Rat control is often an issue in most urban areas. Chicken coops can be a magnet for rats and other rodents. Here are some rat control tips and ways to protect your hens and keep rats out of the chicken coop.
Are you having problems with rats in your chicken coop? We tried several ways to get rid of rats. Here’s what worked for us, and what didn’t.
With the popularity of urban chickens spreading across the communities, there comes an unexpected problem. Rats in the chicken coop. Rats are common in all urban areas. You just don’t see them often until there is a problem. Backyard chickens don’t create a rat problem. Instead, rats are attracted to the additional food source.
Our flock has been up against an encroaching rat invasion ever since we brought them home. Now, we may have some tough birds in our bunch, and while our ladies have been known to take down a rat or two on their own, a whole slew of them are a different story.
Rats can spread disease, prey on young chicks, steal eggs, and attack adult birds. It was important to get rid of these rats.
We tried everything in the book and finally found something that works.
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Preventing Rats in the Chicken Coop
We saw the first rat around our coop about a week after we moved our teenaged birds into it. Tunnels had been dug right underneath our fencing and into the chicken run where we kept an endless supply of delightful chicken feed for them to feast on, and boy were they feasting.
First Attempt: Using Physical Blockades to Deter Rats
My husband built wooden frames covered in hardware cloth and stuck them two feet into the ground all the way around the run, forming an underground barrier.
When the rats dug right around them, he spent an entire weekend rat proofing the run and coop. He covered the entire floor of the run with chicken wire to keep them from burrowing in. Then installed a chicken wire roof to the run, painstakingly wrapping the wire around every branch of our trumpet vine.
The next week the damn things were still at it. Somehow they were still getting in.
That’s when we found holes in the wooden coop floor, chewed by tiny rat teeth. We filled the holes with rocks and covered them with more chicken wire. The next day they just made more.
We needed a new tactic.
Second Attempt: Bought a Rat Proof Chicken Feeder
I decided to buy a rat proof chicken feeder online. I was so excited to get it all set up and watch my brilliant birds use their new feeder. Did I ever mention that chickens are not brilliant?
They spent the first five minutes staring at this shiny new space invader in sheer terror.
I set Dee Dee on the bar. As promised, the weight of the bird opened the feeder door, but she was too scared to stick her head in, so her flock-mate, Little Carl did.
She was happily eating out of the side of the feeder when Dee Dee decided she wanted to eat of the side of the feeder too, and jumped off, resulting in the feeder door crashing down on Little Carl’s head.
More of this tomfoolery went on all day, until too many birds got on the bar at once and the whole thing tipped over, spreading feed all over the place.
The birds were happy, I was not.
Third Attempt: Considering Rat Poisons
We considered using poisons to get rid of them, but decided against it.
Our chickens have killed and eaten mice before, and if they happened to eat a freshly poisoned rat, they would die as well. Poisoning rats puts the wildlife in your area at risk too, as owls and cats will readily eat a slowly moving poisoned rodent. This was not a risk we were willing to take.
Fourth Attempt: Setting Rat Traps
I bought six Rat Traps from amazon and set them up the day they arrived. These traps are super easy to set, and the best part is, they’re re-usable.
We decided to try chicken feed as bait, because they obviously like it enough to spend an entire night burrowing two feet into the Earth and chewing through wood planks for it.
OH BOY, DID THEY WORK.
We were catching between 2-5 rats a night! At first I felt like we were finally going to get rid of them for good, but this war was far from over. For weeks we kept at it, but the number of dead rats didn’t change. Even with all these casualties, it didn’t seem to be making a difference. Our feed was still disappearing and they were still coming.
I do believe that these traps would be a tremendous help to anyone who’s dealing with a smaller population of rats than we were, but here in the city, more rats were replacing the dead ones every day. We either had to find a new way to get rid of the rats, or live with them for the rest of eternity.
Fifth and Final Attempt: Stop Feeding the Rats
I’m glad to inform you that I’m not currently bowing down to my rat overlords as I write this. The answer was quite simple.
It wasn’t just the chicken food that was drawing rats to our backyard, but the open-air compost pile as well. We had to face facts that if we’re going to farm in the city, we have to adjust to the needs of our area.
