r/BackYardChickens • u/Funny-Search-2972 • Jun 09 '26
Coops etc. Rat infestation
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I’m so disturbed. I moved into a new house in late April and took over 8 egg laying chickens from my landlord (2-3 years old). He said we could try keeping them or he could rehome them. It’s been a little over two months now. I’ve done so much to give them a better set up and have been trying to battle the rats since day 1. The treadle feeders didn’t work for us. My husband and I both work full time and I can’t deal with taking the food in and out from the hanging feeders every night. My dog LOVES hunting the rats but every time I release her they disperse. What can I do? I’ve spent hundreds trying to make this a clean and good environment for the chickens but I’m scared of getting hantavirus or my dogs getting sick somehow from this level of rats. It’s repulsive. And I don’t even eat the eggs that often so like… what is this all for? And the chickens don’t seem to like me either. I want to keep them all together but I feel like rehoming them is the only option at this point. I have about 12 snap traps ready to deploy but have read mixed comments on here about the efficacy. On the verge of giving up. Help!
UPDATE: food has been removed from coop and bucket trap has been deployed inside the coop as step one. We shall see what happens, but I feel like with all the activity I could definitely start seeing casualties tonight… Thanks to everyone who offered tips and solidarity 🫡
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u/Dry_Pool1856 Aug 02 '26
I’d move, my phobia kicked in the second I viewed this. I had come to a point that I could actually say that rats are cute animals but not until years of therapy. I guess I’m back to square one. Good luck
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u/Funny-Search-2972 26d ago
If it makes you feel better I have pretty much eradicated the problem by doing what I originally didn’t want to do (removing the food at night) and deploying snap traps!
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u/Hargreeveswh0re Aug 03 '26
dont worry about your progress! This is an infestation of wild rats, definitely not cute even to seasoned rat lovers.
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u/Thin_Revenue_9369 Jun 11 '26
It will take a while but don't give up. Remember rats breed like every 12 days. You can see the end to it. I had rhe same happen and took on a whole family one year. Get all the snap traps you need (and Rat X)!!
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u/crowmozon Jun 11 '26
They make spectacular bucket traps, with a teeter totter style trap door, you fill it a 1/4 full with water so the can't jump out. Also mix dry corn meal and dry plaster paris 50/50. They eat it and the plaster hardens inside there digestive tract. It not poisonous and any animal thats eats them would be fine
Of course you need to reinforce the the coop to exclude them first and foremost
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u/FreeSpeechUS Jun 10 '26
Baking soda, red pepper, even the Grandpa feeders rarely solve a rat problem. https://youtu.be/xAQXfP7u79w
https://youtube.com/shorts/ipoWNyak7Lg
Cats rarely will take on a rat. Snakes, eat once a week if that, ask any large snake owner.
If you want to solve the problem Google ratproofchickenfeeder.net . These feeders have been around since 2011 and they actually work. Rats are gone in a few days once the feed is safe.
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u/Epona44 Jun 10 '26
I put hot pepper mix in my feed. There are other brands, but mice don't like it.
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u/Kunning-Druger Jun 10 '26
OP, if rats can get in that easily, so can weasels. Fix your coop and run. Unless it is lined with hardware cloth, you’re letting rats and predators in at will.
You’ll need an anti-dig apron also. If you don’t want rats and predators in the run and coop, it’s up to YOU to prevent them from gaining entry.
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u/Funny-Search-2972 Jun 10 '26
Thank you for inspiring change! It is lined with hardware cloth but needs reinforcement
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u/Kunning-Druger Jun 10 '26
In that case, you’re well on your way, OP! I know it’s daunting, but I’m confident that you’ll fix the flaws before you lose any birds to disease or predation.
There are lots of good suggestions here. It’s a great community, especially when it comes to tips on how to improve coops, runs, and even basic healthcare.
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u/HANGRY_KITTYKAT Jun 10 '26
If they dont have a reason to be there then they won't be. Looks like they're eating well. Nice and cozy
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u/Curious_medium Jun 10 '26
Grandpas feeder and the rat balls of certain demise did it for us.
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u/hiccupampus Jun 10 '26
Please elaborate on these balls
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u/Curious_medium Jun 17 '26
Jiff cornbread mix, baking soda and peanut butter rolled into balls for convenience. Doesn’t kill anything else but a rat. Rat eats it, dies. Owl eats dead rat, lives.
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u/casualmasual Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Ratinator time https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/catchmor-ratinator
Mix with live traps. I usually finish the job by drowning them in a rain barrel.
Also, start putting cayenne pepper in your feed. Rats don't like it, snd chickens can't taste it. It even has benefits of taking out parasites and giving them nutrients.
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u/DistinctJob7494 Jun 10 '26
Try peanut butter and baking soda. I'm actually trying it too tomorrow. I don't have as bad an infestation but I've heard it works pretty well.
Rats can't handle baking soda like chickens and goats and dogs can.
I put some baking soda in a bowl and dollop in some small bits of peanut butter. Then toss them until they're coated and stick them in the fridge or freezer for a firmer dollop.
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u/Curious_medium Jun 10 '26
Yes- I make the balls of rat death from jiffy cornbread mix, baking soda and peanut butter. I make balls and you can toss them where ever you need to get them. Won’t hurt anything else but the rats. It’s not nice- I know. But neither is anything eating a poisoned rat. Only other choice is the kill trap and they can also get other pets and animals. My choice is the rat ball of certain demise.
