Trapping around chicken coops

Using a Smart trap is a great way to get rid of pests from your chicken coop. As there are no toxins within the paste, you know that no animals are at risk of poisoning. 

There are a few critical steps to take to ensure that a trap is set up correctly so that you have success, and it’s safe to use. A chicken coop is a complex trapping site, so you may need to test a few different sites and set ups before you get success. 

Eliminating food sources

It’s one of the hardest steps when trapping in a coop, but without removing chicken feed, pests will have no reason to seek out the paste in your trap. Using a feed dispenser, which requires the chickens to engage with it, will ensure that all feed is eaten and there isn’t food left laying on the ground. 

When feeding food scraps, consider if there are any ways you can limit when this is left out and how the chickens can access it. 

When the food is removed, pests will be forced to look for your paste and this will be when you have the most success. 

Use Trap Location Cards to find the best placement for your trap

It’s critical your trap is set up in a position where rats are comfortable to feed. This needs to be slightly hidden, so it’s not exposed where prey animals may see the pest. Place a few location cards out and monitor the engagement on these. Learn how to set Location Cards  here

Sometimes the best placement might be outside of the coop, so it’s important to experiment with Trap Location Cards before setting up your trap as the best place may not be where you expect!

Set the trap at the correct height

The last thing you want is for a chicken to be injured because of your pest trap. By setting it at 12cm from the ground, and keeping the trap vertical, it makes it very difficult for chickens to engage with the trap. 

The good news is, chickens generally aren’t interested in the paste within an Smart trap as it’s designed specifically for our target species, so you don’t have to worry about them seeking it out as a food source. 

We don’t recommend using a trap stand within a chicken coop as it increases the chances of a chicken being injured by the trap due to the angle it’s on. 

If you’re using an Smart trap in or around your chicken coop, and not having any success, please get in touch. Our customer support team are here to help you with any issues you might be having.