Many, many rats

[Emrosenagel]

Hello,

a few months ago, I noticed a pair of rats (they’re small, so they may be mice) living beneath my coop. Now —I blame my tender heart for this one — I didn’t take any action because the mother was moving her babies, and I just didn’t have it in me to kill babies.
Everything was fine for a while. My ladies didn’t bother the rats and vice verse. But now I have about twenty of them living under there, and they’re practically stealing food out of my chickens’ mouths.
I still don’t want to kill them, which is why I’m asking: is there any way to get rid of them? I don’t want to spend a fortune on chicken feed for a bunch of freeloaders!

thanks,
Emily

 

[sourland]

They are also frequently carriers of Salmonella which they can pass on through their feces.

 

[Emrosenagel]

They are also frequently carriers of Salmonella which they can pass on through their feces.

Yea, I was afraid of that. They really need to go.

 

[Rammy]

They will multiply and can kill or attack your flock. I had the same problem with rats until I took the drastic action to put out poison. Its the only thing that worked, or seems to be working.
I had alot of hens go broody this year and the rats killed alot of newly hatched chicks. I would find eggs missing from under sitting hens. Egg shells from hatched chicks but no chick in the nest. One hen had chicks killed right after hatching. I found the poor things with huge wounds on thier heads.
Finally one of my grown leghorns was attacked on the roost pole. Came out to feed and saw a huge wound on her head. Thats when I decided there was no other choice but to put out poison.
If you dont nip it in the bud now you'll regret it later.

 

[Emrosenagel]

They will multiply and can kill or attack your flock. I had the same problem with rats until I took the drastic action to put out poison. Its the only thing that worked, or seems to be working.
I had alot of hens go broody this year and the rats killed alot of newly hatched chicks. I would find eggs missing from under sitting hens. Egg shells from hatched chicks but no chick in the nest. One hen had chicks killed right after hatching. I found the poor things with huge wounds on thier heads.
Finally one of my grown leghorns was attacked on the roost pole. Came out to feed and saw a huge wound on her head. Thats when I decided there was no othet choice but to put out poison.
If you dont nip it in the bud niw you'll regret it later.

Will the poison hurt my flock? I’ll put it out if I need to, I just don’t want my chickens getting poisoned.

 

[Rammy]

Will the poison hurt my flock? I’ll put it out if I need to, I just don’t want my chickens getting poisoned.

Mine havent had any problems because apparently any rats that ate it dont die where they could get eaten by the chickens. Of course, the poison is in closed containers where they cant get to it. I placed them under areas out of reach.
If you dont want to use poison you can get the Ratinator....its a metal trap they go into but cant escape from. You can use bait like dog food, tuna, twinkies, whatever, then dispatch with a pellet gun.

 

[WindingRoad]

Will the poison hurt my flock? I’ll put it out if I need to, I just don’t want my chickens getting poisoned.

Yes and if another animal eats the dead poisoned rat they my die also. The rats I have won't eat poison. I tried RatX and TomCat rat bait stations and neither worked. I used ex-lax and dulcolax. That ate it for a few days. Then they stopped. Now I am using Fancy Feast cat food laced with oxycodone and Ativan. They are eating that. Found an adult dead rat on the ramp leading out of the chicken coop the other morning. I am still seeing rats now and then but not as much as before. I am gonna move my coop and put it on a cement pad.

If you put poison out put it outside your coop. I also light up my run at night with motion detector lights. And put them around the feeders. I sweep up feed every night and empty waterers. I read some where that rats can go without water longer than a camel. IDK>

 

[Emrosenagel]

Mine havent had any problems because apparently any rats that ate it dont die where they could get eaten by the chickens. Of course, the poison is in closed containers where they cant get to it. I placed them under areas out of reach.
If you dont want to use poison you can get the Ratinator....its a metal trap they go into but cant escape from. You can use bait like dog food, tuna, twinkies, whatever, then dispatch with a pellet gun.

I’ll have to look into that. If not, I guess I can put the poison under the coop. Thanks very much for the help!

 

[Rammy]

If you have a Rural King near you they have them for $55.00, much cheaper than Amazon.

 

[Emrosenagel]

Yes and if another animal eats the dead poisoned rat they my die also. The rats I have won't eat poison. I tried RatX and TomCat rat bait stations and neither worked. I used ex-lax and dulcolax. That ate it for a few days. Then they stopped. Now I am using Fancy Feast cat food laced with oxycodone and Ativan. They are eating that. Found an adult dead rat on the ramp leading out of the chicken coop the other morning. I am still seeing rats now and then but not as much as before. I am gonna move my coop and put it on a cement pad.

If you put poison out put it outside your coop. I also light up my run at night with motion detector lights. And put them around the feeders. I sweep up feed every night and empty waterers. I read some where that rats can go without water longer than a camel. IDK>

I have a red light on the coop all night. But these rats are out all day long, which makes me think maybe they’re mice not rats. I will try sweeping up food, though. That’s smart. My ladies make a mess sometimes!