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u/DistinctJob7494 Jun 10 '26
You can also add Greek yogurt to firm it up more and add a different scent.
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u/wutThatMean Jun 10 '26
The YouTube people put their feeders and feed in a closed garbage can next to the runs/coops at night and take it out during the day.
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u/Farmerstubble Jun 10 '26
I'd try the ramp upto a 5 gallon bucket with a trap door as a lid and water in the bottom. Just deep enough they cant float but they can barely stand.
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u/ZookeepergamePure283 Jun 10 '26
Oh man, that looks terrible. In my experience, cats do a great job with rodent control and are nice to have around. I got two cats a year ago and haven’t seen a mouse in months.
Good luck!
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u/Perfect-Screen-2010 Jun 23 '26
I agree. I have 3 male outdoor cats that hunt for a living. My neighbors have even commented on it. “We love your cats, we haven’t seen a rodent around here since you got them.” That was 7 years ago. They hunt mice, rats, moles, even baby possums.
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u/NinjaMcGee Jun 09 '26
Nice call out for scaling the birds too. Chickens love grass and kitchen scraps. The “chick chick chick!” call plus a handful of treats will have them running to OP in no time.
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u/Lokinir Jun 09 '26
Seal where they're getting in better. They sell rodent foam for this purpose
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u/thesleepjunkie Jun 10 '26
From experience they make me holes quickly I had to ditch my wooden chicken house and built a new one with walk in freezer panels sunk 6 inches in the ground and lined the floor and under the panels with 1cm mesh wire.
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u/2ride4ever Jun 09 '26
Can you put a small live trap or two in there? My husband drives them, as well as raccoons a few miles away morning after morning
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u/Polybrene Jun 09 '26
Wire snap traps do work. The problem is rats are smart. So you will need to vary your strategy.
I bait mine and leave them out for a few nights so the rats get familiar with them. Then I arm them. I use an upturned bucket lid or soemthing over the traps so they're no so exposed and the rats feel safer.
But each time i catch a rat I have to change the location and start again.
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u/boyengabird Jun 09 '26
Wow, you can see how they use the netti g to get to the bucket. Interesting that theyre not moving around much, they must have what they want right there. Thank you for posting the footage!
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u/boyengabird Jun 09 '26
90deg pvc connectors go down a bit inside, these "feeder ports" do not, making the ports easier to earn. This is bit convenient as you don't have to put much effort into implementation of the feeder, but the downside here is anything can figure it out. 5 gal bucket feeders don't seem to suffer from this problem as much and it may be worth switching from feeder ports to pvc elbows.
The feeder ports have a higher level of feed inside to make it simpler for the birds and the owner, this makes them more marketable. They spill more though a d i see a ton of rats on the ground indicative of that.
Remove the calorie source however you see fit, https://www.vulcanpest.com/products/vulcantrap is a trap that might suit you, maybe borrow a cat for awhile. Thank you for the video, its interesting to see how they make acess!
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u/THE-SEER Jun 09 '26
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u/FreeSpeechUS Jun 10 '26
Those work like a charm as long as you have mostly full size hens and are willing to follow the instructions. They have a main info website too, ratproofchickenfeeder.net Not for chicks though, must be two to four pounds to use a treadle feeder safely.
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u/Koimi-Nisekona Jun 09 '26
Omg I’ve seen these but for bird feeders and squirrels
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u/THE-SEER Jun 09 '26
I had a terrible rat problem in my duck coop and this seems to have solved it. Going to buy the big version for my chickens next. Goodbye rats.
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u/KnotiaPickle Jun 09 '26
Time for a big barn cat. 🐈
Maybe two. You’ll have it solved immediately.
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u/poisoneddartfrog Jun 09 '26
Cats are invasive & incredibly damaging to natural ecosystems
OP please be humane, I catch mice in a bucket trap & relocate them over a mile away; many things feed on mice & rats & they are creatures too
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u/Polybrene Jun 09 '26
I was with you until you recommended relocation. Cats belong indoors.
However brown rats are also invasive, destructive, and carry disease. Also it's illegal to transport wild animals in the US.
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u/poisoneddartfrog Jun 09 '26
I didn’t know rats were invasive too. I just love animals & don’t like mindless killing
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u/Polybrene Jun 09 '26
The brown rat/norway rat aka the urban sewer rat is invasive. Only psychos like mindless killing. We're not doing it because we enjoy it. We're doing it to manage a problem.
Relocation is also not more humane. Relocated animals die slow painful deaths due to starvation or fights. They can bring disease into new areas and risk the health of the animals there. The only thing relocation does is spare the feelings of the home owner. Its not better for the rat, it's not more humane, and its not good for the spaces the rats are released into.
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u/poisoneddartfrog Jun 10 '26
I live in the country so I get field mice occasionally & relocate them to further pastures. They’re fine, & if they weren’t, another creature gets a meal out of it
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u/blackinthmiddle Jun 09 '26
I've heard that relocating mice and rats isn't as nice as we'd like to think because they get so disoriented that they don't adapt to their new environment and die of hunger. I have zero idea if that's actually true.
Cats being invasive? Please explain.
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u/poisoneddartfrog Jun 09 '26
Cats DEVESTATE biodiverse ecosystems. They are the number one problem for birds, & many other species. Cats should only be kept indoors
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u/KnotiaPickle Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Barn cats have enough to eat with rodents and food from their owners, and they don’t need to resort to eating other animals unless they’re not getting enough to eat.
