Fatjay picks up chicks!

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I was going to say, by letting them free range, the grass stays good all around, and they don't have to live in the mud. They do like to scratch thru the compost pile and spread it out.

 

[fatjay]

We have to many predators in the area, I'm concerned they would become dinner for something before long. I toss straw in there and it helps dry the mud. It's frozen now anyway. I'm thinking about ways to expand the run, or open it up on days that i'm working in the yard.

 

[GLyford]

My wife opens the run on nice days. We have lost a few to hawk strikes doing that. We have had foxes, raccoons, and coyotes in the neighborhood, a "pest rated" fence 6" off the ground around the outside seems to be working at keeping those out/away. We put deer netting over the run also due to hawks (one strike, one close call).

Invest in a rat proof feeder or two. Rats are persistent and creative.

For gates into your run, consider adding a 2x8, 10, or 12 on edge as a threshold, and moving the gate up or trimming the bottom. Means you don't have to shovel as much snow and ice to maintain the area.

 

[ericm979]

Invest in a rat proof feeder or two. Rats are persistent and creative.

We had a big rat problem. Once they get into the coop to eat chicken feed they end up eating eggs too.

The previous feeder had a plastic trough and the rats gnawed into it. I patched it with aluminum sheet and they gnawed through that! The new feeder is galvanized and (finally) rat proof.

 

[jyoutz]

We had a big rat problem. Once they get into the coop to eat chicken feed they end up eating eggs too.

The previous feeder had a plastic trough and the rats gnawed into it. I patched it with aluminum sheet and they gnawed through that! The new feeder is galvanized and (finally) rat proof.

Catch ‘em in small live traps (too small for chickens to enter).

 

[ericm979]

We tried trapping first and didn't make much of a dent in the population. It might work for someone else though.

 

[fatjay]

Fortunately we don't have a rat issue. It's rare I have a mouse issue even. Feed bags in the garage on pallets, no mice. I have traps in the garage and nothing.

 

[jyoutz]

Fortunately we don't have a rat issue. It's rare I have a mouse issue even. Feed bags in the garage on pallets, no mice. I have traps in the garage and nothing.

Just wait. If you have feed, you will have mice.

 

[GLyford]

We keep our feed in steel trash cans. Medium size holds one bag, that's the one we feed from. Biggest size holds two bags, unopened. We are also overrun with squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits, so if its not one thing, it's another. But rats when we get them are the most persistent. I gather they are becoming more of a problem in general in local communities.

Friend had just built a large coop with about 20 hens, had it for less than a year before stopping because of a larger rat problem in town.

 

[EddieWalker]

The mice never mess with our feed in the sacks. Chickens are so messy that the mice have plenty to eat at the feeders after the chickens go to sleep. Mice will be in the coop, eating all night long.