A complete guide to getting rid of rats - forever!

Rats in the chicken coop are a risk. Elimination sounds cruel, but it's essential for your flock's health - and yours.

Please note: Backyard chickens and rodents do not automatically go together. Rats and grain, however, do.

This page and others in this section exist to help you know what to do should you discover a problem.

Good husbandry is very important - and very effective - at keeping vermin at bay. Get rid of them first, using one of these methods, and then make sure they don't return by getting rid of uncovered grain. 

Find out how, here.

Options for getting rid of rats.

I'm neither advocating nor opposing any of these methods, with one exception. 

I'm simply outlining the most common methods of rodent extermination and assessing them. Some I have used personally, others I have discussed with rodent control officers in the UK, all of them I have carefully researched.

Different procedures will suit different situations and different people. Not everyone will be comfortable using the same methods. 

Your job is to gather all the information on each method and then make a judgement for yourself as to which would best suit you, your family, your situation and your chickens.

1.  Getting rid of rats with poison.

Opinion: Poison may be an effective means of extermination, but it's not a long-term solution.

I needed to use rat poison because the rodent infestation had grown so large by the time I recognised it that any other, longer-term way would have been potentially putting my chickens at risk of disease. Rats multiply very quickly.

But poison really should be a last resort. It's an unpleasant death for the rat, potentially dangerous for pets, livestock and people and not a topic to be taken lightly.

For that reason, I've given the use of poison an article all of its own. Find it here.

2.  Electric traps.

Opinion: fast, effective and safe for other animals.

3.  The old favourite: snap traps.

Opinion: quick, effective, but messy.

How to use them.

• Set in places where you know the rodents are moving, usually around the edge of the chicken run or an outbuilding. 

• Place them well out of the reach of your children, chickens or other animals. 

• Leave them there for several days un-baited until the rodents get used to them. Rats are cautious creatures and won't go near something new and unknown.

• Cheese is the accepted bait, but try baiting them with peanut butter - really! Rats are very attracted by the smell and you'll only need a tiny smear.

Advantages.

• Cheap, easy to set and very quick to kill, so the rodent doesn't suffer unduly. 

Disadvantages.

• Due to their small size, these are better suited to mice than rats.

• Having to empty the traps of decapitated creatures. No matter how much I dislike vermin - and trust me, I do - this is not a pretty way of dealing with them.
  

• Rodents are actually intelligent animals and will learn not to go near traps which they've seen to be harmful to their community. You need to move them around often.

• The traditional wooden traps start to smell after a while. This modern take on the traditional trap (also below) - which are the same mechanism - can be washed and sterilised.

4.  Humane traps.

Opinion: kind - but the rodents will probably return.

Our neighbour uses this kind of trap. The rodent is caught inside, triggering the door to close. The rodent then has to be re-located.

The best humane traps are made of metal. You'll find information on making them from plastic bottles on the internet, but even mice can gnaw through a bottle in a matter of minutes.

Rats will take just seconds.

Advantages.

• If the idea of killing any living being is difficult for you then this is the only real option.

• Doesn't harm either the rat or any other animal which happens along.

Disadvantages.

• You end up with a live rat on your hands. Now what?

• Rats are territorial animals. Once they set up home they like to stay there. So the likelihood is that if you release the rats anywhere close to your coop, they will return.

• Advice is to take the rat at least five miles away from its nest before setting it free.  

• Even then, there's nothing to say it won't find its way back. And you may just be re-locating the problem onto someone else's property.

• If this is the solution for you, buy one now by clicking the button below.

5.  Is exterminating rats a priority? Get a cat!

Opinion: not an option for everyone - and you need the right cat!

This is another option I've found which is very effective, particularly when combined with the battery operated trap (see here). 

I live in rural Italy where feral and semi-feral cats are common and, because we have wheat and sunflower fields, we also have mice which attract feral cats.  

When a mother cat had her litter in our shed, then, I had no problem in inviting them to stay. Good decision!

If you're thinking of getting a cat to keep control of the mouse or rat population it really needs to be a large feral or barnyard-type animal which is used to living outside. There's a good chance that it will have been taught by its mother how to tackle the problem.

