Well yes, the title perhaps sounds like a metaphor for something more sinister... but my problem is exactly that. Big fat rats helping themselves to the chook food at night and leaving their droppings everywhere.

And ideas on how to get rid of them without harming the chooks?

I'd prefer not to use poison because a) I don't like the idea of killing anything, no matter how much it annoys me and b) we have kookaburras and owls that eat the rats and mice and I would hate to inadvertently poison them. I've seen little 'live traps' for mice but these buggers are HUGE!

Any thoughts chook owners?

Ta.