Time to go on the offensive...enough is enough.

[Double Yolked]

I'm totally with you on the "kill the rats anyway you can" theme. There's a guy named Shawn Woods on YouTube that you might want to look up. He runs a channel called Mouse Trap Monday. I've enjoyed and used several of his videos in my ongoing battle with rats. He's pretty amazing, he tests every rat and mouse trap out there and reports on how well it works. He's great for separating out the hype from the "This works".

 

[Old Philosopher]

A subject near to me. I appear to have recently cleaned out the infestation of mice from my coop. 32 (thirty-two!) mice were dispatched in a 7 day period.
As far as I'm concerned there is no better trapping system for rodents.
It's the "roller bucket" trap. Usually homemade, you can Google many different construction methods, or buy a commercial kit. The most I caught in one night was 7. For rats, just up-scale it a bit, and make the water deeper.

 

[Jamited]

I'm also a believer of live and let live but the thought of any other creature attacking my beloved girls scares me to death. My 4girls are kept in a 12x6ft aviary erected on paving stones.I thought the only predator I'd have to worry about is the fox so we are hopefully fox proof. However rats have never been seen in my garden. I have four dogs and a cat and we have a family of hedgehogs visit most nights which I'm delighted about. At night I check on the run once my girls are safely in their coop and have seen tiny mice shooting out from under the paving stones. They probably eat the pellets the chickens leave on the ground. I keep their food in plastic tubs in the house. I have an automatic door opener in the coop so the girls can come out early if they're thirsty or hungry. I've got their feeders hanging off the ground so they can reach but the slugs can't. I hate slugs but will not poison them because of the other wild creatures who may come across the poison (my lovely hedgehogs!) and the birds.after all the wet weather we've had the slugs are taking over so I'm going to put salt around one side of the run to try to combat them. Do please be careful with the poison. It's a dreadful end for any living thing which is only trying to survive. I agree with what other byc people have said and would advise you to safeguard your run and coop rather than causing horrific pain and suffering to animals and to others around you. This poison goes into the earth and water. You know the adage - what goes around comes around. Just saying...

 

[Double Yolked]

@
Old Philosopher
Peanut butter for bait? It looked like a smear of it around the can, that's what I used and it worked great for me. I like using good traps over poison where I can. But finding good traps sometimes is problematic. I've used a variation on the roller trap and I've used the flip trap (walk the plank trap?) both worked really well as long as I dumped a quarter cup of oil in the water trap below.

 

[Avian Allie]

Wow! I’d be mad at the rats too. I don’t know if you have this in the UK but it’s called bluekote and is the best disenfectant/wound cover available. It’s made for livestock but works for chickens, if you can get any spray some on her wounds until they are fully healed.
With poison the problem is the rats don’t die immediately and die in another location. If possible get yourself or borrow a barn cat or rat terrier. You can move your hens to a more secure place for a few days and the rats will be gone.
You mentioned bantams, but if you can find a guard rooster who is sweet with your girls he will scare the rats or kill them.

 

[alexisrambles]

Fingers crossed for Mrs. Chicken! I have had a really bad experience with some of my chickens and shock. Lots of warmth and a dark space seems to help immensely so I second that. I also like adding some nutridrench (about a drop or two a day) to boost their vitamins and electrolytes.

I'm glad she seems better!!!

 

[sorce]

Not to beat dead horse.

Poison isn't necessary beyond our own selfishness.

Consider the Hawk that dies from it that would have ate the rat that eventually kills all your chickens if you didn't kill it.

You will have essentially killed your chickens yourself.

If we can't kill them all without poison we simply aren't being creative enough.

Or perhaps killing them isn't the way at all.

Sorce

 

[Zach123]

To each their own, and we all decide what we consider tolerable when it comes to pest species around our homes and land. Personally, I try to limit my use of poison, but I will use it to get rid of rodents when/if the infestation gets to a certain point.

Rats and other rodents in and around homes and barns/outbuildings are indeed a significant problem. Not just the harm they can cause to chickens, but the damage they cause to property. They chew pretty much everything that isn’t metal, including electrical wiring which is not just expensive to fix, it can cause fires. They can spread diseases. Where I live, deer mice can carry the hantavirus which is a serious and life threatening illness and any small mammal in the western states can harbor fleas that carry sylvatic plague. So yes, during population booms of rodents, I absolutely will use poison around my house and barns.

Certain environmental conditions play a big role in population fluctuations of rodents, and some years the barn cat and a few traps are sufficient to keep them under control. But other times it takes more than that. It’s not a lack of creativity or selfishness, it’s a matter of protecting my property and myself and family. Used responsibly and cautiously, most poisons sold to the general public have a low risk to endangering human health and the environment. There are simple ways to mitigate the risk and those should be absolutely followed. To condemn the use of pesticides entirely I think is fine for certain people and their situations, but not practical to apply to everyone in all situations.

 

[BirdLady14]

According to our pest control guy, the warfarin poison will not hurt other wildlife, once it's been digested. That said, dying rats all around is gross plus you will find some that aren't affected by it. We used to live in western WA and the whole area is infested with Norwegian rats. Anyway, we've found the BEST natural pest control is a couple of feral/semi-feral or even pet cats. We started having a problem with them here in the desert which is not good because they bring in snakes and we have rattlesnakes here. We went down to our local shelter and adopted two semi-feral cats that are all too happy to take care of the vermin for us. In return, they have a really cool barn space, clean water, and food. We also gave a home to two kitties that were most likely destined for euthanasia. Our girls are around 7 lbs. and don't bother the chickens either. It has been a win-win solution for us.

 

[jspeese]

Make sure your coop and run is free of places where rats can hide and breed, and that everything is cleaned up (i.e., spilled feed, etc.). I personally don't have any problem poisoning and trapping rats and since hawks are an even worse problem, I frankly don't care what happens to them either, although I may be going out on a limb saying that. But prevention (predator- and vermin-proof housing, sanitation, elimination of potential rat habitats, etc.) is definitely the best way to go when dealing with predators and vermin.