Rodents move to rooms with poultry with the advent of cold weather. The chicken coop attracts rats with warmth, food availability and the absence of obvious danger. These predators must be disposed of as they are dangerous. There are many ways and means of prevention.
Risk of getting rats in the chicken coop
One of the main dangers of rats in the chicken coop is theft of eggs. Rodents carry this delicacy all the time, so a person can suffer certain losses.
Rats are predators, and quite strong and arrogant. They can injure even larger animals. If the rodent wants fresh meat, then it may well attack the chicken. He can easily cope with both young and adult birds, and the rooster will not be able to protect them. Rodents attack every day.
A hungry rat can eat whole chicken. In other cases, it kills the bird and leaves it by biting. The rodent eats chickens very quickly.
Rats are carriers of ticks, fleas, bugs, helminths and various diseases:
- plague
- typhoid;
- rabies;
- toxocariasis;
- toxoplasmosis;
- salmonellosis;
- tularemia;
- rickettsiosis;
- leptospirosis;
- listeriosis;
- hemorrhagic fever;
- streptobacillosis.
Many diseases are dangerous not only for birds, but also for humans. In addition, the presence of a dangerous predator makes chickens worry, which adversely affects their health and productivity.
Rats multiply rapidly, are always hungry and gnaw a lot. This harms not only the inhabitants of the chicken coop, but also property. Often, a person reveals the presence of rats only after weeks or months, until he notices the loss of eggs or an injured bird.
The danger of rats is also in their quick wits. They rarely fall into the trap, if this has already happened to their relatives. Rat cubs are numerous, and adults teach them to avoid various poison and traps.
How to understand that rats got into the chicken coop?
The appearance of rats in the chicken coop can be seen on various grounds. One of them is the loss of eggs. Losses can be significant.
If the rats attacked the bird, then injured birds can be found. With severe hunger and a desire for fresh meat, you can find killed and bitten hens or discover the loss of a bird.
Another sign of the presence of rats is litter. Typically, rodents leave it in the form of small piles. The rat litter is dark in color and reaches a length of 0.1-0.15 cm. If there is excrement of different sizes, then there is a population of animals.
The presence of rats can also be suspected by the following signs:
- ammonia odor, which intensifies in closed areas of the room;
- gnawed surfaces;
- tracks left by animals in the dust;
- holes in the walls, foundation;
- eggshell (rats can eat contents in place, leaving an unnecessary shell).
Ways to fight rodents
If rats are wound up in the chicken coop, then you need to get rid of them necessarily and quickly. To do this, there are many reliable ways that are best used in combination.
Professional help
If you have the financial ability to fight rodents, you can call specialists. In their arsenal there are effective and fast-acting products that will not harm the poultry.
The help of professionals will cost a decent amount, so most people seek to solve the problem on their own.
House reconstruction
To get rid of rodents, it is necessary to exclude favorable conditions for them. The chicken coop should be airtight, while taking care of this is still at the stage of its construction. The room must meet the following requirements:
- The absence of gaps. The rat is able to penetrate even through a very small gap. The bottom of the walls is better covered with aluminum sheets of meter height. Such an addition does not interfere with the bird.
- Install metal doors or metal upholstered wooden structure.
- Ensure tightness of windows. If they are not glazed, then you can use a strong fine mesh.
When reconstructing a chicken coop, it is important to consider that rats gnaw many materials. They can not be stopped with polystyrene foam, foam rubber, wood. They can even gnaw concrete.
Poisons
This method is effective, but can be dangerous for the bird. If the bird in any form is available to the bird, then out of curiosity it will try it. Given this factor, the poison should be placed in places inaccessible to hens.
While using the poison, the bird should be placed in another room. It is better to use agents with fast action such as Rat (ampoules). For rodents, even a minimal amount of the drug is deadly. You can get rid of rats this way in a week.
To curious chickens did not eat poison, it should be masked. It’s good to use a heavy wooden box. Several holes must be made in it to dull the vigilance of rodents. Chickens can sit on top of the box.
Rats are pretty smart, so it’s better to mask the poison in food. Effectively mix it with raw meat, lard, fish. It is better if the product is spoiled, since such an aroma will interrupt the smell of poison.