We moved all the compost into steel garbage cans with tight fitting lids. Rats can’t chew through steel, so that took away one food source.
Next we changed the way we feed the chickens. They no longer have the luxury of picking away at a giant container full of food whenever they want.
With enough experimentation, I figured out exactly how much food our chickens will eat in one day and that’s all they get. We feed them on our patio, so food doesn’t get lost in their bedding for their rat friends to find later. If there’s anything that’s unfinished when they walk away, it goes into the steel compost bins.
Within two weeks of this new system the rat infantry had moved on. We haven’t seen a single one since making these changes. Had I known it was such a simple solution, I would have done it from the start. But that’s life, eh? Live and learn, then blog about it so others can learn from your mistakes.
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Discovering rats in your chicken coop is never a good thing. I hope sharing our successes and failures will help you solve your rat problem once and for all.
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How appropriate that we just captured and killed our first chicken coop rat yesterday! We also are struggling and will
def have to try some of your methods!
How timely! Really getting rid of any access to food was the only thing that worked for us, I hope you can get rid of yours!
I have to use poison. My floor is dirt, the building is old, the coop top is chicken wire and the rats have burrowed so many times under the sides and floor that it looks like swiss cheese. (should have been chick wire on top and around the lower sides, as even the wild birds come in to munch.) but I am happy to report that my chickens, one Rhode Island Red rooster, and three game hens (about half the size of the rooster) will NOT eat or even peck at a poisoned rat. Instead, they tell me how very upset they are that this still-wiggling, sick things is in their house, and will I move it immediately? Then, after I scoop up and toss the dead or dying rats, there are sometimes three or four at a time) the biddies run around looking at all the spots there were nasty old rats, to assure themselves they are really now gone, then they calm right down and begin to act like chickens again. Poor things. I saw a new ratproof feeder that doesn’t have the overhead paddle, and am going to try it. I saw it is metal. Although rats will chew through metal, I am hoping if I pit it onto a metal plate pad, I am hoping they will not like the feel of the metal against their feet so that they wont want to hang around long enough to chew through the metal. They really are the nastiest things on Earth short of a rattlesnakle.
I’m so glad your chickens don’t eat the poisoned rats! I’ve heard of that happening to other people. Rats are so hard to get rid of once you get them. We found this was the only way that would work. There are so many of them out here and they just kept coming even though we were killing several a day! Horrible!
if you know anyone with cats or ferrets – soiled bedding/litter is a very useful rat deterrent – we had one rat come… since then I have scattered used litter around my perimeter fence and not a single rat sign since – however I do live in the countryside and there are many other sources available without risking my coops and runs.
we also lift their feed hoppers every evening, the coops are shut at night and they are raised off the floor so there is no ‘hidden’ route available.
Wait a minute — you used urine & feces-filled kitty litter? How do you keep the hens from scratching around in it? (They do love sand baths.)
You are so right! We had a rat infestation last year…so bad that tgey were c,imbing up the ivy on the house and cbewed themselves a hole to get in.
My husband looked up in ourbedroom hvac vent and saw a snake looking right at him.
Sure enough we found rat droppings and snake skins in our attic! Yikes!
We had our local Terminex guy come out to drop poison and set traps. Didn’t catch any snakes but we did catch many rats and mice. It gives me the creeps just reliving it.
I have killed numerous copperheads. They are docile enough that I can get my tree loppers around their necks (do snakes have necks?)and lop of their heads, paying close attention to where that head winds up.
We also have diamond-back rattlesnakes and coral snakes-both of which are deadly. I leave the killing of these to my husband who blasts them with a large air pellet gun. It does the trick. The only time we have had these critters come to visit was in the dead heat of dummer, when there’s been no rain and everything is dry and thirsty.
I really hate to kill the snakes but I can’t afford my dogs to get bitten. Our vet has started inoculatjng the dogs with a new vaccine for snake bite-vipers mainly. I will begin giving them the shots every three to six months to build up their antibodies.
This is really a great stride in vet medicine, especially for those of us who live in the great Southwest.
Love your writings! Please keep up the wonderful information!
