A dirty secret no one talks about: food attracts rats.
Rats will eat your ducklings. Big rats will kill adult bantam ducks. They will bite at exposed feet, flesh and toes. They get into eggs and nests, chew holes into coops, tear up the pasture and spread diseases. Eventually an infestation attracts weasels, foxes and owls.
A single rat will eat over 50 pounds of feed in a year. And rats make more rats. They dig holes in your pasture, destroy your gardens, nest in insulation and chew electrical wiring. Rats bring disease, contamination, havoc and destruction.
A hawk will eat over 200 rats in a year. A rat snake will eat over 200 rats in a year.
The best practices are keeping poultry secured and not leaving food out.