You can buy ready-made poison, which is usually available in the form of granules. It must be placed in places inaccessible to birds. A rat, when consumed with such poison, dies and gradually mummifies. This avoids unpleasant odors that inevitably appear when rodents die in inaccessible places. Such poison can be found in a wide range at any hardware store. Features of use are indicated on the packaging.
Among ready-made effective poisons, Ratid-1 and 2, Goliath should be highlighted. Such funds not only help well, but also attract a low cost.
There is rat poison in liquid form. It includes Bromed, Brommus, Broadifan. Typically, such a tool is poured into beer, and a container of liquid is placed in a box so that birds can not get it. Instead of beer, you can use milk, but its smell is weaker, so rats can ignore such a trap.
Even when the poison is laid in places inaccessible to chickens, rats can drag it around the room. This method should be used deliberately, limiting as much as possible the bird’s access to lethal products.
Ultrasonic Repellers
This is one of the modern methods of controlling rodents. Some devices are capable of covering an area of 1000 square meters. m
An ultrasonic repeller makes a sound of such a frequency that rodents hear it, but birds and people do not pick it up. This device requires electricity, although there are battery-powered models. The device is attractive in its small size, and consumes no more than 10-15 watts per day.
Install such devices should be at a certain (according to the instructions) distance from the floor, directing the sound to a hard surface so that it is well reflected.
The effectiveness of ultrasonic repellers is provided by exposure to the nervous system of rats. Rodents do not stand it and run away. This usually happens in the first 2 weeks after installation.
For a large chicken coop, it is better to use several ultrasonic devices. In this case, it is necessary to provide rats with a free exit from the premises, the tightness of which should be taken care of after getting rid of rodents. Rats due to psychological stress go crazy, therefore, in the absence of exit, they can behave unpredictably.
The most effective repellers are Tornado and Grad-A. It is important to consider that their effectiveness according to user reviews is not 100%, so this measure should be used in combination with other ways to get rid of rodents.
Sharing other birds and animals
It is effective to introduce geese or turkeys in the chicken coop that are able to defend themselves against rats. Geese are distinguished by a sensitive dream and a reaction to the slightest rustle. Their gagging scares off rats. The turkey produces a similar effect.
You can also get a cat from the street or a hunting dog. Such animals will catch rodents, but at the same time create a risk for the hens themselves. A well-trained dog will not harm poultry.
Another animal that can scare away and even catch rats is a hedgehog. This nocturnal inhabitant will well replace a cat, which itself can harm chickens or feast on their eggs.
Mousetraps and traps
Such large structures can well slam a rat or cause serious injury. When arranging the mousetraps, one must remember that curious birds can also get into them.
The most effective are spring structures. It is necessary to pay attention to the material of execution - the trap for the rat must be strong.
A rat trap crush helps a lot. Such traps should be placed in boxes, leaving a small inlet. As a bait, it is good to use fried meat. Instead, you can take a piece of bread and dip it in vegetable oil. This method cannot be used if there are chickens in the chicken coop. Due to their small size, they themselves may fall into the trap.
Another effective option is an electric trap. It works due to the electric charge that the rat receives, closing the paws of the contacts. This charge is enough to stop the pest's heart.
This method of getting rid of rodents is ineffective, therefore, it should be used in addition to other measures. Rats are very intelligent and rarely fall into such traps.
Glue traps
Typically, this method is used for mice, as rats are able to escape from the trap. For larger rodents, you just need to use more material.
Special glue can be purchased at hardware stores. The tube must be held for several minutes in hot water, and then apply its contents to the board. Rodents come across without additional bait, but for efficiency it is better to put it.
The glue does not dry for many days. The wool adheres tightly to it, so the animal cannot free itself. The rat can escape, but will leave a part of the hair trapped, which sometimes leads to serious injuries. This will force the rodent to look for a safer place to live.
A bird can also fall into such traps, so they must be placed under boxes or boxes where chickens will not fall, but rodents can. In the prepared box, you need to make several entries and exits, otherwise the rat will feel danger.