Marquita
About a month ago i walked out to collect thé eggs in my coop and came face to face with a rat. I have had my girls now for 5 years and never seen any signs no dropping nothing. After reading up on best way to get rid of rodents my first and only try worked. Plain old black pepper worked for me and it is cheap. After cleaning out the coop I shake it back into the cracks and around the roof area.
Wow that’s great! I’m so glad you found a quick solution. I’ll have to try it out if we ever have problems again.
This site really helped me with finding a natural solution to our rat problem as I don’t believe in killing anything. We noticed one very large grey rat in our chicken run one day because we had been leaving the door open for the girls access to food while they free ranged. As I am home all day, I spend a lot of time with the girls and this was the first time I’d noticed it so it had been getting fed elsewhere first. It was then we noticed our neighbour’s who regularly feed the birds were on holiday so of course the bird feeders were empty and we put two and two together. The rat decided the chicken run was the next best thing. I was seriously concerned there were more than just the one, based on internet research and so we started with cayenne pepper and black pepper, throwing crushed mint leaves everywhere and it didn’t seem perturbed – although I think I heard it sneeze when I chucked black pepper into the bushes. Next we bought a humane rat trap and all it did was eat the peanut butter clean off the bars (we put quite a lot in there) but the trap itself failed. I was quite pleased because I didn’t know how we were going to handle the whole catch and release aspect. I then found your site and read about exclusion and that was it. We had to remove the food source which meant retraining the girls about where they got fed and any spillages inside wouldn’t be an immediate issue. They need to climb up steps into their coop to get to the food – rats will not enter this area during the daytime and cannot gain access at night time. This is what worked for us and, our neighbours returned from holiday and the rat has long gone, never to be seen or heard from again. Thank you very much for sharing your idea as it saved us a lot of stress.
I’m so glad it was helpful Amanda!
I enjoyed learni f about your rat trials.
But just remember….rats just relocate. If you keep chickens, the rats will still be around waiting for an opportunity to get in your coop without problem.
The 2 different peppers are a great idea and I will try it soon.
Just remember….no matter where you live and keep chickens, the rats are near by looking for a way to get in AND if there are rats and/mice, sooner or later there will be snakes. All snakes eat rodents. So be careful!
Those suckers were pretty pesky, weren’t they! We had a rat family in our almond tree! We didn’t know why we saw plenty of almonds in the tree, but hardly any of them fell to the ground, so we figured the birds were getting all of them. Then one evening my hubby and I were taking a dip in the pool and noticed the silhouette of a rat in our almond tree. We were amazed when another one appeared, then another. Probably at least a dozen in all! Our backyard neighbor was also feeding their dog’s kibble outside, so those rats were pretty well fed. We had to resort to one of those traps where the rat goes in and eats a poison cake-like thingy and then goes back to their nest to die. I hate using poisons, but apparently this worked. Thanks for sharing your method!
Ehhhh!!! When you said you saw the silhouette of a rat at night, it made me think of a terrible horror flick! I’ve never looked for them in trees, only see our abundance of squirrels up there (and what’s the difference, really?)
We considered using poison as well, we got really desperate to get rid of them. I was too scared the rats would die in the coop and then our chickens would eat them and get poisoned as well. I’m glad we found another solution and am hoping it lasts! Thanks for stopping in Vickie, I enjoyed your story!
I love those traps! We don’t have rats, but we have plenty of mice. Best bait – Slim Jims! They fit perfectly in those little round bait spaces. Glad you finally found a solution to your problem 🙂
Slim Jims?!? I would never think to use those! We tried peanut butter for awhile, but it was so messy, and every morning our traps would be shut, with no rodent inside, but the peanut butter licked clean. No idea how they were getting away with it! If we ever have problems again, I’m totally going for some Slim Jims!
Hi, we had both rats & mice in our airing cupboard a few years ago. Very unusual to have the two at the same time. We live out in the countryside so is something we are vigilant about, plus I just hate rodents! Well we take in wwoofers (willing workers on organic farms) and the one we had staying with us at the time was an environmental control officer – she said that the mice can get in a hole that is pencil thin and the rats thru one not much bigger – hence why the chicken netting didn’t work. We stuffed every hole we found with wire wool then squirted some of that stuff that expands. Seemed to solve the rat problem. Unfortunately our cats both believe in the kind fisherman adage of “catch & release” – bringing their mice indoors!