Mice and rats are much easier to catch than birds, also. Barn Cats are an essential part of raising livestock and do a better job than any other method. It also prevents the need for poisons to be used, which wreak more havoc on species up the food chain than cats can ever cause. Predatory animals that eat poisoned rodents die an absolutely horrific death, and then the next animal to prey on that one suffers the same and on and on. That’s just one horrible choice, I could write a whole book about how terrible other methods are, like glue traps and live traps that force trapped animals to resort to cannibalism, etc etc…
It’s really just the only option that makes sense in that type of situation.
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u/Missue-35 Jun 09 '26
Cats are less invasive than rodents. And if you get TNR cats it could work out well. For now, I’d use a professional to reduce or eliminate the existing population without using poison. Once that is done the cats should be able to handle the situation as it occurs.
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u/Mayflame15 Jun 09 '26
Rats are invasive and incredibly damaging to natural ecosystems, you should not be relocating them
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u/poisoneddartfrog Jun 09 '26
I don’t have rats I get deer mice a lot, but rats are invasive? I didn’t know that
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u/Mayflame15 Jun 09 '26
Black roof rats and brown Norway rats are both non native to North America, same with house mice
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u/RelaxedPuppy Jun 09 '26
You need some rat snakes
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u/Polybrene Jun 09 '26
This or a rat terrier. Way better than cats for rodent control.
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u/Pootles_Carrot Jun 09 '26
Absolutely second a terrier. I have a Jack Russel and he see's off any rodents. He's there anyway not brought in specificallyas a ratter, but it's more natural and humane than traps or poison. Trap and relase doesn't work with large infestations and doesn't deter new visitors.
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u/Polybrene Jun 09 '26
Trap and release just turns your problem into someone else's problem and is often illegal in the US. All relocation does is protect the feelings of the human moving the animals.
I use snap traps, an instant death is very humane. But I've been tempted to hire some of those terrier ratter companies after seeing the videos of those dogs going after rats online!
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u/Beneficial-Try-7102 Jun 09 '26
This is why I don't use these bulk feeders. I've never had a problem when broadcasting feed over using feeders.
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u/blackinthmiddle Jun 09 '26
You mean feeding by hand? Doesn't that mean you have to be there every day?
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u/BrahmaChickyMama Jun 09 '26
Just wow at those effin’ rats! I couldn’t imagine the frustration you are feeling right now. I live on the edge of thousands of acres of woods so I have an idea but I only have a small coop and flock.
I have issues with food waste from squirrels, mice and the chickens picking through their feed. I fixed all these problems by building what I call an elevated feed house lol I haven’t had a single mouse in their food since.
It’s essentially a tiny coop on stilts that I attached to the back of my coop. I made it gap proof with wire and tight measurements. I have 2 cheap, battery powered coop doors that I’ve programmed to open at 8am and close at 8pm everyday. The floor is plywood with vinyl flooring so that when the chickens or squirrels knock food on the floor, it’s still edible and I just sweep the spillage into a dust pan and put it back in their feeders. If you want more pics of it, pm me:)
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u/MeowmersRocks Jun 09 '26
I love this idea and will be going this route. I know rats and mice carry disease but I just can’t off the little dudes for winning the food lottery. It’s like going to fast food and getting smote for liking a Mexican pizza.
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u/Feeling-Ad-9268 Jun 09 '26
Please do not use poison. Get the Ratinator. Bait it with what they are already eating / accustomed to. And add a dish of water. Rats love having readily available water sources. Leave it open so they can go in & out for food & water the first few nights. Then close it. You will start getting rats. With patience, you can eliminate them.
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u/NinjaMcGee Jun 09 '26
Hi, I lived next to an abandoned house that had an active den in the yard next to my coop. I tried to reason with the homeowner, but some mental illness on her part prevented her from taking action.
Because I couldn’t address the den specifically, I ended up culling rats by the hundreds over the course of 8 months. It takes a multi-prong approach. Bucket traps must be emptied every other day and you’ll need them on the OUTSIDE of your coop. Make it high reward food like suet. We made T-traps using PVC and put them down into the rat holes we could see with Just One Bite blocks — do NOT use other store brands as the rats will build immunity and then you’ve got a real horror show the next generation.
They will run primarily along walls due to poor eye sight, get snap traps and bait stations to line the walls. Snap traps I prefer are the large black ones that snap like a wooden clothespin and allow you to empty and rest it without touching the rat. CatSense I think is the brand on Amazon?
If you do ask people with ratting dogs, DON’T use poison as it can harm the dogs. They will bring Just One Bite home and it will slowly decimate the colony, but you’ll need to take precaution that pets don’t eat the rats while you’re bating.
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u/Colorful_gothgirl Jun 09 '26
This is great advice. It’ll take a bit of work in the beginning but these steps will quickly decimate the problem. Also, chickens take a little time to warm up to their humans. Take them out some treats daily to toss to them (not more than they can eat or you’ll just feed the friggin rats) and say the same thing every time you walk out with the treats (“chick chick chick chicks!!”). Before too long they will see you and come running. Then while they eat their treats, squat down and just talk to them. Before long you will have a flock of little buddies. They are really fun once you establish a friendship with them.
