Help rats are eating my chickens!

[SheaLoner]

If you have a BB gun, lay out feed in a spot and lay in wait for them. Pick off as many as you can.

 

[LaurasNew]

I've had chickens for 25 years and never had this problem before. Rats are living under my coop, we've been waging war on them for the last year...With the weather being so cold this winter we forgot to trap them and now they've decided to eat my chickens. In the last week I've lost four chickens.
We've got rat traps and RatX under the coop, today we're going to try smoking them out and then my dogs will be lying in wait. We keep our feed in metal containers and take the feed away at night. Every other day we find a new hole chewed into the coop. I feel so bad for my hens, I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks in advance,
Jude

So sorry to hear this, it must be horrible for you. We had a rat problem and were successful in getting rid of them but I only have 5 hens and one rooster. I pick up food which I keep in plastic boxes with tall sides during the day. It stops so much ending up on the ground and is a cheap alternative to treadle feeders which I do think are the best if you have alot of chickens. We never saw a rat during the day but did on a night camera. I removed food religiously, cleaned the whole coop leaving no hiding places and filled any gaps or holes with cement. We don't have dry ice readily available here but I've heard great things about that where there are many holes and a bad infestation. Wishing you the best of luck