That’s incredible Elizabeth! I had no idea they could fit through cracks that tiny! That totally explains why the chicken wire wasn’t doing anything against them. Our cat wouldn’t be any help against them either. He’s a lazy bum, would probably just glare at them in disgust!
in the video we had 4 barred rock and 2 black sikleis. They are now about 8 months old and we get an egg a day from the barred rock. The sikleis have gone extremely broody and would rather sit on eggs or golf balls than lay, but they are good with the kids so we keep them around.
I hate to burst your bubble but…rats live in “the country” too. They lived here long before we did, certainly long before we got our first chickens. There are lots of things that can be done to send them packing, looking for food and water elsewhere. Personally, I think treadle feeders are the key to keeping them from getting a free meal in the coop or run. I swear by Grandpa’s Feeders. Check out my post with 15+ tips for controlling rodents around the chicken coop: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/06/15-tips-to-control-rodents-around.html
Anywhoo…thank you for linking up with The Clever Chicks- the story about your husband’s students cracked me up!
Cheers!
Kathy Shea Mormino
The Chicken Chick
Oh boy! I have never heard of rats out in the country! I’ve heard Grandpa’s Feeders are the best, I went with a cheaper option for our feeder and totally regret it, just money down the drain because it didn’t function as it was supposed to. Thanks for sharing your tips, I need to pass them on to some of my friends still dealing with rodents!
I am shopping for a treadle feeder, could you reveal which brand you bought that did NOT function? I’d hate to make the same mistake. I am currently looking at the feeder made by OK Carpenter Shop. Anyone have reviews on that one?
we use cement and flour to maintain the rats in our barn,they eat it and when they drink water they swell and die.
Now that’s just plain diabolical….and very smart! Gonna do this too! Thanks muchly for the great tip!
I made my own treadle feeder out of a small step on plastic rubbish can since I didn’t want to spend a lot of money or build one from scrap wood. I just attached a flat piece of wood to the pedal (drilled a hole and attached with a screw) so they would have a bigger step pad. I made the inner can smaller by cutting it and making a new floor that the girls can reach. The lid is made of plastic so if comes down, it won’t hurt them, but heavy enough to stay down and keep out rats and wild birds. Total cost $15 🙂
Wow, Christine, I’m impressed!! That’s actually totally brilliant and I never would have thought of it. I think treadle feeders are a wonderful way to rat proof your coop as long as you make/buy one that actually works! I really regret going with a cheap-o company for my treadle.
I beg to differ that fealme impostor in the commercial is dumber than a factory turkey. And as noisy as a hen aaaall impressed w/herself. I LAID AN EGG!!! I LAID AN EGG!!! OH. MY. GOD. IT WAS THE MOST INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE, THIS MORNING I WAS A CHICK & NOW I AM A WHAT? I’M A WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU YOU LAID AN EGG?!? YOU LAID AN EGG!! YOU LAID AN EGG!! YOU HAVE WE EVER MET BEFORE?
Christine, can you post pictures of your chicken feeder. From your description I don’t quite understand how it works. Thanks!
Thank you!!! I think you are correct in your assessment and in your response!
Jessica, would it be okay if I reposted this on my blog, http://www.jennifer-wilson.com? I’m a book auothr, but have a serious chicken obsession. … I live in downtown Des Moines, and … have six in my yard. Top reader comment is that they’d like chickens of their own, without the “mess. …” I think this solves the problem!
Hi Vanesa, you can feel free to post an excerpt of this article on your blog with a link back to my website, but I don’t allow people to re-post an article in its entirety. Thank you for understanding.
-Meredith
Thanks. Good article. I have a major rat problem…..which is annoying as I only have 2 chooks! But I found that when I was really careful about food scraps, they started eating my lemon tree:( 🙁 very annoying. And our yard is small, with neighbours close, so I am really worried. I have 3 cats, only one of whom catches rats, just apparently not the ones in our yard!
Oh no! I’m so sorry they’re eating your tree. You may need to resort to traps or some other way of getting rid of them. We came very close to buying some sonic sound rodent repellents because we heard they work wonders, but we tried the new feeding system instead and it worked so we never bought them. For us that would be the last resort (because of the expense) after trapping them. Maybe give it a shot? I hope you can find something that works for you, that’s a tough situation.
