Rats are nasty and nasty, and nobody wants them in their backyard, ever.
Rats are also a sign of poor cleanliness.
But on another note, if your neighbor keeps chicken, you are more likely to have rat nymphs in your house.
Also: Rats may invade your home seeking refuge and food. This explains why rats are somewhat easier to find inside when the days are shorter and the weather gets colder.
Why Are Rats a Problem?
Some people don’t mind the rats running around their backyard.
I get it, people have their own tolerances.
But it’s a whole other thing for these critters to be hanging out in your home:
- To begin with, rats are capable of making you and your animals sick. Like some other rodents, rats feces on food after they eat it. If your chicken eats their feces, then they are at risk of a bacterial illness.
- In addition, rats eat eggs and kill young birds. They primarily eat eggs, but these rodents will eat chicks if food is low. Rats kill by biting the head off and drinking blood.
- Rats can also create arguments between neighbors, since no one wants rats around their house; simply because of the danger and destruction they cause.
What Are the Signs of Rat Infestation?
It’s hard to see rats in your backyard if you don’t actually look for them.
Because rats don’t like interacting with people and are mostly active at night, they feel more secure exploring their environment during the night.
However, you can identify if your house has rats, looking for signs of the following.
Chewing Damage
Chewing damage is the most common sign of a rat infestation.
Rats primarily consume plastic and wood, chewing them down to the ground. That said, you may see gnawing signs on the doorways and/or windows.
Burrows
Rats are great diggers. They can burrow right through your chicken’s coop and use this entry point to get in.
The holes can be up to three inches wide which allows adult rats to go right through.
Once you see holes like this, start thinking of how to eliminate the rats.
Missing chicken feed
The average chicken consumes 0.25 lbs. of food per day.
However, depending upon the time of year and their body size, your birds will consume more or less.
For Example: Your chicken is going to consume more in the winter than in the summer of course. You need to pay attention to your chickens eating habits. If you see a sudden increase, you may have a rodent problem.
Look for other signs and figure out how to combat the rodents before they cause more damage.
Missing Eggs
Rats like to eat fresh eggs.
If you notice that the amount of eggs in your coop have dropped, it is likely that you have rats.
How Do You Deal With Rats?
If you think rats are coming into your backyard because of your chickens, put their feed into metal containers. Keep the containers locked so the rats don’t get into your feed.
If you are looking for trenching additional rat attacks, replace poultry wire with a thicker, more sturdy hardware cloth. Securing hardware cloth to the chicken run is also important, but it has been found that strips of wood and heavy-duty zip ties will keep it in place.
If you have already experienced rats attacking your chickens, at night remove the feeders and waterers, and replace them in the morning until you become rat free.
The best deterrent is to restrict food and water access. This, in turn, forces the rats to find another home and shelter.
You can repair any part that has been damaged by chewing, using hardware cloth. If it is extensively damaged, you may want to simply put a sheet of metal, which can be useful.
Furthermore: you can setup traps to capture and rid your compound of rats, although this is a temporary solution. Setting traps can keep these rodents away from your jurisdiction with enough efficiency.
Please do not use poison to rid rats. Poison can hurt chickens because; as I mentioned earlier-cockatoos feed on rats, therefore, adding poison can hurt them as well.
When birds eat poison rats, they can become poisoned. Traps are another mechanism of fishing rats without having to worry about chickens getting injured.
What are the Best Rodent-Proof Chicken Feeders?
Here are the best type of feeders to protect against rat attacks.
Treadle feeders
Using these will give you the best defense against pests.
They have a special design that allows them to dispense food when a chicken steps on the foot pedal.
When not in use, the feed remains stored in a heavy-duty container capable of holding up to 40 lbs. of food.
Trough feeders
As the name indicates, they resemble troughs.
They are easy to transport and come in wood, metal or plastic.
The metal feeders are the most durable.
Tankstand feeders
Chick feeders are bulkier than other feeders and empty out more feed than other feeders when the container starts to be emptied.
Hanging and tube feeders have the most simple design, but they are not as clean as other feeders.
Feeders also require you to clean out your chicken coop, more frequently to eliminate risk of infestation of rats and conditions that come with bad hygiene.
Wrapping Up
With rats, it’s best to use prevention instead of battling rodents.
Practice good hygiene, because rats are attracted to dirty places.
If you notice signs of infestation, follow the tips above to get rid of pests.
Do not use poison because it can harm your birds.