After several days with no rat droppings we thought we had the problem beat but we were wrong! Gradually the droppings started to reappear. This time there was no sign of where they are getting in and no more evidence of digging.
When I asked the “Down The Lane” forum if a mouse could get through weld mesh one person said that they had even seen a rat squeeze through weld mesh. I thought that perhaps the rat was a baby but now I wonder if the rats are getting through the weld mesh as there are no gaps bigger than this.
I finally admit defeat and will be removing the food at night. In the summer the chickens come out at five in the morning and I go out at seven, but there was no evidence of rats in the summer. The chickens now come out at around seven, the same time as I go out to them so I will take the food out once the chickens are in the coop and put it back when I go in to them in the mornings. In summer I will revert back to leaving the food out.
Most of the droppings were next to the storage cabinet so once again we emptied it and pulled it out. Once more there were chicken pellets behind the cabinet, the rats are storing them there. We cleaned them all away so that there would be no food for the rats at night. I had a good clean and sweep up as the chickens were going to bed so that I would be able to spot any evidence in the morning.
This morning was the first morning that I went in after the food was taken out and there was only one mouse dropping and one rat dropping. They obviously didn’t hang around once there was no food and I hope eventually they will stop going in when there continues to be no food. I will continue to keep a close eye on it but am hopeful that will be the end of the problem.
Click here to see the history of my flock.