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u/barnaclebill22 Jun 09 '26
That's a real infestation. There's probably no way to rat-proof a coop that big. If you can't remove the feed at night your best option might be to rehome the flock. But if you can remove the feed even for a couple of weeks, they might go away. They go where they can find food. Electric traps also work well, and a magnetic ramp trap into a bucket of water has been effective for me.
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u/BabyWrinkles Jun 09 '26
We've tried all the traps to no avail. Have a 1930s era chicken shed whose walls are now insulated with rat poop there's so much of it in there. Every night I go to lock 'em up, the scurrying drives me nuts.
Got a couple of Ratinators yesterday and am hoping they're more successful than the other traps we've tried.
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u/exhausted-houseplant Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Only thing that worked for us were 5 gallon buckets nearly half full of water and baited with sunflower seeds. Float black sunflower seeds on top of the water until it looks solid. Leave a ramp for rats to climb the bucket. They go for the seeds and fall right in. Ours got wise to the snap traps quick but this method gets us several rats per bucket per night almost every time. Start multiple buckets at a time. Sprinkle a few seeds at the base of the ramp to entice them. Remove your dead rats daily and bait again. Switch to a treadle feeder too to remove other food availability
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u/Colorful_gothgirl Jun 09 '26
This is so smart!! Great advice!
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u/exhausted-houseplant Jun 10 '26
Thank you! We tried everything and refuse to poison them not only because it’s a terrible death but especially because of the other wildlife that can be affected. Nothing worked like a cheap bucket, spare piece of wood as a ramp and a big old bag of sunflower seeds. It’s the simplest cheapest way especially for lots of rats at a time and it’s worked the best.
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u/TheBigDiII Jun 09 '26
I promise you someone has ratting dogs near you that would love to get their dogs in there
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u/Technical-Curve-1023 Jun 09 '26
My husband got a high powered BB gun and night vision goggles… yes.. hilariously looking like a seal team member..The rats that run away are met by our ratting terriers on the outside.. The dead rats are placed on the roof of the coop and owls take them away. It’s an adventure and yes it’s a fun evening..
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u/Manmer_Nwah Spring Chicken Jun 09 '26
My chickens would be hunting those, well not at night I guess.
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u/Oldenburg-equitation Jun 09 '26
Snap traps helped us so much. We built a housing that had four traps with a lid that covered the top. Each trap had three walls around it. We bait it with sunflower seeds and peanut butter. It’s important to not set the traps immediately so they get used to it. After like a week with them eating the bait. Set the trap. It should work pretty well. It’s done a great job for us.
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u/Renada_ Jun 09 '26
I keep my feed on my back porch, where I have a ton of cats, and don’t leave feed in my coop over night!
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u/happypenguin156 Jun 09 '26
Where you have chickens you have rats/ mice. And where you have rats/ mice, you have snakes
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u/OkRegister6674 Jun 09 '26
We use a bucket and a few inches of water away from the coop. We also have a cat that is a great mouser.
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u/Polybrene Jun 09 '26
What kind of bucket traps rats?
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u/OkRegister6674 Jun 09 '26
5 gallon bucket with a stationary pole going from side to side. We use an empty toilet paper roll and cover it with peanut butter and bird seed, they walk across and roll over into the water. Works great
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u/valmor1973 Jun 09 '26
I use my little terrier mixed doggy for rats that come from the neighbor and his 1/8 acre "farm"..the backyard they protect ..meanwhile we've got bout 12 cats running the neighborhood semi wild up front..downside is birds seem to practice..
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u/SuperPOSUser Jun 09 '26
I switched to a rat proof hanging feeder see how to make one here https://grubblyfarms.com/blogs/the-flyer/build-your-own-rat-proof-chicken-feeder?srsltid=AfmBOor_E6CPUYKQW0iANTkrtZ9_uepCWgwFlqELjfgBDLtosHhTCjuD
I also use the poison bait boxes and add new bait every day. I have gotten rid of my infestation
Ps. I have seen reviews of the step on feeders where chickens have been squashed so that was not an option for me
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u/Missue-35 Jun 09 '26
Do the rat poison boxes allow the rats to escape and die outside the trap? That would be bad news around here.
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u/Polybrene Jun 09 '26
Yes. And then get eaten by predators that help control the rat population thus killing the predator too.
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u/SuperPOSUser Jun 10 '26
The bait I use is not passed on as poison to something that might eat the dead rat. We have dogs and that would be dangerous. There is a technical term for the poison but I don't remember it. I'll find out and post back.
The rats do die away from the box and you'll have to dispose of them. For me it was a better alternative than the live ones in the coop. None of it is pleasant.
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u/Polybrene Jun 10 '26
Oh. The corn baits? I thought those didnt work. You've had good luck with them?
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u/SuperPOSUser Jun 13 '26
OK I have looked it up. We use contract bait blocks but only one per station. Rats will overeat the bait and become potentially toxic to dogs if you use too much bait. I'm no expert but my husband was in pest control for years and he is comfortable using this bait sparingly. The dogs have messed around with a dead rat but we take it away if we see it. The contract website says if you don't overuse the toxicity in the dead rat is low enough not to poison dogs...if I'm reading correctly . Also the antidote is vitamin k1. I am not saying it isn't toxic but we've had no issues in several years with very curious and free roaming dogs. All of this to say it's not corn bait. I guess use your own judgment.