I tried the sonic mice/rat revelers years ago and they didn’t work. I’ve used lemon ammonia in their holes, usedto cat littet, peppermint, and nothing works! We bought today a rat trap that uses 4 C batteries to zap and kill them! We are in trying mode now. Cost was $39.00. Not cheap, but I hate to use bait that poisons. We have young cats, dogs hawks and owls it takes up to 24 hours for the rats to die! We have 7 acres so its next to impossible to walk the property to pick up dead rats plus I feel would need to do it hourly to keep all other animals safe.
We bought one of those as well. They DO work, but be careful with them. Ours ended up killing a squirrel and I felt so bad I never used it again. I was too afraid a little bird or something would wander into the trap and get shocked. I’m glad you’re not using poison, it’s really a total last resort. I hope you can find some relief soon!
PINE I GOT SKIDS IN SIDE IS PINE WOOD CHIP THEY R GONE..I PUT IN GRASS DIRT BOTH FRONT AND BACK FENCES PINE WOOD CHIPS THERE GONE NOW I DOING FLOWER BEDS AROUND OUT SIDE AND I PUT PINE WOOD CHIPS IN IT TOO..BEEN ADDED MORE AND MOR FOR OVER A YEAR NOW
mike jones on fb
Quite entertaining, Meredith, and I’m glad in the end you found a simple, common sense approach that worked!
Want to take it to another level? Ferment your chicken feed and they won’t leave a crumb for any other creature to steal. Plus all the added health benefits of fermented feed AND I know I’m saving at least 40% on my feed bill!
No joke. Its the best decision I ever made.
Here’s how to do it:
http://wp.me/p4BKOS-3d
I’ve been meaning to try that for a long time, just haven’t yet. Thanks for sharing your experience, we’ll have to give it a go one of these days!
But what’s the process to ferment ghe food? Please write back soon. I would love to know bow to ferment their food.
Many thanks.
Hi MArquita,
Here’s a handy guide on how to ferment their feed. Good luck! http://ohlardy.com/fermented-chicken-feed/
Kudos to you for writing about the rats. We’ve been battling rats for a couple years now. We’ve resorted to feeding the exact amount they need as well and that works for the chickens, but we still see them because they live in a neighbors rotting shed. NOW they’ve gotten under the house and are coming under the furnace to harass our rabbits in the garage. It seems like every time I figure out how to rat proof one entry they find another.
Great advice but I’ve tried all of these things already, including the bait that you can buy from the country store. I’m hoping there is only one critter [it has the cheek to pop out of one of its tunnels during the day when the hens are dust bathing] but realise that it probably has a wife and kids at home in next doors’ barn. Our spaniel is driven mad by the possibility of actually catching something and it sickens me to think that i shall need to resort to professional strength poison unless you can think of anything else to try.
Hi Ali,
If you’re seeing one rat in the daytime you can bet there are many many more. You may want to read this other article I wrote for backyard chicken project, it has a few more tips in it. If nothing is working for you, you may have to resort to poisons or calling an exterminator. There is something that seems to work for a lot of farmers that isn’t poison per say, but does kill the rats. You mix corn meal with plaster of paris, and when the rats eat it, they can’t digest it and die. It seems a bit cruel to me, but if it comes down to rats dying or your chickens dying, I’d chose the rats. Here’s the other article: http://www.backyardchickenproject.com/how-to-get-rid-of-rats-in-the-chicken-coop-the-definitive-guide/ Hopefully you’ll find something that works for you!
Wow-that was very comprehensive. Since contacting you i have visited the store and bought some more poison which is in little plastic bags. The staff explained that rats are grazers and only eat a little bit of bait at a time and there fore probably don’t get a therapeutic dose. But they like bags [as we know] and will have a go at them. My tunnels now have a bag stuffed well down and covered with rocks so the spaniel can’t get at them, and a trap baited with chocolate/peanut butter is in the compost bin. I will try the plaster of paris method if this doesn’t work. Even if this does work I’m sure they will be back as my neighbours have a barn at the end of our garden. Thank you very much. A x
We had chickens in the big big city and of course we had rats too. We chose to kill them off, and were successful. Unfortunately we didn’t see the small hole they chewed in the chicken wire covering the bottom of the coop. Since the rat population was now obsolete that brought in a weasel. That weasel, well weaseled it’s way into to coop via that chewed hole. We lost our three birds that sad night.
