Rats in my run!! HELP!

[Nay117]

I know there are several posts about rats .. I've been giving myself anxiety reading them all and need some solid advice!!!! New chicken mom. Made several mistakes along the way but I'm learning along the way.. first mistake was a prefab coop from Tractor Supply .. I am working with what I have .. I built a larger run myself (very inexperienced carpentry skills but I managed) I did a galvinized wire mesh skirt a foot out around my entire run/coop area. I found out I have a rat(s) coming into the run at night. I assume I have had signs of them along the way but silly & stupid me didnt realize. They are digging from under my backyard fence before the wire skirt down and into the run!!! I caught one eating from the feeder. And as I read I do not have a rat I have RATS!

I am now taking the food in at night. Should I always have to continue to do this? It normally is on a hanger. I keep my stock of feed inside my house.

My plan is to put the galvinized wire mesh down on the whole floor of run and bury it with dirt. I was hesitant to do this at first with the fear it would hurt one of them. Is this a good idea?

My neighborhood zoning is wacky so I have a car garage behind my house ... with garbage and used car parts behind our backyard fence. So I assume the rats have a great home in the junkyard. We wont be able to move to my dream home/area for at least a few years so am I inevitably always going to have this rodent issue?

My prefab coop (knock on wood) shows no signs the rats are getting into the coop. It is raised up off ground and I have an automatic door I installed. I see no chew marks or rat poop anywhere. Just the hole(s) where it came into run and the 1 or 2 I've spotted from my back window with the flashlight.

I have severe anxiety about this... Should I buy rat traps/snapper ones? I'd hate to use poison bc of chickens and wildlife (even though I dont want rats near me or my house and chickens I feel bad killing them! or the hawks and owls that eat them) Do the plug in rodent deterrent things work? Do natural plant based remedies work like mint?

Thanks everyone!

PS posted a photo of my coop/run area if it will help.. please no negative comments .. as I said I am all new to this and learning as I go (I know the coop should be larger (I have some ideas but for now I just added perches inside) .. one day I'll have my dream coop & run! For reference I have 7 chickens (2 of which are bantams) (1 is a cockerel) .. about 20 weeks old & just started laying.. they free range in my yard anywhere from 2-6 hours a day.

 

[45lk9p459gm-w]

Put out the Tom Cat rat bait stations where your chicks can't get to them and let the rat poison do it's job. Check them regularly to make sure they still have bait and replace the empties. This is a forever thing not once and done. It's that simple.

 

[Folly's place]

Rats will eat eggs, and also kill chickens, at night. Happened here a few years ago. They can also chew through wood and particle board. Also happened here.
Yes, make your coop/ run more secure, including around the base. No openings larger than 1/2" ANYWHERE!
And no traps will ever get them all, they are much too smart.
Can you report unsanitary conditions nearby to the health department, and animal control?
Bait in bait stations, as mentioned above, will very likely be necessary. Most rodents will go into their tunnels and die there; when we had to do bait, nearly no above ground rodents were found, which we took care of. Sometime you gotta do what you gotta do...
Mary

 

[Salixx]

My parents had a major rat problem in their house in 2019 and 2020. They tried a lot of things but it only really was solved when poison was put out.

Rats are incredibly intelligent. They will learn to avoid traps once a few have been caught. If you can’t buy enough to effectively destabilize the population in one night (at least a couple dozen) then they will stop going to them or learn to trip them before eating. Poison does that but for a lot less money and it’s not an immediate cause/effect so they don’t learn to avoid it as well.

I am not a fan of poisons but they have their place.

 

[cmom]

A friend of mine bought this and said he caught over 20 rats with one set. He has a tub he put the trap in and drowns the rats he's caught.Good luck...
https://www.ruralking.com/ratinator

 

[The Moonshiner]

@Al Gerhart come and give your sells speech.

 

[Nay117]

UPDATE - so I had a snap mouse trap (had a mouse problem couple years ago in house so had one left over) I set the trap right where the path is that u think they are coming in and caught what I believe is a mouse. It is smaller than i thought it would be, long tail and little hairs on it. So now I'm unsure if its rats or mice... either way they need to go. Maybe the flashlight from window of house at night made the little devil look bigger? maybe a baby rat? I'm unsure but heading to store soon to get more traps ...
Will rat snap traps still catch mice? I am not sure if that's a stupid question. I am still on fence about using poison.
I am going to stuff steal wool down hole in run too and cover with the galvanized mesh fencing.
I will also look into the treadle feeder .. is it hard for chickens to figure out how to use it? I feel like as smart as my chickens are they also like to play dumb and they have no interest in the nipple waterer so I switched back to the well style waterers because I was nervous they weren't drinking. Only a few pecked at the nipple and everyday I try to get them to use it and they could care less.