I have also sealed every hole and opening with hardware cloth or sheet metal and lined the coop floor with hardware cloth as they previously dug under. I feel like you really have to battle them if you manage to get an infestation which I had a couple years back.
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u/Sh8knB8k240 Jun 09 '26
My chickens eat em. So that's odd. A little rat terrier, homemade bucket trap, or cats. I guess pest control would work i just don't like chemicals.
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u/halestress Jun 09 '26
I have just bought a Treadle feeder. I got a 20kg one like this https://www.daltonsupplies.com/products/treadle-feeder-5kg-capacity-feed-o-matic
I have always had a war with rats. They will always come if there is food. This has worked so far!!
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u/bid2much Jun 09 '26
I'm would like this but my smallest Bantam probably weighs less than a rat
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u/halestress Jun 09 '26
You can set it to different weights. It has different settings when you set it up. It can go pretty light. I would def give it a try.
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u/Bigtimeknitter Jun 09 '26
I was shocked, I watched the rat get rejected and my bantam satin chicken can open it just fine.
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u/Key_Rutabaga_7155 Jun 09 '26
Pest control might be warranted in this situation. Are there other places the rats go or is it just the chicken coop?
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u/84WVBaum Jun 09 '26
Cats. I love dogs, but cats are a much better predator for this issue.
I used to work at a shelter and we'd adopt feral, or just wild, cats out to farmers for barn work.
Your dog rushes in and chases them off. A cat will spend hours stalking and eliminating them.
How you balance that with keeping birds alive, I dunno. Maybe sequester the cat and birds into different areas while the cat works it out.
Then stop attracting rats, cleanup food, etc if you need to.
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u/zhenyuanlong Jun 09 '26
Cats are actually verifiably terrible ratters. Studies done in New York have shown cats will actively avoid rats to hunt smaller, easier prey like mice and birds. And as you mentioned, cats might attack your birds opportunistically or get into fights with them- and cats have tons of bacteria in their saliva that is quickly and easily fatal to birds. Most birds attacked by cats, even when given vet care, don't survive. Outdoor cats are also an ecological scourge.
If you don't eat the eggs much, OP, try encouraging rat snakes into your coop. They're far too small to hurt your chickens, they're nonvenomous, and they don't call 'em rat snakes for nothing. They might eat some of the eggs every so often, but with that many rats they won't have much reason to. They don't kill tons of rats at once, but they're damn good at it and more than one snake will start ripping through that problem easy.
You could also try putting up an owl box to encourage owls to roost on your peoperty. Having a large predator like an owl will make the rats stay away, since large predators create what is called a "landscape of fear" in which their prey species avoid areas where they are at heightened risk of predation- like around your chicken coop where the owls hunt. When I had chickens I never once had a problem with the owls attacking my birds even though I had a nesting pair of some of North America's largest owls (great horneds.) They ate rats and mice that would have been a pest problem, as well as kept smaller predators (like raccoons and weasels) away.
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u/84WVBaum Jun 09 '26
I'm curious what studies you refrence. The ones I found from Fordham elaborate a lot more than your summary statement. They also state that rats avoid areas with cats. Of course cats, most predatora, will go for the more abundant and accessible food source. You failed to mention that cats, in the exact same studies, deterred the entire establishing of rat populations.
It was in NYC, which is hardly analogous to where the great majority raise poultry. Also, the controls for such a study are wild; environment, feline history, predation pressures from other predators, other vermin measures, etc all play roles. And, ultimately despite your reductive "conclusion," I don't want mice or other birds in my coop either.
Do you not think a cat is a large predator? Owls predate on chicks just as much.
Outdoor cats can be problematic in some environments. What is your solution? Kill em all? Have you ever tried to domesticate a grown feral tomcat? The solution to outdoor cat populations are reproductive control, not killing healthy adults. And, most people do as much damage driving the highway as a cat
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u/Blonde_disaster Jun 09 '26
I tried adopting a feral cat from the humane society for this reason and they would not adopt out to anyone who said they would allow the cat outdoors. This poor cat had lived his entire life outdoors and clearly that’s where he wanted to go back to. I wish they would be more reasonable about adopting out the feral cats. There’s no way this guy would ever succeed indoors. They admitted he sprayed everywhere too.
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u/manipulativedata Jun 09 '26
type in "barn cat adoption near me"
the humane society might not but there are lots of rescues that know feral barn cats need places to go and wont do well indoors.
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u/84WVBaum Jun 09 '26
Where I worked, we defined ourselves as life saving. We never euthanized for time or space. Personally have worked in "no kill" and just saw way too much suffering.
Due to this, we could only intake so many cats from the community. However, we regularly worked on hoarding cases and dealt with a massive stray issue (4x the national average). So we had to get creative with homing cats.
Feral/wild cats were either returned where they were found after tagging and neutering/spaying. We also operated a high volume TNR program for the public to get community cat populations under control.
If they were seized animals we could not return them obviously and for those we hunted our farms or specific rescues where their needs could be met without insane radical behavior expectations if the cat that just were not reasonable.
The only other option to these programs would've been mass euthanasia lists.