So getting rid of rats is very important. We’re now outside the city and are dealing with chipmunks (albeit, cuter, just as obnoxious) We do not use a feeder this time around and portion out food twice per day. (which by the way, helps call the hens in before dark as they’re all hungry, so they come in easily) The chipmunks still enter in the daytime when the coop is open – but there is so little in there they run out and search the yard instead. So I can see how your method is working perfectly!
Darn rats eh?
Treadle feeders that are tall need to be fastened to a wall or post to prevent them from falling over when too many birds step on the pedal. We include a cheap salvaged 2 x 4 block with our feeders, screw that block to a wall or post, or to a large chuck of plywood (not recommended unless it is pretty large) and drive some screws through the side of the feeder into the 2 x 4 block. Problem solved.
A feeder properly installed will eliminate the rats as long as there isn’t other food around for the rats.
The other mistake people make is trying to train a flock to use a new feeder and not taking the other sources of feed out of the coop. Why would they try something new and scary? Only if they are hungry and then they will learn to use the feeder in one day.
Rats!!
Hi all. Having trawled the internet for an answer I though I would try here. I am in the UK but wherever you are rats is rats or at least that is what I had thought. We have a few acres of open fields ad a number (originally 16 free range chickens including 1 cockrel). We started loosing eggs and then chickens a few weeks ago 1 every other day, each morning there would be a half eaten chicken. We suspected all the usual suspects wild mink, stoats and weasels, even birds of prey but none made any sence. The poultry area has a 3000volt electric fence which stops most so clearly this was either a fly in or an already inside the fence situation. Finally we obtained a wild life camera and set it up. We firstly noted that the electronic pophole door was not working correctly and took this off to be repaired, that night we found our culprit, a rat. He was getting into the coop and grabbing the chicken by the rear end imobilising them and basically eating them from the rear.
Our investigation only indicated a couple of rats but that is no consolation when they too intelligent.
On this occasion the rat picked on the cockrel which flew out the open door with the rat attached. He survived the attack and we replaced the automatic door the next day we also checked for holes oround the house and did the necessary repairs. Next day dead chicken in coop and a new hole chewed in the coop. We have tried bait boxes, traps and even waited with a gun but to no avail. We are now down to 7 chicks and a cockrel with a bruised ego.
There is no food left in the pen or coop and we are considering giving up poultry completely concerned that when we run out of chickens it will pick on our ducks and geese.
We are really looking for any ideas
Hi there!
I sent you an email with my response to your problem as it was too long to put in here, and I wanted to make sure you got it. If you didn’t receive it, please let me know and I can re-send it. I hope you guys get this figured out soon and don’t have to stop raising chickens. Predators can be the absolute worst!
I am struggling with this problem right now; how did your compost do in steel garbage cans? I am trying to figure out what to do about my compost. I am getting ready to move it (it’s currently open bin) and was thinking I might have to stop composting.
Does it work to put the compost in steel trash cans? Does it still compost?
Thanks!
Hi Anne,
It does pretty well, not amazing, but pretty well. It’s really hard to turn the compost when it’s in cans, so I kind of wish we had invested in a heavy duty compost tumbler instead, but most of the tumblers are made of plastic which the rats can chew right through. We still compost non-edible items in a loose pile, things like litter from the coop, leaves, weeds, grass trimmings, and whatnot. That helps a lot, because we don’t have space in the steel cans for all of that stuff. If you choose to use the cans, you will need to turn the compost pretty frequently to get it to break down. It may be worth stopping composting for a little while until you get the rat situation under control.
Hi, I have baby chicks about a mouth old now. They are quite small and I have just discovered a rat hole in thirt coop. Their coop is built over dirt, so it’s easy access for a rat hole. I have no idea how to get rid of them. We’ve had rats before and poisoned and captured them. Is poking a long stick in the holes a good idea to get them out so I can capture them.
