Silly Question?

Apologies if this is a silly question but anyway.......I have been reading a lot about chickens, and plan to start in the fall. (YAY!) However, I have read in a couple of books that because chicken feed attracts rats that rat poison is needed? I am sure we have rats around and about anyway, I mean aren't they pretty much everywhere even if we don't see them, but I have small children, and dogs, and have no desire to kill anything, even a rat. Is this true? If so what does everyone else do, if anything?I am working Saturday so will AGAIN miss Myron's class, but am still planning on getting to one soon! :)Thanks all.

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    • Thank you for the reply! I guess I was just wondering what others have done in this situation, or if indeed there is anything that needs to be done? Anyway, thanks again.
    • I wouldn't worry too much about it. That being said, I do have a small rat running around my property right now, but we have roof rats in the neighborhood, so I'm not too quick to assign sole blame to the chickens. (I think it likes the compost pile) I don't leave chicken food out at night, as rats are nocturnal. I think rat poison is a bad idea, you will end up killing things you don't mean to, not to mention if it killed the rat, but it got back up into its hiding spot first, then you'd have a terrible stink problem. :(
    • Thanks Rachel, that makes a lot of sense! I also agree that poison seems to be a very bad idea on many levels!

      We had a very scared king snake slither through our back yard last summer one dusky evening. I was comforted by the fact that suburbia hasn't excluded these kinds of creatures entirely! :)
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