 

[deidreg]

Also, bring food in at night. Always. I see you have hardware cloth, which is good. Line beneath your entire coop/run. Good luck.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

UPDATE - so I had a snap mouse trap (had a mouse problem couple years ago in house so had one left over) I set the trap right where the path is that u think they are coming in and caught what I believe is a mouse. It is smaller than i thought it would be, long tail and little hairs on it. So now I'm unsure if its rats or mice... either way they need to go. Maybe the flashlight from window of house at night made the little devil look bigger? maybe a baby rat? I'm unsure but heading to store soon to get more traps ...
Will rat snap traps still catch mice? I am not sure if that's a stupid question. I am still on fence about using poison.
I am going to stuff steal wool down hole in run too and cover with the galvanized mesh fencing.
I will also look into the treadle feeder .. is it hard for chickens to figure out how to use it? I feel like as smart as my chickens are they also like to play dumb and they have no interest in the nipple waterer so I switched back to the well style waterers because I was nervous they weren't drinking. Only a few pecked at the nipple and everyday I try to get them to use it and they could care less.

The rat snap traps are really too big for mice and vice versa.
Look up the stairway to heaven rat trap. They are cheap, simple and will catch multiples each night or both rats and mice.
If there is garbage, trash and debris in the surrounding area, you will never get rid of them until that is resolved.

 

[Al Gerhart]

UPDATE - so I had a snap mouse trap (had a mouse problem couple years ago in house so had one left over) I set the trap right where the path is that u think they are coming in and caught what I believe is a mouse. It is smaller than i thought it would be, long tail and little hairs on it. So now I'm unsure if its rats or mice... either way they need to go. Maybe the flashlight from window of house at night made the little devil look bigger? maybe a baby rat? I'm unsure but heading to store soon to get more traps ...
Will rat snap traps still catch mice? I am not sure if that's a stupid question. I am still on fence about using poison.
I am going to stuff steal wool down hole in run too and cover with the galvanized mesh fencing.
I will also look into the treadle feeder .. is it hard for chickens to figure out how to use it? I feel like as smart as my chickens are they also like to play dumb and they have no interest in the nipple waterer so I switched back to the well style waterers because I was nervous they weren't drinking. Only a few pecked at the nipple and everyday I try to get them to use it and they could care less.

Howard E did a great article on eliminating rodents, look for the post using his name and Rats 101. The short version is sanitation, exclusion, elimination. Sanitation is keeping your bulk feed in metal cans, your coop feed in a proper treadle feeder, and cleaning up the trash and debris that allows rodents to travel around without getting caught by natural predators. If you do this part right you do not need to spend money trying to rodent proof a coop or resort to poison.

Treadle feeders, the pretty ones are easier for birds to learn to use with their big wide steps. But they also are not rodent proof at all. What you need is a narrow and distant treadle so the treadle cannot be overwhelmed and the feed eaten. Then the feeder has to have a spring loaded inward swinging door and a heavy counterweight. Most of the feeders sold on Amazon have doors that rodents can just push open, even the guillotine style overhead lids can easily be pushed up. They design with little resistance so when a bird gets clocked in the head they can pull their head out. Read the reviews carefully, the negative ones are the most important as sellers have no problem buying glowing reviews for a few bucks each from an overseas review mill.

How hard it it to train? Very easy IF you follow the directions. Don't use logic, don't pamper the birds, follow the directions. Make sure the feeder is fastened to a wall or post, not the chicken wire on the side of the coop. The feeder HAS to be solid and not rocking around. Make sure the treadle bottoms out completely on the ground, the chickens need to be able to pin down the treadle on the ground with one foot and stand on the other foot. The birds HAVE to be cooped up with ZERO other feed available including old spilled feed in the litter to scratch up. And you HAVE to let the birds get hungry, three or four hours will do. If it takes all day, you are not following the instructions. Do only what the instructions say to do, nothing else. Chickens are smart, they are all also skittish, but once they get hungry they will use the feeder.