Hi there,
You’ll have to use rat traps to get rid of them, and I would strongly consider laying down hardware cloth on the bottom of the coop. The rats will dig right under into the coop and they will kill and eat your chicks. We’ve had chicks up to 3 months old killed by rats in the coop. This post I wrote for backyard chicken project is more comprehensive and should help you to get rid of them, but you will have to find a way to block their path into the coop or they will kill of your birds. http://www.backyardchickenproject.com/how-to-get-rid-of-rats-in-the-chicken-coop-the-definitive-guide/
Years ago I owned an acreage. It came complete with a chicken house so the first spring, I came home from the farm store with 53 baby chicks. I kept 15 over the winter. The following spring the rat invasion began, both in the rabbit building and in the chicken house. I threw warfarin packets in the rabbit house under the cages. From what I read, pets can regurgitate the poison but rats can’t. I did not want to use it in the chicken area of the chicken house though so came up with plan 2. I filled a 5 gallon bucket with oats and put a little ramp from the ground to the top to make access easy. After a couple of days, I emptied the bucket, filled it almost to the top with water, floated oats on the top, replaced the ramp. The next morning, the bucket had quite a few drowned rats in it. After following this procedure several times, the rat problem disappeared.
Whenever I see a pin of a free choice chicken feeder on Pinterest, all I can do is shake my head. In addition to being an open bar for rats, leaving feed out also attracts roaches, most of which show up at night while the chickens are asleep. Once either one gets a foothold, it’s the beginning of a war. If you see/trap one rat, rest assured there are 20 more lying in the shadows. And, as those of us near rural areas can attest to, a high rat population soon means a high snake population as the snakes are attracted to all the squeeking going on at your place. My last house was by a field and the mice and rats tried to take over the house one year. I had traps everywhere. Nothing like opening up your silverware drawer and finding a mouse stuck to a glue trap, with a snake stuck right behind him, to brighten your morning. :/ Finally had to call in an exterminator.
i am so glad to have read your comment. i thought i was alone in the struggle. they have even eaten the wiring INSIDE the lid of my stove so the oven won’t light and did an exterminator really work long term? i live next to a park and i think i need traps along my fence.
thanks again,
Lucy
Best way to get rid of any amount of Rats is a Jack Russell dog they where bred to kill rats & are scared of nothing no matter how big. They shake vermin to death quickly rats are sniffed out, found & killed with no mess. I also use dry Plaster of Paris mixed with equal amounts of dry corn put it in a sealed sandwich bag & shake so corn is covered keep it dry close to a little water After rats eat this delightful last meal & rat drinks water the mixture sets solid inside the rat killing it with in 10 minutes. Far better then using & handling poison that takes a few days to kill the rat after been eaten.
Thank you!!!
I’ve never had a rat issue in my coop until this year. While away on spring break, I had a friend stay on our farm to do chores. She went out into the coop (AT NIGHT!) and saw 5 rate scurry and 1 rat landed on top of her head and hooded sweatshirt! Poor girl.
So I will remove all food each night until they are gone. Thanks for the tips on what worked and what didn’t.
S. Larson
Meredith – how are you able to use the rat traps without the silly bird brains stepping onto them and crunching a leg?
Rats are nocturnal which means they tend to sleep during the day and be awake at night. Set the rat traps up at night around the coop and remove them before letting the flock out for the day.
thank you sooo much, I was doing all the mistakes, but now I have some hope to get rid of them, thanks to this article.
Thank you for your article. I’m so glad I read this and won’t now waste time on other prevention methods.
Hi,
I also have a rat problem. I have started to put the food away at night. However, during the day I work. I have to put their feed out during the day in their run because I am gone for 12 hours at a time. Unfortunately, the girls are messy eaters and then get food on the ground in the run, which the rats will come to find later. I would have to wait till 7pm to feed the gals if I were to try to feed them outside the run when I get home. Also, I sometimes leave for 3 days at a time. During this time I have to leave enough food for them while I’m gone. I’m sure the rats feast all night long. Any suggestions?
Alysss, I am sorry you are battling rats. I’ve had great success with using a rat proof chicken feeder, which I mentioned in the article. Have you had a chance to check out the tips? It might be worth considering to help address the issue, especially when you’re away for longer periods.