Rats and chicken feed

[reb78]

Can anyone think of any way of keeping rats off of the hopper below but still allowing the chickens to feed? Its hung from the ceiling in the chicken pen but they still manage to jump on it and sit there and feed.

I have cats (bought two ferals after previous advice on here) and dogs so putting poison down isnt an option. The cats catch plenty of mice and the odd rat but there are still too many near the chickens.

Any ingenious solutions welcomed!

 

[Bullet2012]

Remove chickens, remove food. Rats will move on to the next food source.

 

[grim_d]

Remove chickens, remove food. Rats will move on to the next food source.

In the same vein, the solution to climate change is to remove the humans.

 

[Migmac]

Make the chicken run rat proof. Don’t leave food out, only put out what the chickens will eat in one go

 

[Barking Mat]

Remove the rats, would be my thoughts.

We had rats when we bought the house four years ago, a combination of poison, traps, dogs and cats seem to keep them away. Or dead. They've gone.

We feed the chickens once a day, sometimes twice, and all the food goes, they are at liberty in the garden most days.

We don't have a compost heap, the dogs do that.

 

[brightspark]

cant you find out where they are. they don't travel far from grub a few live catch traps and a couple of mk4 fen traps baited in a tube works . we had some fun on the farm shotguns a couple of terriers and a lurcher . then put a ferret in the rat holes and out they fly just have to be careful and not trigger happy

 

[Bullet2012]

In the same vein, the solution to climate change is to remove the humans.

Definitely an option.

 

[8ob]

Try a large bowl of water under the feeder.

Bob

 

[Sean]

keep the chickens hungry the rats wont stand a chance...little velociraptors!

 

[grim_d]

Definitely an option.

Kind of. Climate change will happen with or without human input. Were just accelerating the inevitable.

 

[JonE]

If you can throw money at the problem, I reckon a treadle feeder is a good way to go. Our problem was wild birds rather than vermin, but certainly did the trick here..

Can't remember where I bought it from (was years ago), but looks just like this one. https://www.solwayfeeders.com/poult...nised-metal-treadle-feeder-10kg-psf0041-c400/

 

[addjunkie]

Our coop has a concrete base, about 8inches thick lifting up and we dont put feed in it only water. Chickens get corn fed when they are let out in the mornings. We keep the corn in plastic dust bins in a decent shed. Others live stock feed is also kept in there not in bins, but off the floor.

Touch wood weve not had rat problems, but do have semi ferrel cats too.

 

[msh10]

Don't feed the birds where they roost, we have the feed in a different building (where the cat's can get in and out 24 hrs), had a bad spell when we had to use poison (rats had killed one of the kids pet rabbits) now just use live traps (fresh bread and chocolate spread ) and night vision on a silenced gas power air gun.

 

[doubleboost]

They dont like lead at 1200 feet per second

 

[ronan]

Long pieces of drain pipe with traps in them, the rats will get caught but the chooks won't. But i have yet to see anywhere fowl are kept , that did not have rats.

 

[ronan]

They dont like lead at 1200 feet per second

Yes, must be someone local into air rifles that wants a bit of fun pinging rats.

 

[steviec_lj]

Left the feeder, it doesn’t look high enough for a chicken to be honest. 6-8” is ideal.

Then find out where the rats are getting in and block it off. If you use a run for the chickens, slabs and bricks around the edge to stop digging under. Mesh should be 1” square maximum to stop them getting in.

We haven’t had rats in the coop or run in 5 years, but they did attempt the pheasant feeder in the garden once, until they were showered with lead.

 

[willie.macleod]

Need to lose that hopper, magnet for rats. I use Wright feeders, 3" holesaw through the bottom of a handy plastic container, stick the feeder attachment in and bolt in place. Mount container at a height that is suitable for your hens and rats will no longer have free food on demand.

https://collinsnets.co.uk/product/wright-feeder-attachment

 

[m_c]

Put the feeder higher, and get a big disc/cone on the rope so when any rodents scurry down the rope, the disc/cone will cause them to drop onto the floor clear of the feeder.

However, they'll still likely eat what the birds knock on the floor. You can feed the birds less, so they scavenge off the floor more, but it can affect egg production, and you'll still likely have rats. Feeding the cats less would likely give a bigger reduction in rats.

 

[ronan]

Someone told me if you keep ferrets, the smell of them alone scares off the rats as they are sworn enemies. Could be a bit of a tale of course.