I am sorry you are going through this and I am battling rats myself right now. I have my coop in a barn and even though I thought I had secured everything, they still got in. I put wire over everything ceiling, walls and thought I was safe because the floor was concrete. Nope, they still found a way that I am unsure of. What I have done is traps which only caught one rat so far and I put them bait stations out where it locks and no other animal can get in them. I tried the water filled bucket and that didn't work either. But if you use bait and these stations, you really have to keep an eye out for any dead rats just in case any other animals would peck it and get secondary poisoning. I had no other choice than to use the poison. Nothing I tried was working and they were still coming in for chicks. I also spray around the coop with peppermint oil every night. It really does deter them away because the rats do not like the peppermint smell. So, until I can get this population down, I will do both bait & the peppermint oil. I am just really careful to check around for any dead rats and dispose of them where nothing can get to them.
