Rodents nest in my hen house

[PoppasGrill]

We have mice living in the ground at the corner of the coops. Though we do try to limit feed left out overnight, and have 2 ( of 8) cats that nightly leave dead mice on the doorstep, we will still shine a light in the coop at night and see mice scattering.
My wife saw a rat snake ( or as she called it.. “ a slimey spawn of Satan that tried to slither across my foot…”) in the shed , where the mice were nesting. Tried to tell her that it’s a good type of snake, non venomous,while trying to wrestle the flaming torch out of her hand as she was heading to the shed, as long as the small chicks aren’t in the barn and she collects eggs twice a day. Don’t think I convinced her, but she did put the torch down.
We won’t use poison because of the cats and chickens eating the dead mice.

 

[msmidwick]

Coyote urine purchased from Amazon. I put it in the coop and under the trash can feeder. No more rats. If I rains put more out. It doesn’t take much.

 

[Penpal]

I've suggested this more than once. Rodents and insects hate peppermint. Chickens and snakes have no opinion. Mix some peppermint essential oil (or the cooking kind) with water and spray a perimeter. You have to reapply it, but it forms an invisible barrier.

 

[PoppasGrill]

I've suggested this more than once. Rodents and insects hate peppermint. Chickens and snakes have no opinion. Mix some peppermint essential oil (or the cooking kind) with water and spray a perimeter. You have to reapply it, but it forms an invisible barrier.

I’ve tried a brand of “rodent repellent “ with peppermint in it. Sprayed it along the beams we saw the mice walking along, we would swear they stopped and sniffed at it, maybe dabbed a bit behind their ears. It did not keep them away or even make them take a new path. Might just be the brand I tried, but did make the barn smell good for a half hour or so.

 

[Al Gerhart]

We have mice living in the ground at the corner of the coops. Though we do try to limit feed left out overnight, and have 2 ( of 8) cats that nightly leave dead mice on the doorstep, we will still shine a light in the coop at night and see mice scattering.
My wife saw a rat snake ( or as she called it.. “ a slimey spawn of Satan that tried to slither across my foot…”) in the shed , where the mice were nesting. Tried to tell her that it’s a good type of snake, non venomous,while trying to wrestle the flaming torch out of her hand as she was heading to the shed, as long as the small chicks aren’t in the barn and she collects eggs twice a day. Don’t think I convinced her, but she did put the torch down.
We won’t use poison because of the cats and chickens eating the dead mice.

Bringing the feed in at night just causes the mice to eat during the day. Mice won't stop at the chicken feed, they go after electrical wiring in houses, hot tubs, tractors, and cars.

It would help if the cats could get into the coop at night. Clean up everything that gives them shelter around the coop so they are more exposed when going for water or food.

 

[Coke58]

After 30 years of keeping hens with no problems, this year I've got a rodent infestation. They took up residence in my greenhouse and garden shed. They are now in the hen house.

I've done tons of reading about what attracts rodents; rodent free chicken feeders; rodent deterrents, etc., etc.

I'm posting here in the hope that others' experiences could prove helpful. I don't want to surrender my hens but am almost to that point in time.

I've contracted with exterminators who assure me that their "safe" product will eliminate the rats while safeguarding my pets and the wildlife.

Am very open to any help I can get.

We had an infestation a few years back after many many years of having chickens and other animals on our property. We tried everything we could think of and finally we gave all 40 of our chickens away and burned down the chicken house. We dug up the ground around it which was filled with tunnels from the rats. We, limed the entire area and left it alone for a year and a half. We hated buying eggs after eating our own fresh eggs for years we decided to try again. We rebuilt and have had chickens again for 2 years now, and I happy to say we have not seen a single rat.

 

[Icie]

After 30 years of keeping hens with no problems, this year I've got a rodent infestation. They took up residence in my greenhouse and garden shed. They are now in the hen house.

I've done tons of reading about what attracts rodents; rodent free chicken feeders; rodent deterrents, etc., etc.

I'm posting here in the hope that others' experiences could prove helpful. I don't want to surrender my hens but am almost to that point in time.

I've contracted with exterminators who assure me that their "safe" product will eliminate the rats while safeguarding my pets and the wildlife.

Am very open to any help I can get.

You've been given many great suggestions from what I've read so far. I had the same problem and it evolved because rats are smart. First they nested in my tarped coop roof, I had a metal one put on. Then they found little openings and climbed in from a variety of directions... infiltrated my greenhouse and shed as well, as all are connected. I thought by finding every possible entrance in the coop, greenhouse, and shed that I finally had fort Knox. BUT, I'd forgotten that they would also use the tunnels started by voles & moles, expanding them to come up from underground...and snakes follow! I would move stationary objects and find nests underneath! My solution was to cover my dirt floors with hardware cloth in the coop, run, and greenhouse. I'd had the apron around the coop and cinder blocks on top of that, but they bypassed everything. I "think" I might have FINALLY beat them, at least for the ability to enter. Now, other things I'd tried included 1. the electric traps that zap them when they enter for the bait -$30 on Amazon, they have both an indoor and outdoor version. 2. A thingy you put on your exhaust pipe of your car or mower, connect a garden hose, let the engine run with all the windows sealed up and the chickens out. It's also on Amazon, about $40, but it's a thick rubber heat resistant ring with a garden hose nozzle and a metal band like the ones on a radiator hose. You may be able to make something like that. 3. On Amazon or any gardening place, there are gas sticks that look like flares-you strike the end like a match, stick the burning end in the rat entrance you find, smoke will kill them or run them off. If you see smoke coming up from other holes, cover them with a rock to prevent escape. 4. Lots of recipes for cornmeal and baking soda based mixtures that will kill them and not harm any other animal, as well as a product called RatX...rats are smart though and if they realize its killing their buddies, after a while you'll notice it not being touched. 5. As was mentioned, a Treadle Feeder or two (I bought 2 from Rent-a-Coop on Amazon) in order to keep food inaccessible because as long as they can smell it, they'll hang around. You're gonna have to use a variety of things simultaneously and follow the steps like Al mentioned, but hardware cloth EVERYWHERE will be your biggest ally.

