[loretta cluck]

I have a decent sized coop with walk-in large run, and having read one of the recent posts re the possibility of rats getting into the girls, think i need to have another look at my set up.
The roofing on my coop is the corrugated bendy stuff, ( cant remember what it's called), which overlaps the walls of the coop, and also doubles up as ventilation due to the small gaps where it is attached.
The gaps are small but at a size that would easily allow a rat in....how do other folk go on, without actually blocking these gaps up?
Any suggestions most appreciated.....everything else as secure as it can be, re digging foxes..

[grinling]

What are your walls of the run made out of? I use chicken wire with a solid metal corrugated roof. This was also used at an allotment.
Never had a rat climb up yet, mice can walk through chicken wire.
Rat will try to dig under and that is noticable. Compost bins are easy targets, mine sit on weld mesh.

[upert]

I'm looking for some free weld mesh to put under my coop where the concrete slabs end. Winter is always a battle against rats on the allotment.

[grinling]

Stu  and  I used a mixture of baited traps one winter and caught 50 rats.
My chicken wire is buried in the ground at least a foot deep and L shape, rats never dug in.

[loretta cluck]

My coop is raised and made of wood, there is a large shelter under the coop, and the attached roofed walk-in run is several solid wood frames with strong weld mesh walls, a rat wouldnt get through the gaps....there is weld mesh dug into the ground all round the edge...really cant think what the roofing material is called!  Its black pliable corrugated stuff, and i need to fill the gaps without completely blocking it and stopping the ventilation.  Also dont want to start hammering into the roof, causing damage...if that makes sense...

[loretta cluck]

I have yet to see a rat, and fingers crossed, there is no rat problem.....i was just safeguarding in case one comes along one night, and decides to scale up the coop walls, and squeeze in through the gaps in the corrugated roof...

[ANHBUC]

If you use weldmesh you should be able to shape it to fit and keep them out.  Bit of a fiddly job though. 

[GrannieAnnie]

rats can get through chicken wire too.  2 weeks ago I was called out into the garden because Brian thought there was a rat in the chicken house.  (Notice he wouldn't go in there!)

So I went in with Penny, and behind the nest boxes there was a biggish rat, which when it saw me, it got down the back of the nest boxes under the wired legs.  So I moved the nest boxes out to send Penny in to get it, and it ran out the other end, through my legs and through the pophole.  I sent Penny outside and Brian had said that the chickens tried to catch it, but it squeezed through the chicken wire and went down the ditch.

Penny went after it, but came back emptied pawed! 

The chicken shed we are using at the moment has an onduline roof on it, and Brian tacked weldmesh along the front to stop anything climbing in.

[ANHBUC]

I got 1/4" x 1/4" weldmesh in a hope they can't get in even though there are no signs of rats.

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

You can actually buy moulds that fill those gaps from a hardware store

[Sassy]

With snow around it is a good time to look for rat runs

[loretta cluck]

Thanks for all the suggestions.....roof is similar to Grannie Annie's, so will tack some weldmesh on from the inside, and try to do it without causing any damage to the roof.