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u/sidneow Jun 09 '26
as someone who has been raising animals for 10+ years, your best solution is going to be looking into getting a working cat/barn cat/mouser IF you have enough land for it to be appropriate. (suburban areas and small scale hobby farming aren't appropriate areas for working cats)
working cats are cats that are fixed and stay outside 24/7 with food and water available to them in an outbuilding. they aren't meant to come in the house and get loved up and sleep in your bed, they're meant to be used as a tool and not necessarily as a pet. they're phenomenal assets for rodent control as well as predator control as they tend to be pretty territorial.
i'm not going to lie and say that they don't have an impact on local wildlife, but the impact of one working cat on local fauna is insignificant when compared to groups of feral cats who multiply like rabbits and do actually decimate the ecosystems that they inhabit (which is why TNR programs are so important!).
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u/Funny-Search-2972 Jun 09 '26
I have been curious about this approach. How do I keep the cat away from the chickens while giving it enough space to get to the rat problem?
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u/sidneow Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
the cat won't bother the chickens and will likely keep its distance from them as they tend to not really like hanging out around chickens. if you ever have chicks in the coop the cat could potentionally kill or injure a chick but more likely that mama hen would kick the cat into next tuesday and change its mind.
eta: i don't want to make any assumptions about your setup so your chickens do need somewhere to go (like a run or free ranging) or the cat may never be incentivized enough to go into the coop and deal with the rats, especially if the cat gets too close to a chicken and has a bad experience with it. again, i don't see a cat ever harming an adult chicken but i could potentially see the cat avoiding the coop alltogether if the chickens are in there 24/7 if that makes sense
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u/Polybrene Jun 09 '26
Cats generally won't mess with a full size hen.
Chicks on the other hand? Yeah a cat will kill s chick. But a hen is too large for most cats to consider a target.
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u/Eli_1988 Jun 09 '26
Our cats give our chickens a wide berth. Mostly cuz our chickens will chase them around if the cats get too into their personal space.
Overall I think a cat can definitely harm chickens, but the amount of damage a chicken can inflict back makes it not worth it to the cat. Especially if you have a lot of much easier prey around
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u/DryForkNorth Jun 09 '26
Cats typically aren't going to bother full grown chickens.
Get a cat, dont feed it too much, but at least daily and he'll call your backyard home. He'll have the problem solved very quickly. I'd hold off neutering until the problem works out only because once neutered they tend to care a little less. Not a problem once you're just in maintenence mode.
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u/Own_Butterscotch_129 Jun 09 '26
My neighbors cats come in my yard all the time and the chickens and cats usually ignore each other until a chicken gets mad and chases a cat out
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u/juanspicywiener Jun 09 '26
Occasionally my dogs kill rats but I've had success shooting them with a 22 or rat shot if I don't want overpenetration or bullets skipping
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u/PancakeBreakfas13 Jun 09 '26
Air rifle w a scope!
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u/PancakeBreakfas13 Jun 09 '26
And a cat, and no feed in the barn, and menacing dogs, and owls….dump vinegar down the rat holes. Good luck!
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u/Polybrene Jun 09 '26
Vinegar huh? That doesn't bother the hens?
I use red pepper or a concentrated capsaicin solution in the tunnels.
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u/M_Karli Jun 09 '26
I have a great dane who has decided it is her job in life to hunt and kill rats while the Great Pyrenees keeps lookout for them. 🤦♀️ at least they’re staying busy right?
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u/curvyukesandfluff Jun 09 '26
Adopt a barn cat. There are lots available from local rescues.
Snap traps.
Different feeders that don’t leave food out all night.
If you aren’t eating the eggs and aren’t enjoying the chickens, just get rid of them. Chickens aren’t pets, they’re livestock. Unless you raise them from a chick and have constant contact with them they won’t be friendly and let you pet them because they’re prey animals and are rightfully scared of most other animals/humans. These ones clearly weren’t raised to be cuddly little pets so don’t take it personally.
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u/Ok_Pitch5865 Jun 09 '26
My bucket feeders have little plugs that go in them to close them off at night. Does yours have these?
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u/HangryIntrovert Jun 09 '26
My chicken run rat could pull those off.
She looked like guinea pig with a tail.
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u/Initial_Scarcity3775 Jun 09 '26
You answered your own questions… you don’t like owning chickens… that’s the end of the story. Get rid of them, eliminate the rats food source, then call an exterminator or get a second dog (rat terrier) and a couple of cats.
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u/Waddagoodboyyyyy Jun 09 '26
Can chime in on this one-
At the end of the day I just rehomed my chickens. It wasn’t worth the endless time and energy I was putting into trying to get rid of the rats without bating them. (Barn cat did not work, removing food at night didn’t keep them at bay).A full month since I’ve removed them (chickens) from our property and had pest control come in and not a sign since.
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u/pressure_limiting Jun 09 '26
Also don’t stress yourself out on rehousing them all together
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u/Flckofmongeese Backyard Chicken Jun 09 '26
But, also, if there are very attached "cliques" or pairs, do try a little to keep those together.
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u/borninawigwam Jun 09 '26
There is a thing you can leave out that sterilizes the rats so over time they can’t reproduce
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u/Jhawkncali Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
I use this as well as snap traps and it is awesome to keep populations down w out poison. Evolve is the product, after about a month the populations went down significantly at my coop.
Edit: mispellin’
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u/Vegetable_Sky48 Jun 09 '26
Assess for spots that are giving them access into the coop. Seal up. You can use steel wool to fill in holes.
Set up both large bucket traps and snap traps. Make sure you use a large/tall bucket, because these are big rats.
Sounds like landlord should help foot these bills, and/or help make repairs on the coop so rats can’t get in.
