Rats, rats EVERYWHERE! ☹️

[HuffleClaw]

I was just wondering because I thought if you didn't have too many you could put them in your house or garage or somewhere rat proof, while you put traps and poison everywhere, so the chickens wouldn't eat it or step in them

You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve thought about it.

 

[Weeg]

I was just wondering because I thought if you didn't have too many you could put them in your house or garage or somewhere rat proof, while you put traps and poison everywhere, so the chickens wouldn't eat it or step in them

I quoted this from the article, DO NOT USE POSION! It is terrible! Plus the rat has a painful death!
Poison
I’m going to say this right at the start: beware the use of poisons. This should be your last resort if nothing else is working. I know it seems like an easy fix to a big problem, but using poison to get rid of rodents could lead to bigger problems down the road. If a poisoned rodent were to die anywhere out in the open, it could be eaten by your chickens, your cat, your dog, or neighborhood wildlife. This means poisoning the rat is effectively poisoning other animals as well.

Another downside to poison is that over the years rats have developed immunity to many poisons, and others they’ve just learned not to eat it. This means you’ll have to frequently change the type of poison as one won’t work for long.

Even if you do manage to get the rats to eat the poison and they do die from it, they will likely die in a very hard to reach place, such as underneath the coop or within its walls, and you’ll be reminded daily of this horrible mistake by the stench.

 

[HuffleClaw]

Yeah I won’t use poison. My birds would find SOME way to eat it. And my neighbors’ dogs and little kitty come visit too often for me to put them at risk.

 

[HuffleClaw]

Weeg, I have tried reading the article but for some reason it’s not loading for me. Probably my wifi.

 

[nuthatched]

RATX.
It's not a poison, it's a salt that affects only rodents, it prevents them from sensing thirst, so they die from dehydration in a painless coma.
Highly effective. Safe around people, pets (cept your bunnies, hamsters, guinea pigs etc) and poultry. No 2nd hand poisoning owls and other predators.

 

[Weeg]

Yeah I won’t use poison. My birds would find SOME way to eat it. And my neighbors’ dogs and little kitty come visit too often for me to put them at risk.

Good. Set traps, and until you can get a rat proof feeder of some sort, you should bring the food and water in at night or put it in a steel tub, both of them, and lock a steel lid on both of them at night. Fill in the holes as best as possible, and pick up clutter and give them no places to hide best as possible! Hope this helps!

 

[Weeg]

Weeg, I have tried reading the article but for some reason it’s not loading for me. Probably my wifi.

Hmm, I wil llink it again just in case! https://backyardchickenproject.com/how-to-get-rid-of-rats-in-the-chicken-coop-the-definitive-guide/ Maybe this will help!

 

[ButtonHoarder]

I quoted this from the article, DO NOT USE POSION! It is terrible! Plus the rat has a painful death!
Poison
I’m going to say this right at the start: beware the use of poisons. This should be your last resort if nothing else is working. I know it seems like an easy fix to a big problem, but using poison to get rid of rodents could lead to bigger problems down the road. If a poisoned rodent were to die anywhere out in the open, it could be eaten by your chickens, your cat, your dog, or neighborhood wildlife. This means poisoning the rat is effectively poisoning other animals as well.

Another downside to poison is that over the years rats have developed immunity to many poisons, and others they’ve just learned not to eat it. This means you’ll have to frequently change the type of poison as one won’t work for long.

Even if you do manage to get the rats to eat the poison and they do die from it, they will likely die in a very hard to reach place, such as underneath the coop or within its walls, and you’ll be reminded daily of this horrible mistake by the stench.

True, I hadn't really thought it through. If only chickens came house trained. Then you could just put them in your house, while you covered the whole coop floor in traps.

 

[Weeg]

True, I hadn't really thought it through. If only chickens came house trained. Then you could just put them in your house, while you covered the whole coop floor in traps.

That would be awesome!

 

[HuffleClaw]

Good. Set traps, and until you can get a rat proof feeder of some sort, you should bring the food and water in at night or put it in a steel tub, both of them, and lock a steel lid on both of them at night. Fill in the holes as best as possible, and pick up clutter and give them no places to hide best as possible! Hope this helps!

That’ll be a LOT of traps to set but I suppose I could at least attempt to make a dent in their population. There’s surprisingly not much clutter for them to even hide in. These ones seem to love having burrows in the ground.