How much Cayene to use to keep rats out of feed?

[lcammack]

Hi BYCer's, in the last winter we have developed a rat problem under our small chicken coop. We keep putting bait out (out of chickens reach of course) in their tunnels and under the coop. We have only seen two dead rats. I read an article that said the rats would be more likely to eat the bait if the chicken feed was laced with Cayenne. So basically take their feed source and make it not taste good, then it would prompt them to try the bait. I figured why not? The only problem was they didn't say how much to use.

Does anyone know how much Cayenne powder to approx. 5lbs of pellets?

Thanks in advance, and if you have any other rodent control ideas, please feel free to share!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I had heard good things about "Just one bite" bait. Also I had read about putting a rat trap down a section of PVC pipe so the chickens couldn't reach it...dunno if this would help.

You don't want your chickens to find a rat corpse that has been poisoned too. I would say maybe can you jack the chicken coop off the ground somehow to prevent the rats from getting under there?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Elsewhere on the web I am reading people say 1 TBSP per gallon of feed, and if you already have a rat problem then 1/4 cup per gallon of feed, of cayenne pepper (homesteadingtoday).

I have no experience with this.

 

[MimiChick]

I have had very good luck getting rid of rats by planting mint around the coop. Apparently they don't like it. You might try that. It spreads very easily, so you don't need a lot. And the minty roots also deter them from tunneling. If nothing else, you'll have some nice fresh mint to add to your summer drinks. Mint Julep sounds nice

 

[lcammack]

I had heard good things about "Just one bite" bait. Also I had read about putting a rat trap down a section of PVC pipe so the chickens couldn't reach it...dunno if this would help.

You don't want your chickens to find a rat corpse that has been poisoned too. I would say maybe can you jack the chicken coop off the ground somehow to prevent the rats from getting under there?

Elsewhere on the web I am reading people say 1 TBSP per gallon of feed, and if you already have a rat problem then 1/4 cup per gallon of feed, of cayenne pepper (homesteadingtoday).

I have no experience with this.

I have had very good luck getting rid of rats by planting mint around the coop. Apparently they don't like it. You might try that. It spreads very easily, so you don't need a lot. And the minty roots also deter them from tunneling. If nothing else, you'll have some nice fresh mint to add to your summer drinks. Mint Julep sounds nice

Unfortunately we cannot lift our coop up, it is a full size coop and is attached to a run that would be to big to lift. So we are stuck with dealing with what we've got.

We are currently using just one bite bait bars, and decon pellets.

Thank you for looking that up for me, I am glad I bought so much. I will try the 1/4 C. The only thing that I do find odd is that we have never found rat droppings or smelled rat urine in the coop or in the chickens feeder. But I want to do as much preventative (like the Cayenne) as I can.

Thanks for the mint idea. Do chickens eat mint? Would I have to keep them out of the area where the mint is planted?

I would love to find an all natural way to keep them at bay.

 

[sbhkma]

What about getting an electric fencer and running wire around the perimeter of your coop area? I'd get the insulators that run out about 3-5 inches from the base and put it down as close to the ground as possible w/o having a grounding issue with the weeds/grass. I have one set up for my girls and I use a small clip to attach it so I can open the area to the run & coop. Just remember to turn it off before you go to open it!... unless you want to test it of course.

 

[lcammack]

Would this electric wire be to keep the chickens out of the mint? Or keep the rats away? I would think that the wire would not bother the rats since they just tunnel.

 

[sbhkma]

If you place your wire toward the bottom and a bit away from the edge of the coop, I doubt they'd be able to tunnel under. I don't think they're smart enough to figure out.."hey, if I just back up 4 inches and start digging HERE, I can keep tunneling and come up on the other side of that nasty biting wire". I could be wrong though

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have spearmint growing in one of my chicken runs. It is widespread and they do chew on it a bit. But overall they leave most of it alone (except when it gets tall they trample it and the honeybees have a really hard time finding flowers that haven't been stomped).

So I would definitely protect it with some chicken wire, and don't uncover all of it at once just in case they totally chow down and love it. Chickens are individuals...yours might eat it all or not touch it.

One thing you might consider is putting some grazing frames over it (like a raised bed only with some chicken wire or mesh over it) so they cannot dig at the base of the plant. So the plant grows up to the roof of the frame- any higher and the chickens can eat the tops of the plants.

I started my spearmint from a single seed, grown inside the house one year in a yogurt cup. Now it is in various spots of my garden. I love it! It makes a wonderful tea all by itself. (You don't want to pick it after the chickens have had access to it though, for tea.)

 

[speedy2020]

Unfortunately we cannot lift our coop up, it is a full size coop and is attached to a run that would be to big to lift. So we are stuck with dealing with what we've got.

We are currently using just one bite bait bars, and decon pellets.

Thank you for looking that up for me, I am glad I bought so much. I will try the 1/4 C. The only thing that I do find odd is that we have never found rat droppings or smelled rat urine in the coop or in the chickens feeder. But I want to do as much preventative (like the Cayenne) as I can.

Thanks for the mint idea. Do chickens eat mint? Would I have to keep them out of the area where the mint is planted?

I would love to find an all natural way to keep them at bay.

If the base structure of your coop is very solid, you can lift your coop by using a car/truck jack. The key is put the 8x8x16" cement block one at the time in the 4 corners. Keeping in mine, safety is number 1 so don't mess around with big or weak base structure coop.