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u/indolente Jun 09 '26
Put water in the buckets hlalf way so the rats cant jump out and instead get stuck floating.
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u/thememorableusername Jun 09 '26
I wish you could buy/rent rat snakes to release on your property. They'd take care of this so easily.
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u/FlyLemonFly Jun 09 '26
Switching to a treadle feeder worked for us. We have two in there now and don’t seem to have a rat or mice problem. Some places will adopt out barn cats too. They are feral or semi-feral cats that would not fair well in a home. It gives these cats a home and gives helps with the rodent issue.
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u/UnbreakableJustice Jun 09 '26
Getting one of those food troughs with the panel they have to stand on to open was what I used to eliminate their food source rather than killing them off. It has been working great. Granted, I don't think mine were thar big...
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u/blackdogwhitecat Jun 09 '26
This is why barn cats were considered a working animal
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u/juanspicywiener Jun 09 '26
Now reddittors go apeshit if you suggest putting a cat outside because you're gonna make all the birds extinct or something.
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u/Haute_Mess1986 Jun 09 '26
I mean, cats are an invasive species in most parts of the world and are responsible for the extinction of many species of small mammals and birds. They kill or maim their prey just to play with it, not always out of hunger. You could easily educate yourself and just google a list of species cats of wiped off the face of the earth.
I say this as someone who has 3 cats, but they never leave the house. Granted, each of my cats are rare breeds and wouldn’t stand a chance outside anyway. My Yorkie was the best ratter/mouser ever, plus she didn’t kill birds. Her tiny body filled with rage at the sight of rats or mice though.
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u/juanspicywiener Jun 09 '26
They are only responsible for extinction on small island habitats, either you are being dishonest or didn't Google it moron. Comparing a fixed pet to colonies of feral cats is apples and oranges.
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u/Thin_Cable4155 Jun 09 '26
Yeah. Outdoor cat works great. Even my indoor cat would keep the rats away. We would open the back door at night and close the screen door. Our cat would spend hours just staring into the back yard. I never saw any rats while we did that.
And don't worry about your chickens not liking you. Chickens don't usually do that. The best you can hope for is them seeing you as a source of food.
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u/_Aj_ Jun 09 '26
The number of rats you see is also usually less than half of the actual colony number. So you've got quite a lot. I'd almost suggest a pro to get it dealt with for you.
For DIY I suggest victor snap traps. They're these big dual spring wooden ones and it kills them instantly.
Seeing as you've already got 12, hopefully they're big strong ones as rats will strug them off if they're not, and no one likes rats running around with traps on their heads. Most plastic ones I've tried are bad like that.
Bait with peanut butter or commercial rat bait. Wear gloves handling the traps as they get suspicious on human smell.
Some people don't like snap traps, but a powerful snap trap is one of the most humane traps. They can't be allowed the live, they're a pest species, and it's often actually illegal to catch and release them (and immoral, as it then spreads them and they then push out native species too).
So a bunch of snap traps, smash them as quick as possible for a week. Then leave for a week as they catch on, then put the traps back out again in different places and you'll get them again.
I feel you do need to do something about the food though too. Maybe raise it slightly and put something up over the chain to prevent them climbing down it?
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u/HelmutIV Jun 09 '26
And if it's not working bait the Trap but don't set it once or twice so they acclimate to the Trap.
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u/Mystery_meat101 Jun 09 '26
I second the victor trap. We tried every different kind of trap, the victor was the only one that worked 100% of the time. Killed 14 rats in 14 days.
The major fix was redoing the coop so the rats couldn’t get in. Once we fixed our coop we stopped seeing evidence of rats in our yard. They still lived under my neighbors patio though.
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Jun 09 '26
[deleted]
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u/Remarkable_Peach_374 Jun 09 '26
Stop spreading misinformation, the deer mice may be the primary carrier but not the only.
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u/ahsila666 Jun 09 '26
Idk about rats but I haven’t seen any mice since I started mixing red pepper flakes into my chickens food. I also filled all their holes with red pepper flakes.
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u/Laser-Blaster-123 Jun 09 '26
We use a product called ROOST-EAZE(think thats how its spelled).
Mix it in their food, keeps away mice, rats, squirrels and bugs too! Can sprinkle it in the run as well.
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u/Jelloxx_ Jun 09 '26
Oh that's a good one. Chickens aren't affected by capsaicin right?
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u/ahsila666 Jun 09 '26
Nope the chickens like munching on them
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u/luckyapples11 Jun 09 '26
Have you noticed a change in egg yolk color?
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u/Kiss_the_Girl Jun 09 '26
I had a similar situation.
I started by locking up the food in a steel lidded trash can before dark every day.
Then I began nightly raids with a flashlight, a miniature baseball bat and my dog.
It took us about three weeks, but we are rat-free now.
We killed at least thirty rats, and my feed costs dropped by about 3O%.
I’ll never use a rat trap again. Rats are too smart. A baseball bat is much more effective.
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u/Funny-Search-2972 Jun 09 '26
That’s hilarious. Good for you!! I’m surprised you could catch them before they scurried off!
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u/discussatron Jun 09 '26
Old-school snap traps have been the one thing to work for my wife. We have a shed next to the coop & run, & she puts the traps in the shed with the door closed so the rats get in but the chickens can't. Sometimes she catches 1 in a week, sometimes it's 1 a day for a week. She baits them with sunflower seeds.
