Strange holes in chicken run :/

[OffGridChook]

you live in california. most likely it is a kangaroo rat.

I’ve seen kangaroo rats in my yard but they seem too big to fit in the holes I keep seeing. There are now three Holes in my chicken run. I poured water in it and it. Never. Filled. Up. it’s too cold for snakes (February) but is it a vole? Little mouse? Beetle? What!?? I see no tracks, no poop, no mound. Just a few holes here and there the size of a dime or so. And then I found a few tiny holes. We live in the sticks, high desert-y, so it could be all manner of things!! I literally rake the deep litter in the run three times a day so I know what’s going on in there most times. We keep adding reinforcements to the run and coop. It’s like Fort Knox! But still not good enough. I wish I had the money to make a hardware cloth floor in the run and completely encase it in hardware cloth. And turrets with Gatling guns. And sharks with frickin laser beams.
There’s a tarp over the front since it had been raining. We are adding supports to the “roof” of the run this weekend. I want it to be able to withstand the weight of a bobcat. I hope.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I think you are becoming inundated with rodents. I use tamper proof bait stations with chunx poison in them. One is in my run under the coop.

Rodents do move in and by the time you see a hole or two or spot one of them you've a full on colony. Without control they will completely inundate you and start getting into your home. It's not pretty. Back in the day when I was rodent ignorant then completely overwhelmed we started with the slow acting chunx so they would bring it down into the burrows. This kills the entire population. Once that bucket was empty and the problem long gone we switched to the fast acting poison and only put one or two in the bait box as a preventative measure. In this area the mass movement of rodents is pre winter and spring. We have to check the bait boxes weekly during those times. Otherwise it's a monthly check and if needed replace one with fresh block.

 

[OffGridChook]

I think you are becoming inundated with rodents. I use tamper proof bait stations with chunx poison in them. One is in my run under the coop.

Rodents do move in and by the time you see a hole or two or spot one of them you've a full on colony. Without control they will completely inundate you and start getting into your home. It's not pretty. Back in the day when I was rodent ignorant then completely overwhelmed we started with the slow acting chunx so they would bring it down into the burrows. This kills the entire population. Once that bucket was empty and the problem long gone we switched to the fast acting poison and only put one or two in the bait box as a preventative measure. In this area the mass movement of rodents is pre winter and spring. We have to check the bait boxes weekly during those times. Otherwise it's a monthly check and if needed replace one with fresh block.

Fabulous. We live really out in the country and it’s very rough country. I’ll get some bait for outside; we have it in our house and garage. The coop is probably okay most definitely, sealed up but for how long? We were given this coop by someone who lived in the suburbs. It’s new resting place is the real test!! . Thank you for the tips.

 

[bryan99705]

Try spreading fine dirt around the holes and screen back your chickens then check daily for tracks so you can identify your hole digger. moth balls work to stop critters from using that hole but they will dig elsewhere. If it's snakes, a loose pile of netting will tangle and kill them. If it's a animal, you can trap it or lay wire down so the chickens can scratch and peck but the animal can't pass thru it

 

[OffGridChook]

Try spreading fine dirt around the holes and screen back your chickens then check daily for tracks so you can identify your hole digger. moth balls work to stop critters from using that hole but they will dig elsewhere. If it's snakes, a loose pile of netting will tangle and kill them. If it's a animal, you can trap it or lay wire down so the chickens can scratch and peck but the animal can't pass thru it

Thank you I’ll try those tips. I guess whatever it is it’s not too impressed with their crumble (they are presently on Nutrena Naturewise layer crumble). I remove it each night but there is some spillage on the ground around the feeder. Doesn’t look like critters clean it up, that’s for sure. I need to use one of those low-walled feed buckets around it. Or something. I saw a few kangaroo rat or holes this morning quite a bit away from the run.

 

[OffGridChook]

If it's snakes, a loose pile of netting will tangle and kill them. If it's a animal, you can trap it or lay wire down so the chickens can scratch and peck but the animal can't pass thru it

By the way, I’m really freaked about snakes this coming summer. We have a lot of striped racers, gopher snakes and garter snakes around here, which I’m okay with. I saved a small gopher snake that was stuck in a glue trap last year (we stopped using glue traps) but the rattlesnakes...I need to buy more hardware cloth and go up even higher. Do you think I have to worry about the gophers, garters, Racers or only the baddies (rattlesnakes)??

Pic is of a gopher snake I had a helluva time cleaning up. Apparently the hubby had glue traps in the garage (which he knows I’m against) and this guy got caught up in it. My husband forgets to check the trap and it was super thirsty. It actually drank water I gave it while still attached to the glue trap. We cleaned it with vegetable oil and dawn Liquid detergent.
—-edited due to misspelling.