would a rat wipe out a whole bunch of chicks or just one

[jmc]

I am concerned about a rat getting at my two wk. old chicks.

I have no reason to think there is a rat around in my cellar, mind you. But................

Do you know if rats kill everything in sight, chickwise, or do they tend just to kill what they want to nibble on.................?

Actually the chicks will be three weeks old Sun.-Mon. so they are getting larger, if that means anything to you all

they are NOT bantams




thannks

 

[Rocky Road]

Rats generally do not go after the chickens. . . . the feed however, they will seek out. Weasels, possums and raccoons are the ones to look out for. They will wipe them out, but I hope none of those can get in your cellar!

Good Luck!

 

[jmc]

but i have heard of them killing chicks.

hence the question...............

but i also realize that they are not quite as little as newborns are, since they are over two weeks old..........

thanks very much for your reply

 

[bantam0907]

We have had rats kill multiple chicks... The only solution is a "mouser" rooster! lol we got a jersey giant roo and raised it with the chicks and he would kill the rats in the barn!

 

[lclough1998]

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Are Jersey giants hens as fierce about rats as the roos? Just wonderin, my DS is getting some JG chicks in the next couple days.

 

[Lollipop]

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Are Jersey giants hens as fierce about rats as the roos? Just wonderin, my DS is getting some JG chicks in the next couple days.

Any hen/pullet or even a cockeral, is just as much of a danger to chicks as a rat, unless it`s the broody hen. Don`t trust any older chicken around your chicks, unless it`s a mature cock. A cock will take care of them, but hens are trouble.
About therats. I gavesome eggs to a school teacher to hatch for his class. He did a fine job and the kids loved the project, which was done in a homemade incubator. Problem is, he built a pen for them with a wire floor. The floor was about 6-8 inches off the ground. He brought these chicks back to me after school was out for the summer. Most of them were missing toes and some only had a nub for a foot. Turned out that rats had been nibbleing toes through the wire. A sickening situation. I ended up culling all of them as they couldn`t scratch and live a normal life.
Soooo, your rat fears are well founded. Rats are a real danger to chicks. Be cautious..........Pop

 

[jmc]

thanks again for your very interesting and helpful replies.

and they do confirm now what i have read from other sources.

the cellar brooder has a wood floor, 1" mesh chicken wire sides and top. cardboard draft guard around the sides to eliminate draft.

at 5-6 wks. old, they're goin to the outside coop.

i wonder at what age the chicks are big enough not to be rat-prey?

maybe my two-three week olds are getting to the threshold?

maybe? I am still not gonna risk it............just wondering

 

[Wolftalk]

From my expereance with rats (having them as pets and all) rats arent wasters. They will only take what they need and if they dont need all of ther kill than they will haul it back to thier nest. However rats really dont "kill" either, they are simply opertunists. If its there and easy, they will take advantage of it. I find it highly unlikely that rats woulf bother your 3wk old chicks. If they were just hatched then maybe. But im pretty sure yoir chcks are safe from rats at this age. But things like snakes and raccons are a diffrent story...


I wish you luck!

 

[jmc]

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thanks. always nice to hear consoling words.

at least at this pooint, snakes and coons are def. not a pronlem.

 

[sharron]

i had rats kill a couple of my young fully feathered chicks last year, they were in the chicken house and chewed up thru the floor, had to poison the rats.
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