Rats In The Coop

I had been reading a chicken blog and they were talking about chickens getting overheated at 90* F. Here it was 92* F but felt like 101* F so I ran out to check on them. Buffy and Noni ran behind the coop and Buffy started to bark. I had just turned the hose on. I dropped it and ran over to see what was the matter. Buffy was pawing at the chicken wire behind the nesting boxes which held the coop up. I decided to let the chickens out. Buffy and Noni seemed so interested so I let them in the coop. Then Buffy and Noni ran behind the nesting boxes and started to whine. We had the coop up on a flat wooden crate. Buffy was trying to fit under it. Noni started to paw at it. I grabbed the hose, went into the coop and sprayed water under the flat crate and then behind it. Then 2 rats ran up and in-between the chicken wire under the the net roof. Then more and more and more rats crawled up! There were about 10 of them. I started to squirt them. They ran as well as they could to the top of the chicken penthouse to be safe from the hose but I still got them. I  went inside the run and closed the coop door so the water wouldn't spray on the precious egg and its hulking mother.  I chased one rat to a corner and it squeezed through the chicken wire and ran into the park behind our house. Then another and another until there were 3 rats left. They crawled onto the top of the playhouse.

I let Buffy up there and she ran in circles making rats fly off. When there were no more rats I called her and she just ran on the roof of the chicken coop making the chickens freak out. She did it over and over again until she made the mistake of running past me and I grabbed her.

When we went inside, Buffy and Noni smelled like wet rats (the worst!!) They had to take a bath. Afterwards they went crazy!

They enjoyed their brushing.

I hope the rats never come back!!