My grandad once said to me “Where there’s chickens, there’s rats and mice” and how right he was. Over the years, I have had a number of occasions where I’ve had to fight a seemingly never-ending battle with them. There are a few things I have learnt along the way though and (touch wood) over the last few years, being more vigilant and removing food and water at night during the winter has really helped.
Rats
Rats are a serious pain in the bum and I am glad that I have only ever had one serious problem when I caught 10 of them in a week. They chew their way in and gnaw at chickens legs, steal eggs and spread disease.
They have to be near to water – so remove water at night if you get them to discourage them. They will move around so you might be fine in the summer to find them moving in during colder weather. I have found the spring traps to be of mixed success: you need to get them used to them and always wear gloves when setting them so they don’t smell you. Their favourite food seems to be cat food or tuna. Young rats are easier to catch but the older rats can be quite wise when it comes to traps. Place them in runs they are taking and provide cover over the top so they are out of sight and sheltered.
Poison is a very effective way of getting rid of them but do be careful using this, especially if there are cats that hunt rats and mice around the neighbourhood. Stuff bait packs into holes and cover with bricks or use a tubular box feeder with a clear tube so you can see the poison level left.
Rat in a humane trap. Dispatch is with an air rifle to the back of the head.
Personally, I prefer humane rat traps – they can be left set permanently near the chicken house. We dispatch the rat with an air rifle shooting through the back of the head. It’s an instant kill.
Always wear gloves when handling rats. They can carry serious diseases. Wear gloves when resetting the trap too since the smell from your hands would put off the next rat from going in there and usually where there’s one.. there’s several others.
Mice
Mice are the most common pest faced by the chicken keeper. They will spoil chicken food by urinating over it (whilst tucking in) and will urinate in water left out which is putting your birds at risk of catching disease.
Fortunately mice are easy to control with traps. I keep a couple of traps set near my feed in the shed where I will soon notice a problem during my daily feeding routine. Mice are usually a problem between October and April when food is scarce outdoors.
Good puss!
An enthusiastic cat is another good control method but remember to praise your cat when she brings a live mouse into the bedroom at 3am and meows at you…. Seriously! She is bringing you a gift and will be very pleased with herself, she cannot understand why you suddenly go mad and scald her!
Remember to remove all feed and water that Rats and Mice can get to at night
We’re thinking of keeping some chickens in our suburban back garden, my wife is very apprehensive about attracting rats as we have small children. Are rats likely to become a huge problem when keeping chickens? Would our two cats discourage rodents?
Certainly not. Rats are only attracted by the food. There are rats around everywhere, you just don’t want to encourage them to multiply. If you take the normal precautions by removing unwanted food or using rat proof feeders, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Wow all those are great ideas but me and my dog go out with a hatchet or a bow and she will run them out and I will either throw the hatchet or shoot the bow and both extremely effective but not to brag but I am kinda awesome at Native American skills for iu am 80% Cherokee Indian
Wow that’s certainly one way of dealing with them!
My problem with rats seems to be the three plastic composters I have. I wired the
bases as suggested by others and one has a preformed base. However, the rat has chewed through the front of one to gain access. Can I put rat poison blocks in the compost bins? I noticed today that it has tunnelled its way into the run! I have not been leaving food or water in the run. Ive seen some good reviews re; Rentokil Rat Killer Boxes and thinking of getting some to put around the run. Any other advise would be helpful. Thanks
Hi…I am seriously thinking of building a coop for chickens..The only problem is that I don not want to deal with rats. I understand that the food needs to be kept away but is this the only solution? Will there be rats no matter what?
Rats will only take advantage of opportunities. Think of it like feeding the wild birds… if you put food and water out, they will start to visit your bird table. Poultry does not cause rats to come, it’s the food and water.
Have you seen the Rat proof feeders such as Grandpas Feeders? They are very good.
Hi We keep 4 chickens in the ark inside a large shed at night there is 4 donkeys in the other side of the shed and normally 2 or 3 cats sleep in beds beside the ark, I’m thinking the cats will keep the mice and rats at bay.
Sounds like a plan!