Will rats kill baby chicks?

[chickmom3941]

We have a hen that goes broody every year, and it appears she just went broody again yesterday. Last year she successfully hatched and raised some baby chicks, and she was an excellent mother. I'm considering ordering some day-old chicks to sneak underneath her, but I'm concerned because we have discovered there are rats living underneath the coop and they are obviously entering the coop as well. We have only been able to get rid of a few of them so far. If we get Bertha (the broody hen) some chicks to raise, do you think the rats would be able to kill the babies while Bertha is right with them? I'm not sure if the rats were there last year when she hatched and raised the chicks.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Rats will kill anything if they're hungry enough (un)luckily, coop-raised rats generally are not hungry.
A rat will probably not have a lot of success in the daytime, when the hen will kill on sight, but at night, he might be able to slip under there and make off with a chick. But again, he's probably not hungry. I've never had it happen, and we've got a lot of rats.

 

[PD-Riverman]

We have a hen that goes broody every year, and it appears she just went broody again yesterday. Last year she successfully hatched and raised some baby chicks, and she was an excellent mother. I'm considering ordering some day-old chicks to sneak underneath her, but I'm concerned because we have discovered there are rats living underneath the coop and they are obviously entering the coop as well. We have only been able to get rid of a few of them so far. If we get Bertha (the broody hen) some chicks to raise, do you think the rats would be able to kill the babies while Bertha is right with them? I'm not sure if the rats were there last year when she hatched and raised the chicks.

Sure "rats" "can" kill the chicks. Rat proof the coop and set traps for the rats if poison is not usable.
Have you tried this hen before to see is she will adopt chicks? Some do and some don't?

 

[Akrnaf2]

Yes.
Rats wiped out many native birds in Hawaii and New Zealand .

 

[chickmom3941]

Rats will kill anything if they're hungry enough (un)luckily, coop-raised rats generally are not hungry.
A rat will probably not have a lot of success in the daytime, when the hen will kill on sight, but at night, he might be able to slip under there and make off with a chick. But again, he's probably not hungry. I've never had it happen, and we've got a lot of rats.

Thanks for your input. I wonder if we put some lighting in the coop temporarily, so Bertha could see any rats that might come in during the night, if that would help - do you think?

 

[chickmom3941]

Sure "rats" "can" kill the chicks. Rat proof the coop and set traps for the rats if poison is not usable.
Have you tried this hen before to see is she will adopt chicks? Some do and some don't?

Hi, and thanks for your response. No, we have never tried the adoption route before, but she sure was a great mom to the chicks she hatched last year. Unfortunately, out of the five chicks she hatched, only one was a female, so that's why I'd like to try day-old chicks to make sure they are all females (unless the hatchery messes up). I don't know how to rat proof the coop. We have tried putting thick boards up over their holes, and they just chew right through them. After we killed a few with traps, it seems like the rest got smart and won't go near them. I'm afraid to use poison because we have a dog and don't want him to get poisoned if he were to find and eat a dead rat. Any ideas how to rat proof the coop?

 

[chickmom3941]

Yes.
Rats wiped out many native birds in Hawaii and New Zealand .

That's terrible - rats are such a plague!

 

[getaclue]

You can take a bucket, and use a hole saw to drill a couple holes, similar to what you would make for a feeder, but only put one or two holes on one side, to use as a bait station. Put a one-bite rat bait in the end opposite the holes, of the new bait station, and place it just outside the coop, where the chickens can't get to it.

 

[chickmom3941]

You can take a bucket, and use a hole saw to drill a couple holes, similar to what you would make for a feeder, but only put one or two holes on one side, to use as a bait station. Put a one-bite rat bait in the end opposite the holes, of the new bait station, and place it just outside the coop, where the chickens can't get to it.

Hi, and thanks for your suggestion. I have considered poison, but I'm afraid that our dog might find and eat a rat that has been killed by it. I don't suppose there is any kind of poison that would kill the rats, but not our dog, is there?

 

[chicks are life]

Probuly