How do I get rid of Rats in my coop?

[proudmommaof1]

We have owned 15 hens and 1 rooster for almost 3 years and never had a rodent issue until this past month or two. We can not use poison due to our dogs and the chickens. Anyone had anything that worked? My husband wants to just get rid of the chickens all together because all we are doing now is paying for repairs the rats are doing. They are eating all our eggs, eating holes in the walls and eating all the hens food. Please help!

 

[azygous]

I have used all kinds of rat traps and even made one of these bucket traps with a spinning soda bottle, but this variation is absolutely fool-proof and catches rodents most efficiently. You can get the spinning "log" from the internet, but I rigged one with small odds and ends I had lying around, using a wooden dowel slipped inside a slightly larger diameter cooper tube with medicine bottle caps cut to fit over the dowel and inside the copper tube to stabilize it so it spins. There are all sorts of variations to choose from, but this video will give you the idea.

 

[Acre4Me]

1/4” to 1/2” HWC will help. Can you apply it to the bottom perimeter, and up the sides of the coop to prevent chewing in through the wood? Alternately, applying it inside the coop, across the floor - can be covered with other flooring material.

Remove the food at night and if the feeder you are using is causing waste, then fix that issue so feed is not available on the ground at night. Some people use feeders that are propped up on blocks that do not extend past the container edges, so rodents can not climb up and in. But need to keep them from jumping into the feed from above it or from the side - so think of feeder placement.

Have you installed a game camera to see where they are coming in, their patterns of behavior? Borrow one if you don’t want to buy. Will be helpful in knowing if you’ve reduced the rats too. It isn’t hunting season now, so should be able to borrow one for a few months from a friend.

 

[Shadrach]

We have owned 15 hens and 1 rooster for almost 3 years and never had a rodent issue until this past month or two. We can not use poison due to our dogs and the chickens. Anyone had anything that worked? My husband wants to just get rid of the chickens all together because all we are doing now is paying for repairs the rats are doing. They are eating all our eggs, eating holes in the walls and eating all the hens food. Please help!

I have recently had a similar debate with people here. We've got rats, lots of them. We've got sheep and donkeys and dogs and ducks as well.
Solution from one quarter, get rid of the chickens.
Once you've got rats it no longer matters whether you've got chickens, or not; they'll find something else to eat. The get rid of the chickens is a logic fail. If you want to get rid of rats then you have to kill them.
Not putting food down 24/7 helps keep them out of coops and runs.
Not putting food in the coops is a lesson I learnt years ago. This should help with the repairs.
Using hardware cloth to seal openings that the rats use to get in works.

 

[getaclue]

Flood any rat tunnels you find, with water. I take a bucket with lid, and a larger hole saw, and around the upper edge, I cut a few holes. I put baits on the lid, then secure the bucket over the lid. I put something heavy on it, so other animals can't get into it, or turn it over. The holes allow the rats to enter to get the baits. I set it outside their coop, in the evening, when they go in to roost, and are secured, then remove it in the morning when they go out. You might want to keep the dogs secured during the night when you put it out, for about a week. Normally, it doesn't take longer than that. They can/will return. When you first see evidence of them returning, usually droppings in the feeder, or a hole to get into the coop, set out your bait bucket for a couple nights. I prefer Ramik rat bait more than Tom Cat. They seem to like the Ramik better.

 

[cmom]

This is what I use and only the rats can get to the baits. I had a coop that was totally infested. I moved the birds out and into another coop. I took down the ceiling in the coop where some were nesting and some inner wall we put up as the rats had chewed holes in the walls and were nesting in between the inner and outer wall. I had rats coming out and couldn't believe how many were in the coop. I shut the coop up so nothing could get inside and put some rat baits in the coop without the bait box. I renovated the coop. I had also seen some rats in our barn which is behind the coops and put the rat bait in the rat bait boxes. I got rid of the rats. They die and most will have tunnels under ground. Since I didn't find many dead rats, I suspect they went into their tunnels and died. Now and then I check the baited bait boxes and haven't seen any activity in quite a long time. The baits have been intact lately.

 

[cmom]

We have owned 15 hens and 1 rooster for almost 3 years and never had a rodent issue until this past month or two. We can not use poison due to our dogs and the chickens. Anyone had anything that worked? My husband wants to just get rid of the chickens all together because all we are doing now is paying for repairs the rats are doing. They are eating all our eggs, eating holes in the walls and eating all the hens food. Please help!

I noticed this is your first post but you have been a BYC member for a few years.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
All good advice, although I don't feel that picking up the feeders at night is worth the effort. There's enough stuff spilled in the bedding to be attractive, and rats also eat eggs and will kill chickens. I lost three nice bantam pullets during an infestation a few years ago. Nasty!
Rat- proof your coop! No openings larger than 1/2" anywhere, and if insulated, make sure that's not where they are living.
No trap will get them all; rats are just too smart. Plan on using bait, in bait stations, and managing your critters during this phase. Most rats will return to their burrows and die there, so be unavailable to be eaten by anyone. If you can eliminate this family group, things will be better.
I don't feed anything outside of the bird's safe coop and run, and find that this helps a lot. Chickens will attack rodents during the day, so having the coop safe and rodent free at night matters a lot.
Mary