We'd seen a good sized rodent around the yard and compost in the past several weeks. By
good sized I mean definitely not a mouse. We had yet to identify this rodent until Saturday morning when Papa Hen opened a nesting box door to find a big brown and gray and black rat in the box. Mama Hen saw its big black tail and turned away, not wanting to see the entirety of the invader.
Papa and Mama Hen worked together to move the chickens to Red Door Coop pen, remove all food and water from the coop, and close the rat in the coop until later in the day. We needed to make a plan.
The coop was in disarray inside and out.
The chickens were a bit unhappy since the small wood nesting box and the homemade nesting box were not acceptable to chickens who have high standards since they live in the Ritz-Carlton of coops. To that Mama and Papa Hen said "deal with it!"
We traveled North for an appointment, stopped at the ranch store for supplies (and to gaze at the adorable chicks for sale), and headed home for lunch. And of course, The Rat Problem. (No, there are no pictures of the rat. No one wants to see that!)
Between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning we strategized and attempted to rid ourselves of the rat problem. The chickens spent Saturday night in the garage. On Sunday morning Papa Hen, the Great White Hunter, was victorious. Mama Hen cleaned the coop with lots of elbow grease, and the chickens returned to their happy home.
How did this rat enter the coop? We believe it trotted right in the front door. When we are home we leave the coop door open so the chickens can wander the yard taking care of chicken business. The open door must have looked very inviting, along with the fresh water, food, and soft bedding.
Sorry you couldn't stay, Mr. Rat.
Phew. What a weekend.
3 comments:
What about mint??? Found this on the web and THEN I read the comments :)
Yep, growing mint in your garden is probably the most cost effective way to repel rats naturally since it’s ‘almost’ free and these are known to hate the smell, the plant and everything in between associated with peppermint. Rats hate mint and any other herbal aromas. Period. They cannot stand it. Thousands of home-owners claim to have personally tested this multiple times. They say it works. So, plant either mint, spearmint or citronella plants in your garden. Not only it’s nice to always have some fresh mint to use when cooking and brewing tea maybe, but it may indeed repel rats away from your house. So if you’re looking for a truly natural DIY rat control option, check mint.
‘But I don’t want to grow mint in my garden Jeff! Is there another option? Does peppermint oil repel rats?’ Yes, there is.
Peppermint oil
The lazy method for homeowners who don’t want to plant and grow mint in their garden, a.k.a peppermint oil also works fine. Don’t plant mint, repel rats naturally by simply spending less than $10 USD on peppermint oil. You can buy it online, via Amazon. Drip up to to 4-5 drops on a cotton ball, then place it in those spots where rats appear more often. By the way, castor and citronella oils are good alternative options as well.
Reply
Fhjkkk says:
February 17, 2016 at 5:35 am
Planted mint in my yard cause everyone says it works, but it does not work. The rats seem to love it. Yesterday I woke up and found they dug a hole next to the mint. Today I woke up to find the whole is covered in mint leaves. They seem to be moving the mint to their home. DONT PLANT MINT!
or
A live cat!
No one can debate cats are great rat predators, and they indeed are. These felines have adapted, evolved and can bravely fight rats of basically any size. I’ve seen this with my own eyes. So if you ‘know/feel/hear’ to have several rats, giving you a terrible headache during the night, while you sleep (due to gnawing, scratching, etc) you may of course consider adopting a cat. You don’t need a ‘fancy’ one, just adopt any cat from your local veterinary and it should do the job.
my favourite reply
I think that the best thing I can do is buy a Python and leave it out, unfed, in the garden. That big snake would hunt every last rat for food!
I'm glad you didn't post rat pics, though I admit that I'm a bit morbidly curious. I almost want to know what Mr. Rat looks like. It’s great to know a thorough cleaning was done. I hope this doesn't happen again. Do chickens and rats fight? I wonder if the rooster would chase the rat off in the end.
I only saw the rat for a brief moment. Papa Hen said it was big and ugly. I don't know that chickens and rats will fight, but rat urine can spread diseases to chickens. I have heard that rats will often nibble on chicken toes in the night and this can also spread diseases.
Best solution? No rats in the coop. When we let the chickens out to forage in the afternoon and evening we keep the coop door closed so no rats can enter. In the chicken yard, we keep a large bowl filled with water for the chickens to drink and they can eat all the bugs, etc, that they can fine.
We do have a ton of mint planted on the outside of the fence, in the alley, just on the other side of the chicken yard and it smells wonderful to us. Not sure what the rats think. We haven't seen one in several weeks though.
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