Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: vichope74 on November 18, 2009, 15:47
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How do you stop your chicken house attracting mice/rats. Does feed get lifted at the end of the day or does it get left in if not finished? I don't have any chickens yet - am just getting all the info . I have read you normally feed twice a day with pellets etc but what happens overnight. Do they just have water left in the house with them?
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Not twice a day ... but unlimited access during the day. You can remove both feed and water at night once they have roosted as they won't eat or drink again until morning.
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Hi
Suspend the feeders above the ground so that at night if vermin should get into the run they cannot get to the feed. I leave both water & food out of the coop over night.
Best Regards
Steve
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I've had a rat and mouse in my coop but I remove food overnight as it's too expensive to feed to vermin plus it can get damp
the rat man has been and he advised scattering a small amount of food on the ground in their run for them to scrat up, and not to give them any more til it had gone. Ratty has not been seen since and I'm taking great care. Not feeding birds either as there's nothing worse than rats and I want shut of them
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Unfortunately I have to live with rats on my plot, but I keep them under control with a regular poisoning regime. What was a real problem is now just another part of keeping chooks.
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I keep all feed troughs in the poultry houses at all times. The hens free range all day and come and go as they please eating when they want. Once the houses are shut up at night no food is about for rats or mice. Mind you I still get the odd rat and mouse but with a Jack Russell and 3cats they're not here for long. :)
If you need a live catch trap this is a really good design
(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c176/Codswolop/P1020859.jpg)
all caught together.
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That's good and sturdy looking, Spana. Where did it come from?
I've bought one from our local CWG stores and in the struggle to get it out of the box, the darn thing has broken already :(
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That's good and sturdy looking, Spana. Where did it come from?
:(
It was OH granddads, so its over 50 years old. I have seen similar designs online but cant remember where, sorry
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you could use a " mink trap " one at a time but pretty good . I use them to trap grey squigs and they are good
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blooming rats! They seem to be getting bigger as well >:(
I no longer have a Jack Russell :( I have chickens now though :D
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i have a chain suspended from the roof of the run, and keep the feeders hanging about 6" off the ground through the day, so the girlies have access all day, it keeps the feed clean and stops the choox from being able to scratch it all over the place. Every night I just hook the chain up higher.
My ratman (a fellow chook keeper :D) recommends to never have food or feeders inside/ or close-by the actual coops. Even in daytime the rats will go inside the coops if they find food, leaving their trail of bacteria and possible disease! NB always have your coop up on legs. preferably a min. of 8" off the ground, as a low coop is ideal nesting area for rats.
My ratman comes once a month (in exchange for chix or eggs etc) checks and refills my bait boxes, which he provided and distributed carefully around my land.
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Our coop is well off the ground and feeders suspended underneath.
I don't put any food in the coop, and take the feeders in every night. We'd be overrun with rats if I didn't.
I use Mk4Fenn traps to keep the population down, and house them for safety in DFT boxes - see domestic wildfowl trust website for traps/boxes.
We do have mice, but as long as they are not in the coup, I don't mind them.
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I have heard it say that you are never more than 10ft from a rat in Britian (the life of grime tv show). You need to be clean thats all, your hens should have food in feeders, not thrown on the ground for them. The food may get wet/moudy etc and cause problems for your birds. You should remove any food from the run overnight, and sweep up any spilt food. Chickens dont bring rats, food bring rats, if there is litter in the streets, in gardens the rats will come looking for food, if they find food, they will come back!
Dont worry about mice, the chickens will deal with the mice!
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I have heard it say that you are never more than 10ft from a rat in Britian (the life of grime tv show). You need to be clean thats all, your hens should have food in feeders, not thrown on the ground for them. The food may get wet/moudy etc and cause problems for your birds. You should remove any food from the run overnight, and sweep up any spilt food. Chickens dont bring rats, food bring rats, if there is litter in the streets, in gardens the rats will come looking for food, if they find food, they will come back!
Dont worry about mice, the chickens will deal with the mice!
??? What will the chickens do with a mouse? will they acually be able to catch one? the mouse in my garden is blooming fast, i'm not sure my hens are THAT fast.
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the chickens will eat the mice, trust me, the chickens will be faster than the mice!
Not only do they catch them and eat them, but they swallow them whole, thats if the others dont pay tug of war with them. Im sure my chickens are not the only ones who eat mice, small birds (they had a robin the other day) and frogs! Frogs are a favourite :)
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:D Oh Spanna that is a wonderful cage ! If someone could replicate it, ( at a reasonable cost ) a fortune could be made ! All us chicken lovers would snatch their hand off LOL !Even me who used to keep rats as pets , and found them infinately interesting ::)
Best to remove food from the run at night, for all the reasons above.
Goosebusters OH YUCK !I am sure its true but I cant bear the thought, I know my girls chase small ish birds,seems so out of character !
XX Ju XX
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We have rats at the allotment, so wire mesh compost bins. One of the guys uses squirrel metal traps and his dog is good too. Local cat excellent. 6 Of us have chickens. Rats tunnel into 4 of these as thye are simply boarded. I copied a lady who has had chickens for many years and dug down about a foot and out 2 feet for doubled over chicken wire. My enclosure is roofed and surrounded by wire, The other lady has about 7foot high wire meshed, unroofed, chicken house undercover. This has kept out rats and the local fox.
Also have 2 metal dustbins for storing food.