Chook Me!

how to get rid of rats and mice from my chicken coop?

i don't know how they are coming into my chicken coop, but they do and they steal my eggs! How do i get rid of them without harming my chickens or using any poison?

Public Comments

1. move the chickens temporarily then either send in a cat, snake, or exterminator they often have methods without poison
2. ferrets prey on mice and rats, and get the job done better than cats. i dont think they would harm the chickens. but they might steal the eggs? lol the smell of ferrets is supposed to be enough to keep the smaller rodent prey away. so if you dont want to let them free to hunt, maybe just get them to pee everywhere. lol
3. mouse traps...
4. Are you sure its rats eating the eggs? I find crows are the main culprit. We have rats occasionally in our chicken run but they just eat left over chicken food not the eggs themselves. A rat would struggle to crack a chicken egg and a mouse would not even try, they are attracted to the chicken food primarily. Keep you chicken food in metal rodent proof bins. Do not put down more food than the chickens will eat in the day .Night times are when rats are most active. If you have rats either put down rat poison in special tubes at strategic places around the coop, shoot them with an airgun or place rat traps (the snap shut type) but you can only put there where chickens cannot eat the food so maybe not such a good idea. I accidentally killed a robin in one once, very sad.
5. The best way is make it "easier" for them. But one of those small squirrel traps (you can buy the small ones and the chickens shouldn't be able to fit inside) So check like e bay and buy the smallest one you can buy. Probably it will say for chipmunks and rats. Then put an egg in and just relocate them or kill.
6. Rats and mice will eat the grains you place out for the birds not so much the eggs but it has happened .Rats can become a nuisances, you will have to take actions and fast to get this under control before it get out of control. Have to fix any areas where your birds rest eat sleep play and sun bath so they are safe from any predators.Leaving any extra feed/foods out is a sure invite to scavenger's.Foods you happen to offer your birds from the home grains left over from a morning feed is a great attraction to hungry rats and mice as well. Collect your eggs daily and if have to check the nest boxes several times a day to be sure you have all the eggs and a hen is not laying at a late time in the day. Rats can chew threw almost any thing even wire woods papers plastic most all things very sharp teeth and they grow non stop.If happen to find any holes try to patch them asap I would fill them with steel wool this will stop them sooner than later since they will have to eat some of the steel wool to get into the coop/pen/house again. The rat pack will return to get its fill each night since this is when they feed.Try a weld mesh type wire this the rats can not chew threw.Place around the coop/pen/house and bury it deep into the ground since rats do dig under the floors of coops.May want to place this wire on the floor of the coop as well. If happen to see any during the day better belive you have several hid up somewhere till night rolls around then they come out.Posions are out of the question for the fact it takes to long to kill a rat or a mouse this leaves the poor soul to suffer a painful death which could take days to do and then a dog /cat or a bird could catch the weak rat and be poisoned as well not to mention your birds happen to come across it half dead and take a nip out of it bingo your bird is dying as well. The rat is after any chicks or eggs you have in the coop/pen/yard and once they find foods they will return again and again till food source is no longer avaliable for them. Get a cat/dog either of these will kill rats and mice as well.Traps are as good as anything else Try sticky traps but have to be able to place into a pen where no other birds or animals can enter but the rat Then have to deal with a live animal... Try coca-cola this causes a gas the rats cant burp (never used but people say it works??) Try steel wool place in all holes that a rat might use to enter and stuff full the rat(s)will have to eat this to get threw (this I have used).Baits are a slow and painful death for rats Live traps are a better choice but are also a slow death if not ckecked on and if find a rat they are left to die by starvation,dehydration or stress. Animals loose AGAIN
7. Are you REALLY serious about this ?? What type of chickens do you have ?? My chickens LOVE it when they see a rat or mouse and they all gather up and kill it by pecking it to death and then eat it !! They will even fight each other for the rat after they have killed it. Yes I am VERY serious about this.