Your opinions please…

[Sivory]

Hi all,

I’m after some opinions because I might be biased and I’d like to know if I’m being ridiculous.

Long story short, we live in suburbia, we have 8-10 small bantams that we’ve made a run for but mostly free range. The coop is secure (mostly) and the feed is locked up at night, and the girls are then also locked inside the coop inside the run (2 x separate doors) keeping them safe at night.
The issue is rats, they aren’t in our house, but at night we can find them in the chicken run, but not in the coop when they’re locked inside.
Our neighbours are also on a small house block and not exactly clean people, they’re shed is where the rats live and the coop in our yard is back onto the shed, which backs onto our property.
We’ve dug trenches and wired it etc but they continue to dig in to get into the coop.

My argument with my partner is that the rats were there long before we ever got chickens, and that yes, the chickens are a contributing factor to the rats but I don’t think they’re the only reason they are around.
My partner is stressed about upsetting the neighbours because my partner has been baiting the rats with non-secondary killing baits, and the neighbour has found some dead rats in his shed and they’d chewed his camping gear. I said, so what, the place is a pigsty and it’s unreasonable to say it’s entirely because of our chickens, we keep the coop and run so clean and it’s secure.

It’s to the point where I want to downsize my chickens to avoid these arguments but I’m really annoyed about it, I love my little chickens and it irritates me that it’s on us.

Am I being unreasonable? Please be honest, I can take it. Maybe I’m just blinded by it because I adore having my chickens so much.

 

[nuthatched]

I'm not sure I understand what's going on, you're trying to reduce the rats in the area but there's a worry about the neighbor being upset about the rat killing? They've got to realize there's an issue that needs addressing...
What wire are you using?
What all are you doing to help not attract the rats?

 

[Sivory]

I'm not sure I understand what's going on, you're trying to reduce the rats in the area but there's a worry about the neighbor being upset about the rat killing? They've got to realize there's an issue that needs addressing...
What wire are you using?
What all are you doing to help not attract the rats?

That’s the issue. This neighbour doesn’t seem to care that there are rats in his shed. He only cares when they die & he’s got to remove the bodies, and then finds out they’ve eaten his camping gear - although he won’t do anything to reduce them.
My partner is worried about the rats in general, he doesn’t want them around at all and doesn’t want to upset the neighbours with living or dead rats and he blames it entirely on my chickens.

We’ve dug a trench around the coop and lined it with wire but they just dig deeper and deeper until they get under it. We’ve used snake wire which works really well and in the areas that we’ve used chicken wire - they just chew through the wire. We’ve also lined the run with shade mesh (mostly for the chickens comfort) but the rats eat that.
We lock up their food at night so rats can’t get into that and we lock the chickens in the coop separate from the run so the rats can’t get into them.

 

[nuthatched]

That’s the issue. This neighbour doesn’t seem to care that there are rats in his shed. He only cares when they die & he’s got to remove the bodies, and then finds out they’ve eaten his camping gear - although he won’t do anything to reduce them.
My partner is worried about the rats in general, he doesn’t want them around at all and doesn’t want to upset the neighbours with living or dead rats and he blames it entirely on my chickens.

We’ve dug a trench around the coop and lined it with wire but they just dig deeper and deeper until they get under it. We’ve used snake wire which works really well and in the areas that we’ve used chicken wire - they just chew through the wire. We’ve also lined the run with shade mesh (mostly for the chickens comfort) but the rats eat that.
We lock up their food at night so rats can’t get into that and we lock the chickens in the coop separate from the run so the rats can’t get into them.

Thats rough.
I'd get a fence electrifier, for at night. And switch to bucket, electrical or snap traps, just so you're handling them completely and they get a chance to wander back and croak in your neighbors property.

 

[Sivory]

Thats rough.
I'd get a fence electrifier, for at night. And switch to bucket, electrical or snap traps, just so you're handling them completely and they get a chance to wander back and croak in your neighbors property.

Thanks, I will look into the electrifier. I hadn’t even considered that.

 

[Nym]

Keep baiting the rats (and possibly your husband ) Maybe the neighbour will get sick of the body collecting and take action. I have rats in my shed that were there long before I ever had chickens; they come for the compost and to get out of the rain. My dogs are always on the prowl for them and have caught a few. This seems to make them disappear for a while. The rats tunnelled into the small tractor each nite after I moved it. The chicks are now in the main coop and no rats can get inside. The dogs check each morning!