Yesterday evening I went out to check on my chicks and there was a rat milling around. I got one of my kids to go get my husband and he brought the .22. The rat got into my chicken tractor and my stupid chickens were like "hey, how's it going? how u doin'?" The rat came out on the far side and my husband shot it. Honestly, I didn't get the feeling the rat was after my chicks but after their feed but I would bet it would be a matter of time before he figured out they were a meal too. My husband is going to custom cut some 2X4's to seal the space between the bottom of the chicken tractor and the ground because I do like having the ability to move them around to fresh grass.