Most smaller, domesticated cats are unlikely to have the courage to take on a full-grown rat.

Be careful, though, about how any cat reacts with chickens. It's fairly common for cats to kill baby chicks - after all, to a cat they look just like birds - and some will even take on full-grown hens. 

6.  Getting rid of rats with terriers.

Opinion: a good solution for farmers - but you need a friendly local terrier club!

I used to work in an old, overcrowded Victorian prison in northern England. There was a massive problem with rodent infestation because the drainage system was old and over-used.

The prison authorities dealt with it by paying the local Border Terrier and Jack Russell Terrier clubs to come into the prison once a month, after dark, and let their dogs loose in the yards where the rats were running. Watching the dogs 'at work' was mesmerizing!

This is a fascinating video by the BBC, showing terriers at work killing rats on a farm in the UK.  

If you're at all worried about this method of getting rid of vermin, please - don't watch it.

7.  Rodent control with guns.

Opinion: not a method I have experience of. If you're a good shot and have time on your hands, this may be an option.

Is it legal? And how does it work?

Yes, it's perfectly legal. Although in Europe personal use of firearms without a certificate is illegal, it is perfectly legal anywhere to shoot vermin as long as it's on your own land and you use an air rifle.

If you have permission, it's also legal to shoot rodents on someone else's land.

Advantages.

• Some famers advocate this as a quick and humane method, particularly when the rats are trapped in a barrel in a dry version of the 'walk the plank' trap (see below).

• Another way of keeping the rats in one place is to lay bait down. Either peanut butter or diced up cat food works well, in my experience.
  

Disadvantages.

• Rats generally like to come out at night, so you need to set up just before dusk to be most effective.

• Shooting by artificial light isn't a good idea - the rats will simply remain in their nest.

8.  Home made traps.

May be amusing to read about, but not amusing to use.

What they are.

• Search online for "homemade ways of getting rid of rats" and you'll find all kinds of ideas. Some are dangerous, some imaginative, some downright quirky.

• One of the most common is the 'walk the plank' option. Take a barrel, fill to about 6" with water. Add some grain.

• On top of the barrel balance a plank, one end hovering over the centre of the barrel. Add a smear of peanut butter at the edge.

• The rats 'walk the plank' to get to the peanut butter, topple into the water and drown.
  

Advantages.

• Inexpensive (providing you have a barrel).

Disadvantages.

• Unpredictable - you need to be sure the plank will stay in place.

• Inhumane - it will take several minutes for a rat to drown.

• Not very effective, according to people who have used it.

• Not recommended.

9.  Glue traps.

This is the only method which I categorically say please - do not use. They are inhumane.

I've had experience of these because they were used by a private rodent control company in the UK, in my workplace which had become over-run with mice.

How they work.

• Used mainly by commercial companies because they're cheap and very effective.  

• They're literally pads of glue which are set in rat-run places. When rodents - or anything else - moves onto them, they find themselves stuck.  

• The animal either dies from exhaustion trying to escape, starves to death or has to be killed manually.
  

Advantages.

• Inexpensive. 
  

Disadvantages.

• They catch anything moving across them, including insects and birds, and potentially pets.

• If the animal doesn't die from exhaustion or literally tear itself apart trying to escape, you will have to kill it.

• I don't normally recommend or oppose any method but I would have to say, having seen these first-hand, that I do not think they should be used. Ever.  

• Yes, rats are not welcome. Yes, getting rid of vermin is vital to your chickens' health - and your family's. But there are more humane ways.

10.  Ultrasonic repellers.

Opinion: wishful thinking. These simply don't work.

These may work on bugs (although even that is questionable) but there are no scientific studies at all which have found them to be effective in getting rid of rats.

Indeed, manufacturers have been repeatedly warned by the Federal Trade Commission of America not to continue to make false claims about them.

See here for more information.

How do they work?

Want to know more?

I have written several articles about getting rid of rats and other rodents which I hope you'll find useful. 

Click the buttons to go to whichever you think might help.