 

[Al Gerhart]

You've been given many great suggestions from what I've read so far. I had the same problem and it evolved because rats are smart. First they nested in my tarped coop roof, I had a metal one put on. Then they found little openings and climbed in from a variety of directions... infiltrated my greenhouse and shed as well, as all are connected. I thought by finding every possible entrance in the coop, greenhouse, and shed that I finally had fort Knox. BUT, I'd forgotten that they would also use the tunnels started by voles & moles, expanding them to come up from underground...and snakes follow! I would move stationary objects and find nests underneath! My solution was to cover my dirt floors with hardware cloth in the coop, run, and greenhouse. I'd had the apron around the coop and cinder blocks on top of that, but they bypassed everything. I "think" I might have FINALLY beat them, at least for the ability to enter. Now, other things I'd tried included 1. the electric traps that zap them when they enter for the bait -$30 on Amazon, they have both an indoor and outdoor version. 2. A thingy you put on your exhaust pipe of your car or mower, connect a garden hose, let the engine run with all the windows sealed up and the chickens out. It's also on Amazon, about $40, but it's a thick rubber heat resistant ring with a garden hose nozzle and a metal band like the ones on a radiator hose. You may be able to make something like that. 3. On Amazon or any gardening place, there are gas sticks that look like flares-you strike the end like a match, stick the burning end in the rat entrance you find, smoke will kill them or run them off. If you see smoke coming up from other holes, cover them with a rock to prevent escape. 4. Lots of recipes for cornmeal and baking soda based mixtures that will kill them and not harm any other animal, as well as a product called RatX...rats are smart though and if they realize its killing their buddies, after a while you'll notice it not being touched. 5. As was mentioned, a Treadle Feeder or two (I bought 2 from Rent-a-Coop on Amazon) in order to keep food inaccessible because as long as they can smell it, they'll hang around. You're gonna have to use a variety of things simultaneously and follow the steps like Al mentioned, but hardware cloth EVERYWHERE will be your biggest ally.

Thanks for the back up on this.

Question though, are they still hanging around or am I misinterpreting one of your last sentences? I'd check your feed use to see if it is no more than a quarter pound per hen, ignoring roosters unless you have a lot then half that per rooster. Those Chinese made feeders are notorious for not being ratproof with that lift up lid.

 

[Borders3]

When we moved into the farmhouse where we are now in 2017 the place was overrun with rats, they weren't in the house but in all the sheds and outbuildings, they chewed through the wiring on my car so I couldn't park facing the wall to avoid the bad weather, when we pulled into the yard when dark the headlights would pick out the rats in the fold yard, it was like the ocean moving. We started by shooting them with an air rifle, we didn't want to use poison as there were owls nesting in the windmill also I don't like the ramifications of poison. I had wanted chickens when we moved in and I knew that with all the rats they would soon be after my chicken feed I lessened that by having them free range then feeding them before bed, any feed left we would shoot the rats from our bedroom window once it was dark. Then I found a stray cat one night eating the chicken food, this was just before the first lockdown with avian flu 2019. I took her on and let her have a litter of kittens, 3 as it turns out, then spayed all four of them. At the same time as she had her kittens another feral cat had six kittens in the straw stack, I gave her some food but she was well feral and took the kittens away but after she left them at about 8 weeks old they all found their way back to the farm, so we have those as well, all spayed. Since they all arrived I have only seen 2 rats both dead and left on the lawn, so defo the way to go is cats, The rats know cats are there and keep away. When the farmer emptied the fold yard when he moved the feeder there were maybe 6 rats under it, from having it crawling with rats, I would call that a success. Living in the middle of a field with a cattle fold yard, you are always going to have rats its having the cats that control the breeding cycle of the rats by catching the young rats. Since Covid and having the chickens attacked twice by dog walkers with dogs off lead, I have now got my chickens in a run with food and water in the run and I use treadle feeders for the layers pellets, out 24/7 and go in on an evening and give them a treat of mixed corn and a scoop of mealworms before roost time.

 

[Bonnieboo]

Firstly, sorry about your rodent problem. It is very frustrating trying to get rid of them.
Fortunately, I have discovered what for me has been the best deterrent. Traps that are baited with peanut butter that electrocutes the rat when it enters the trap to get at the bait. It is battery operated and I find that it only takes a few dead rats/mice for the rest of the family to stay away! I also have a treadle feeder which removes the food source they seek.
I wish you success.