tried pouring water in a burrow and never could fill it. I've actually rotated my chickens to different coops and left the door open hoping predators will finish them off. The rats multiply like crazy once they get into a coop. We have no shortages of predators, coyote, foxes, owls, cats, raccoons, opossums, so the rats normally are kept in check by having to forage for food/water. Inside the coop they start eating more than the chickens. The rats are nocturnal so the chickens are sleeping while they raid. I have not had luck with step on food hoppers. I keep irregular hours so it's not reasonable to move food from the coop every evening. I have 12 hens and two roos so I want to make sure never to run out of food.

OK

 

[thecatumbrella]

Normally, I breed for temperament and these roos would be culled, but now I'm starting to wonder about that strategy.

Even if the roosters are killing rats, I wouldn't breed them. There's too many drawbacks and too much liability to having aggressive birds. Trying looking into bucket traps to kill the rats without poison. We've had good success with those here, though they do need to be refreshed daily to keep pests interested.

 

[Rillowen]

There are plenty of roos that will attack a predator but not a person. I wouldn't breed the violent ones, but then we hold attacks very seriously here.

 

[NatJ]

I would be tempted to keep those roosters for a while and see what happens, but be careful that they don't hurt you and have no access to other people.

I would probably not breed from them, but watch to see if any other roosters do the same thing without attacking people. It would be nice to have roosters that kill rats but do not bother people.

During the same time period I saw three rats at night on the wildlife camera coming out of the front of the coop, which hasn't happened in the two years I've been filming.

Can you film inside the coop where the roosters are? It would be nice to know whether the roosters really are killing rats, or whether you are right to suspect something else and the roosters are not actually doing it.

 

[Project Blue]

Even if the roosters are killing rats, I wouldn't breed them. There's too many drawbacks and too much liability to having aggressive birds. Trying looking into bucket traps to kill the rats without poison. We've had good success with those here, though they do need to be refreshed daily to keep pests interested.

I happily bought 4 bucket traps and set them out. I put a couple peanuts in each. The next morning they were all tipped over. So the next night I put them out along with Havaheart traps and again the bucket traps were tipped over but a young raccoon was in the Havaheart. This happened at 1am. As I'm watching from inside the house another young raccoon rushes over and wildly runs his paws all over the trap trying to free its sibling. When I go outside to free the terrified raccoon an armadillo runs from one of the bucket traps. Then I run inside as there was just too much wildlife running about. I started thinking if the young raccoon was brave enough to try to free its sibling what would mamma raccoon do to me. Those bucket traps work great inside buildings but outside forget about it. I'm thinking if I put them inside the coop I'd catch chickens long before rats, unless I stayed up late, and then woke up before sunlight moving the traps in and out.

 

[Project Blue]

I would be tempted to keep those roosters for a while and see what happens, but be careful that they don't hurt you and have no access to other people.

I would probably not breed from them, but watch to see if any other roosters do the same thing without attacking people. It would be nice to have roosters that kill rats but do not bother people.


Can you film inside the coop where the roosters are? It would be nice to know whether the roosters really are killing rats, or whether you are right to suspect something else and the roosters are not actually doing it.

I can't film inside the coop as the camera would endlessly trigger every time a chicken moved. The cameras I use are very sensitive so I have to angle them along the front of the coop but away from the chickens. As it stands I still get a lot of unwanted pics of a leaf blowing or a pinecone dropping.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I happily bought 4 bucket traps and set them out. I put a couple peanuts in each. The next morning they were all tipped over. So the next night I put them out along with Havaheart traps and again the bucket traps were tipped over but a young raccoon was in the Havaheart. This happened at 1am. As I'm watching from inside the house another young raccoon rushes over and wildly runs his paws all over the trap trying to free its sibling. When I go outside to free the terrified raccoon an armadillo runs from one of the bucket traps. Then I run inside as there was just too much wildlife running about. I started thinking if the young raccoon was brave enough to try to free its sibling what would mamma raccoon do to me. Those bucket traps work great inside buildings but outside forget about it. I'm thinking if I put them inside the coop I'd catch chickens long before rats, unless I stayed up late, and then woke up before sunlight moving the traps in and out.

Oh my gosh, that's a lot of wildlife! We use 5-gallon buckets, half fill with water, then completely coat the surface in sunflower seeds. We also put a piece of wiring shelving over the top, weighed down with a large rock. Rodents can go in, but squirrels (or anything larger) cannot. The only thing that's managed to tip it is a bear!

I've given up on Havahearts because of the same issue: I catch everything EXCPET what I want to catch!