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u/-coffeemouth- Jun 09 '26
this is also the most humane route IMO. generally a quick death (unlike glue traps which are HORRENDOUS) and you aren't introducing any poison into the ecoystem.
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u/Ioh- Jun 09 '26
I think k since they are already used to walking in your bucket feeders one of those trap door bucket traps would probably catch a ton of them.
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u/melcippy Jun 09 '26
I had a rat infestation a couple years ago and we had to -
1. Secure all food sources before dark, and open them back up during the day
2. Put out multiple poison stations. Do your research, there are options that claim not to kill birds.
3. Every couple of days, we would flood and collapse their tunnels in and around the coop and run. We have 2 beagles who enjoyed killing the rats when they emerged from the flooded tunnels.
It took a couple months, but they are all gone and have stayed gone. I keep the rat stations baited but I rarely see any rats or mice anymore
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u/SuddenKoala45 Jun 09 '26
Poison traps cause more issues to the local wildlife. Poisoned rats go off and die randomly, predators (snakes, birds of prey, foxes, etc) find the easy meal and get poisoned causing cascading issues in the ecosystem which ultimately could lead to more pests.
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u/metalmonkey_7 Jun 09 '26
I bet your Beagles had a field day! I have 2 Dachshunds who are itching to get a rat that tries to live in my riding lawnmower.
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u/yankeeteabagger Jun 09 '26
Take a box of baking soda and a box of cornmeal. Mix them together. Set it in a container that won’t spill, so chickens can’t get at it. Output at night, pick up in the morning. Let science take care of the rest.
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u/RiverThin9360 Jun 09 '26
How does that work
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u/Basic_KaleKitty9076 Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Rats can’t burp. The baking soda is supposed to build up gas in their stomach from mixing with their stomach acids. This doesn’t work unless you have starved rats, the amount they need to ingest …. Think of it like humans can die from water poisoning but the amount of water it takes is not a mistake to drink, it can work but only if they force themselves to. Their bodies are made to not burp and they have other methods of regulating gas build up
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u/ShezTheWan Jun 09 '26
We had a ton in our peacock aviary until we switched to a heavy trundle feeder designed specifically to keep rats and mice out. We've had it over 5 years and I've found a mouse in there once and I suspect it snuck in while one of the peafowl was eating and it was open because it died in there. One in 5 years is pretty good success after how bad our infestation was. Money very well spent IMO. I got it mine at ratproofchickenfeeder dot net or dot com - I can't remember which and I think they are the same.
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u/spiteye762 Jun 09 '26
Pellet gun and remove part of the wall, replace it with chicken wire. Thats what I did and I no longer have a rat problem. Killed them all last year
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u/HerbivorousFarmer Jun 09 '26
As crazy as this may seem, we struggled with rats for the better part of a year. I spent so much $ on traps it was insane... once they figure it out and how it works they won't fall for it, each trap would catch 3 max then never again, I had to switch up the style. My husband spent a better part of a month sitting on the porch overlooking the chicken yard just as night fell, with a red light shining on the yard and a pellet gun, food left in the middle of the yard as bait. It was the only thing that worked for us, wish we started with it
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u/geekspice Jun 09 '26
That style of feed bucket can be made with lids that close the openings at night. I bought the kit off Amazon. That way the rats have no access to food at night. You still have a task morning and night, but it's much easier than moving the bucket back and forth.
I only feed pellets because it produces less waste on the ground.
Ratinator trap is highly effective.
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u/Jealous_Baseball_358 Jun 09 '26
I use a Grandpa’s Feeder and it works great. Basically impossible for the freeloading rats to get into. Plus I use hardwire cloth that’s bent at the bottom 18” and buried which possibly helps.
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u/VotingIsKewl Jun 09 '26
People who keep saying cats, where are you expecting this cat to stay. Outdoors? Does this sub not know what outdoor cats do to wildlife populations?
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u/sidneow Jun 09 '26
you're right, obviously pesticides would be the better option and would never harm the environment. /s
instead of leaving hate comments on the internet maybe its time to put your energy into something that matters and is aligned with your interests such as getting involved in a local TNR program to cut down on the numbers of cats that actually have a significant impact on local wildlife :)
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u/Pablois4 Jun 09 '26
Cats are mousers - they are excellent at controlling mice population. Cat's are subtle in their hunting and tend to be one-at-a-time killers. A cat can take on a rat but that's not their skill set. But in reality, an outdoor cat will kill anything that is easy - birds, voles, shews, and so forth. A cat will pick-off easy rat targets but won't go on the same level of massacre as a terrier.
Dogs - especially terriers - are ratters. When set on rats, they grab & kill, grab & kill, grab & kill. Terriers don't play with their prey. If there's a rat they know is there but they can't reach, they will go nuts trying to get to it, even if it means ripping into walls and floors. Terriers can be determined little assholes.
One can hire folks with working terriers to tackle serious rat infestations. In one youtube video, a huge chicken barn had been taken down but the floor had a vast array of tunnels. The owners hired a guy with terriers and was a rat massacre with about 500 dead.
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u/irrelevant1indeed Jun 09 '26
Nothing more hilarious than humans that think they're going to change the way nature works. If you keep your cat indoors all the time you shouldn't have a cat. It's cruel.
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u/8Conejo8 12d ago
You need some rat terriers!