How to get rid of rats from your chicken coop.

No matter how well we think we look after our chickens, it comes to most of us at one time or another - rats in the coop.


You'll find links to pages about how to tell rats from mice; how to know if you've got them; how to get rid of an infestation; how to choose which method of control is best for you, how to keep the population down - and how not to have rats as company in the first place.

How to tell if you have a rodent problem - link

Rats, mice and how to tell the difference.


This page shows how to know when you have a problem,  how to tell the difference between rodents and why having any around the coop is an issue for you, your chickens and your family.

Who knew that droppings could tell such a story?!

Ten ways to get rid of rats - link

Ten ways to get rid of rats.

Once you've diagnosed that there's a problem in your chicken coop, you need to know what the choices are for dealing with it.

This page takes the ten most popular ways to kill rats and looks at each in turn, assessing advantages, disadvantages and effectiveness.


Using an electric trap to get rid of rats - link

Using an electric trap.


Here I review the method I use now my problem is controlled - an electric rat trap.  Like most solutions it has both good and not so good points. 

Here you'll learn about them all.

When and how to use rat poison - link

Using poison.

Using poison is really a last resort and some people refuse to use it for understandable reasons.

But it can sometimes be the only option available - particularly if you don't recognise a rodent problem until it's out of hand.

Here you'll learn when it becomes necessary, how it works and how to use it safely.

How to keep rats and mice away from your coop in the first place.

You'll hear a lot of people claim that if you have chickens, you'll automatically have rats and mice.  It's just not true.

Being aware of what makes them 'tick' - what motivates them to come anywhere near a chicken coop, or near your own home for that matter, - is the first step to knowing how to control them.

On this page you'll discover exactly that, together with five easy steps to stop rats coming into your life at all.

Rat problem? Here's a link to what won't work, and a checklist of what will.

Rats, mice and chickens - myths and reality.

There is lots of advice around about how to get rid of rats in your chicken coop.  Some of it's excellent - but a lot of it is just nonsense.

This article lists the five most popular myths about rat and mouse problems including herbs, dangerous chemicals, animal urine and the expensive but unproven ultrasonic repellers.  The information here is based on proven research rather than word of mouth about "what worked for old-timers".

It also has a link to my free downloadable checklist which will help you work out what you need to do to keep your chickens rat-free.

Clickable link to my checklist about pest control in the chicken coop.

Pest control in the chicken coop - a free downloadable checklist.

As you can see, I have a lot of pages on this website about how to control rats and other pests in your chicken coop.  They're very detailed and sometimes it's hard to remember what you need to do, when.

So to help you, I've written a checklist of points which will take you from assessing what type of rodents you may have, to different ways of dealing with them - and some of the myths around about how you can.

It's free, it's printable and it's yours when you click on this link!


Link to Raising Happy Chickens home page.