Folk methods
People have been fighting rats in chicken coops for a very long time and during this time they have come up with many effective ways to get rid of these dangerous rodents. You can use the following folk remedies:
- Carbide. It should be used in quicklime. The substance must be filled with water, placed in holes and sprinkled with earth. Upon contact with water, gas begins to be released, which is harmful to rats.
- Wood ash. Its use is very popular among the people. It is enough to scatter ash around the perimeter of the house, especially in areas where there are gaps. Rodents enter the chicken coop at night, not paying attention to the ash, which further causes irritation to the skin. By cleaning the coat, the rats swallow the powder, which leads to indigestion. When the situation repeats several times, rodents begin to look for a new habitat. Such a remedy does not harm chickens, but it serves as a good prophylaxis of parasites.
- Among herbal remedies, you can use autumn colchicum. It is necessary to mix the crushed plant with seeds 1:10 and place in burrows.
- Another effective plant is chilibuha, which is also called vomit. It is necessary to add sugar, raisins, stearin to its seeds and place the mixture in burrows. It is from the chilibuhi that strychnine, known for its toxic properties, is obtained.
- A mixture of crushed boiled eggs, gypsum, flour and sugar helps effectively from rodents. Such poison must be placed in places where the bird does not have access.
- In the chicken coop, you can put an ordinary burdock on the floor. The plant does not interfere with the birds, and sticks well to the hair of rodents, causing unpleasant sensations. This method attracts with its efficiency and safety. It is good to plant such a plant along the walls of the chicken coop. It scares away rats, therefore they do not make holes nearby.
- Instead of burdock, you can use black root, which is also called rat rat. This plant also has spines.
- Rats do not like the smell of burning wool, so you can set it on fire and put in burrows.
- Rodents are very sensitive to various odors, so you can use elderberries, peppermint, tansy to scare them away. It is better to lay mint in hens in heaps or use the oil of this plant to soak rags. Tansy should be laid out at the holes, and elderberries should be scattered around the chicken coop and holes. It is better to use roots with young twigs, chopping them.
- Another effective remedy is alabaster and wheat flour. This mixture should be poured into specially designated feeders, and put water nearby. In rodents, indigestion will begin, and the mixture will freeze inside, which will lead to death. Such feeders should be set so that the bird does not have access to them.
- Cope with rodents using vodka. It is enough to pour a few milliliters of liquid into the container and crumble the bread there.
- You can make a trap yourself. To do this, take a glass jar (volume of at least 3 l), place the bait on the bottom, and grease the walls from the inside. The rat will be seduced by the bait, but will not be able to crawl out.
- There is another option for making a trap. A plastic container of a suitable size is well suited for this. It is necessary to attach the bait to its bottom and put it upside down on a sheet of metal. One edge must be lifted with a stick. The rat will touch it, making its way into the trap, and remain locked inside. A metal sheet is necessary so that it does not dig a stroke. The plastic container should be heavier, as the rat can escape from there.
See also a video about effective ways to control rodents in the chicken coop, used in practice:
Prevention of rats in the chicken coop
An important preventive measure is the proper organization of the premises and maintaining cleanliness in it. This applies to regular cleaning of litter, cleaning feeders. Regular egg collection is also important.
At the construction stage of the chicken coop, you need to take care of its tightness. When using hardening building mixtures, crushed glass should be added to them. It can also be used when using polyurethane foam. Rats gnaw almost everything, and they don’t like glass crumble.
The chicken coop should be erected on a monolithic foundation. If you build a room with supports, then around the perimeter you should overlay it with metal sheets, deepening them into the ground by 0.2-0.3 m.
If the chicken coop is an earthen floor, then you need to remove the top layer, lay a metal mesh, pour expanded clay and cover it with earth. It is important that the grid is located above the foundation. This measure allows you to protect the room from undermining.
All slots in the room must be caulked. This also applies to the joints between the foundation and the walls of the house. Effectively, when the walls of the chicken coop are stone, even of small thickness.
At the first sign of rats in the chicken coop, appropriate measures must be taken. These rodents are dangerous for birds, humans, causing damage to products and property. You can avoid the problem by taking timely care of preventive measures.