How to Keep Rats Out of a Chicken Coop
By John Walker · Backyard chicken keeper in Dallas, Texas since 2017
Rats come to a chicken coop for one thing: feed. They eat it, contaminate it with droppings, chew through wood and wire, and attract snakes and other predators. The good news is that rats are a feed problem first and a building problem second, so the fix starts with how you store and serve feed, and ends with sealing the coop.
Why do rats come to chicken coops?
Rats come to a chicken coop because it offers everything they need: food in the feeder, water in the drinker, shelter in the walls and bedding, and warmth in the winter. A coop with feed left out overnight, spilled feed on the ground and gaps in the walls is an open invitation, and rats will find it within days.
Rats are most active at night, when the hens are asleep and the coop is quiet, so you may not see them even when they are there. The signs are spilled feed, droppings near the feeder, chewed wood or plastic, and feed disappearing faster than the hens could eat it. A rat can eat a surprising amount of feed in a night, and a family of rats can eat far more.
Rats also bring other problems with them. They carry disease, contaminate feed and water with droppings, chew through wood, wire and plastic, and attract snakes, which follow rats into the coop. A rat problem is worth fixing quickly, for the health of the flock and for the sake of your feed bill.
Store feed where rats cannot reach it
Store all feed in metal bins with tight-fitting lids, because rats chew through plastic bins, sacks and wooden boxes with ease. A galvanised metal bin with a lid that closes firmly is the only storage that reliably keeps rats out, and it keeps the feed dry as well, which is a bonus in damp weather.
Keep the feed bins in a dry place away from the coop if you can, and never store open sacks of feed in the coop itself. Buy feed in amounts your flock will finish within a few weeks, so it stays fresh, and check the bins regularly for chew marks, because a bin that worked last year may have a weak spot now.
Clear up spilled feed every evening, and sweep the run floor around the feeder so there is nothing for rats to find overnight. A tidy run with no spilled feed is a much less interesting place for a rat to visit, and it is also better for the hens, who should not be eating feed that has been sitting on the ground all day.
Use a treadle feeder and remove feed at night
A treadle feeder is the single most effective change most keepers can make against rats. The feeder opens only when a hen stands on the pedal, so rats cannot reach the feed inside, and it also keeps the feed dry and stops hens from wasting it by scattering it everywhere.
If you do not have a treadle feeder, bring the feeders inside the coop at night or take them out of the run altogether, because rats feed at night and a feeder left out overnight is an open buffet. A coop with no food in it overnight is a much less interesting place for a rat to visit, and the hens will not miss the feed while they are asleep.
Use the chicken feeder calculator to work out how much feeder space your flock needs, so you can size a treadle feeder correctly. A feeder that is too small for the flock means hens queue and spill feed, which brings the rats back, so size it right.
Seal the coop against rats
Seal every gap and hole in the coop with half-inch hardware cloth or sheet metal, because rats can squeeze through a gap barely wider than a thumb and they chew through wood, plastic and chicken wire. Pay attention to the corners, the roofline and the base of the walls, where gaps open up as wood shrinks and swells.
Fix the hardware cloth with screws and washers rather than staples, which rats can pull out, and cover the floor with a solid material or with hardware cloth underneath, because rats dig and burrow under a coop floor that is just bare earth. A concrete floor, or paving slabs under the coop, stops rats burrowing up from below.
Check the coop every month for new chew marks, holes and gaps, because rats are persistent and will test the same spot again and again. A five-minute check once a month, and a repair the same day you find a hole, keeps a small rat problem from becoming a big one.
Traps, and why to avoid poison
Snap traps in boxes that hens cannot reach are the safest way to catch rats around a coop, because they kill quickly and they do not leave poisoned rats for hens, dogs and wildlife to eat. Put the traps along walls and near the feeder, where rats run, and check them every morning.
Avoid rat poison around chickens, because a poisoned rat can be eaten by a hen, a dog or an owl, and the poison kills them too. Poison also takes days to work, during which the rat keeps eating feed and spreading droppings, so it is slower as well as riskier than trapping.
A cat that lives around the yard can help keep rats down, but it needs to be a cat that hunts and it will not solve a rat problem on its own. Our guide on how to protect chickens from snakes explains why removing rats matters for more than just the feed bill, since snakes follow rats into the coop.
Keeping rats away for good
The long-term fix for rats is a routine, not a one-off effort: feed in metal bins, a treadle feeder, no spilled feed overnight, and a sealed coop checked monthly. A yard that offers no food, no water and no shelter will not hold rats, and rats that cannot feed will move on to an easier yard.
Keep the grass short around the coop, clear away brush piles and stacked wood, and keep compost in a sealed bin, because rats nest in exactly those places. A clear, tidy yard is easier to check, easier to clean, and much less inviting to a rat looking for a home.
The table below sums up the main defences. Work through it in order, starting with the feed, because feed is the reason rats come, and a coop with no accessible feed is a coop rats will not stay in.
| Defence | What to use | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Feed storage | Metal bin with tight lid | Rats chew through plastic and sacks |
| Feeder | Treadle feeder, or remove at night | Rats feed at night |
| Spills | Sweep up every evening | No food left out overnight |
| Coop gaps | Half-inch hardware cloth, screws | Rats squeeze through small gaps |
| Floor | Solid floor or wire underneath | Stops rats burrowing up |
Sources: poultry.extension.org and University of Minnesota Extension poultry pages.
Related tools and guides
For more on the same topic, see How to Protect Chickens From Snakes.
Frequently asked questions
How do I keep rats out of my chicken coop?
Rats come for the feed, so store it in metal bins with tight lids, clear up spills every evening, and use a treadle feeder so feed is only available when a hen steps on it. Remove the food and the rats move on.
Will a treadle feeder stop rats?
A treadle feeder opens only when a hen stands on the pedal, so rats cannot reach the feed inside. It is the single most effective change most keepers can make, and it also keeps feed dry and stops hens wasting it.
Is it safe to use rat poison near chickens?
Traps are safer than poison around chickens, because poisoned rats can be eaten by hens, dogs and wildlife. Use snap traps in boxes that hens cannot reach, and never put poison where a chicken could eat it or eat a poisoned rat.
Should I remove feed at night to stop rats?
Rats are most active at night, so remove feeders from the run at night or use a treadle feeder that closes. A coop with no food in it overnight is a much less interesting place for a rat to visit.
Are rats dangerous to chickens?
Rats carry disease, contaminate feed with droppings, and chew through wood, wire and plastic. They also attract snakes and other predators, so a rat problem is worth fixing quickly for the health of the flock.
About the author
John Walker is the founder of PeckCalc and has kept backyard chickens in Dallas, Texas since 2017. He started PeckCalc to give backyard keepers free calculators and guides with every figure traced to a university extension source.