can/will a rat kill a bantam hen?

[columbiacritter]

We had a bantam roo and hen in a separate run and coop that's inside my dogs yard. My husband said he saw her alive this morning but when I came home she was dead in the coop and partially eaten. Whatever ate her chewed off her head, ate her neck and some of her body but didn't move her off the nest or even roll her over to get to the breast. I'm wondering if she died and then the rat ate her or if it killed her.

Nothing bigger than a rat could get past my dog. He couldn't have been the culprit, he's 75 lbs to her 2 lbs so there wouldn't have been anything left of her. He's normally really protective of the birds and chases off predators that come into our fields. I've seen him jump over a grazing flock of banties to attack a coyote skulking in the high grass.

Any opinions on rat ferocity?

 

[denasfarm]

YES... Rats are horrible. I have lost more birds (and baby rabbits ) to Rats than ANY other predator.
They will gang up and eat the bird alive!!!

 

[woodmort]

The first chickens I had were bantams that my grandmother gave me when I was about 6/7. There was a pair which produced half a dozen chicks--all were killed by rats. That was in 1945 and I still remember be devastated by it.

 

[columbiacritter]

Nerts, now I'm all worried about my pulltets.

 

[columbiacritter]

Husband is not dealing with this well. He is not a fan of glue traps but he put a big one out there hoping he gets to beat the rat to death in the morning. He is very mad at himself for not dealing with rat when he saw the first sign of one about a week ago.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Yes!!

There are rat bait houses. But, you can save $20 - $30 bucks and feed the rats the poison straight down their rat holes!

I HATE rats!! The will gift your chickens with lice and mites, too.

 

[columbiacritter]

The glue trap disappeared within and hour lastnight. Not sure if he put the other one out or not. He's going to pull the coop to one side today and we'll raise it up tomorrow so nothign can live under it ever again. All our other bantam coops are up on stilts so nothing can hide under them.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Quote:
I wouldn't hesitate to put bait houses under the coop. Rats can get the poison, chickens can not. I would consider it a year-round necessity.