rats

  1. carp

    How to feed chickens without feeding the rats

    I've had my chickens five years, and we've always had rat problems. But in the last couple of months, the rats are eating so much food that I'm going through twice as much feed. They come out early in the day and empty the feeder by the afternoon. We aren't keen on trying to poison the rats...
  2. T

    Difference in feeders...

    New keeper here. Won't have birds until the spring. Can anybody tell me what the difference (ie--benefits) are between a treadle feeder vs no-spill feeder (bin w/ PVC elbows)? Specifically when it comes to attracting rodents? Anyone with experience w/ both types of feeders?? Thanks!
  3. Chookenperson4

    THE RATS ARE EATING MY CHICKEN FOOD!

    Hi. About half a year ago, I purchased a "rat-proof" treadle chicken feeder. unfortunately, the rats have learnt to open the feeder by just pushing the lid up with their noses. Because of this convenient source of food, the rats are constantly raiding our coop. I have been researching pest-proof...
  4. awyman

    Rodent Infestation, Need Help!

    I hate saying it, but my barn has rats. We’ve struggled with this problem for about a year and a half now. We’ve tried everything. Electric traps, pet friendly poison, & even hunting them at night. We have livestock dogs, but they don’t help either. We keep all our food in bins, our barn is...
  5. Al Gerhart

    Virulent Newcastle Disease or VND, Lots of Anguish, Little Solutions Offered

    Wow, what a disaster for the backyard chicken community in California. Just got through reading the SOB post (save our birds) and what struck me was a lot of anger and heart break and little discussion on what is best for the backyard chicken community. And I know this is a sore point for...
  6. fatcatx

    Bucket trap - then what?

    Wondering for those who use a homemade bucket trap for catching rats... How do you dispatch the rats? I got my supplies to make one this weekend but then figured I better have an end game planned if I'm greeted Sunday morning to a bucket of rats.
  7. Scotty from BI

    question regarding feeding chickens to avoid mice

    I would like to withhold food from the flock for up to about three hours in the morning. Let me explain. until recently, I have been waking up every morning when the chickens wake at the crack of dawn and putting food in their closed run. I put the food away at night to keep rats and mice...
  8. Nats Chickens

    How to get rid of rats?

    Okay, so I have found rat turds in the nest boxes and have seen rats around. The unwelcome little buggar's tunnels are found around the edges of the coop. Any ideas on how to get rid of them without killing the chooks?
  9. How to get rid of rats from chicken coop?

    How to get rid of rats from chicken coop?

    Chicken keeping does not have to be difficult or stressful, and you shouldn’t have to spend your time worrying about the pending threat that rats can be to your backyard flock, it’s a part of life and if you put in place the steps listed below, you and your girls will be able to sleep a little...
  10. chicksandchores

    Rats!

    I really need some advice on how to eliminate rats. I live in middle Tennessee, on 17 undeveloped acres. Until we got chickens, we had only had issues with mice in the house and those were caught and eliminated in snap traps or glue traps. Since getting my first chicks a little over a year ago...
  11. Barnycat

    Rat prevention question

    We are building a new chicken coop. We are building it with the 5/8” inch plywood floor. We are placing flooring on 4 x 4’s pressure-treated. We are wondering if we should put 1/2” galvanized wire on the dirt before we install the 4 x 4s & before attaching the plywood flooring. We are...
  12. SniperGoose

    Has anyone ever used this?

    I was at TSC getting Permethrin spray today, and I was looking around and seen this: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/bonide-5lbs-rat-magic-rodent-repellent-granules I've been having an ongoing battle with rats, and I've killed most of them. But I'll still see some evidence of them...
  13. drdvmd

    Ground squirrels! How do I keep them out?

    We live on a property with a large number of ground squirrels. Our chicken run was built with hardware cloth extending as an apron 18" out from the run walls, and yet ground squirrels have tunneled under these aprons into our run and are creating massive holes and tunnels everywhere. I am at a...
  14. B

    Rat Raiders

    I started raising chickens in Central Oregon about almost 10 years ago. Bend is dry so I never saw pests or raiders due to the scarcity of them finding food in the wild so they were thin in numbers. I also, after trying free ranging the chickens, that neighbors dogs was the worst I experienced...
  15. Living With Predators

    Living With Predators

    I'm fortunate to live on an island without a lot of predators: big (bear, fox, coyote, bobcat) or small (skunk, opossum, snakes). We do have transient cougars, but the deer population is quite healthy so there've been no run-ins with farmers or pet owners. We're not without predators: there are...
  16. Stacyoung13

    ****PEPPERMINT and MICE UPDATE ****

    Hi everybody, I posted almost 2 weeks ago, about peppermint oil keeping mice away. I just wanted to let everyone know that it is still working. I sprayed every night when I locked my chickens up, until I didn't see any anymore. I went from over a dozen running around, to zero running around...
  17. madgeroonie

    Is this chicken egg pecking damage or rats?

    Nearly every day I find a freshly laid egg that has been broken with its contents dripping out into the nesting box. I am wondering if the rats are getting in and eating them or if this one of my hens pecking the eggs. Can anyone tell from the photo? And have you any advice about how to stop...
  18. K

    Shared outside water; questionable worm castings; cat pee and poo

    Ok, hard part over - trying to make the title short enough :) Got my first two chickens two Saturdays ago. 1 - By accident the cats and chickens are drinking out of the same outdoor dish with water in it. Can this be a problem to either of them? 2. Chickens have been free-ranging some of the...
  19. Grits&Eggs

    RATS! They won't leavehttps://www.backyardchickens.com/members/grits-eggs.510574/

    Hi All, I am in the unincorporated area, but have mostly homes, not a lot of woods/open land and a creek running near the property line. I have LOTS of RATS....ugh, not sure where they are coming from/hiding. My coop is secure, and so far my cameras have not caught even one rat in the coop...
  20. Puckaster

    New chicks. Floor or coop?

    My hen and her new chicks don't like to go into the coop at night. The last 2 nights I have picked chicks and mum up from the floor of the run and had to put them into there coop, much to mum's annoyance, and a great deal of pecking. The coop has a gentle sloop to about 8 inch off the ground...
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