# Rat infestation around horse barn/chicken coop



## ms30594 (Oct 26, 2015)

Help! - I have an infestation of rats in and around my four-stall horse barn.

I secured all of my feed in solid plastic garbage pail style containers. The horses naturally drop grain while they are eating to there will always be a steady supply of food for them. I also have a chicken coop nearby. The chickens are also sloppy eaters so there will typically be a supply of food available for the rats.

I have tried glue boards which worked but unfortunately the glue boards are a risk to the chickens so that is not an option.

I tried large spring loaded rat traps baited with peanut butter. I laid them out for three nights with peanut butter before activating them. The next day all of the traps were sprung, peanut butter eaten - but no rats.

I purchased bait stations and used the green rectangular block style poison butter rats would not touch it. I tried putting peanut butter near the entrance. The rats would enter the bait station and eat the peanut butter. When I put the peanut butter deeper in the bait station near the baits, they ignore it.

I am hesitant to use any type of loose poison around the chickens. Unfortunately the chickens and horses are always leaving behind a food supply supply for the rats.

Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

A cat can do things traps can do only better.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

http://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/rat-terrier/
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tomcat-rat-bait-station?cm_vc=-10005


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## garyjnorman (Oct 30, 2015)

Well, trapping a rat need a lot of patience which can be done only by professionals. I have also tried to catch them by preparing glue traps, nets and home remedies as well, but i didn't caught a single one. Then, one of my friend suggest me to hire ____ and then I didn't found a single rat in my house.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

We have a house 2 houses over....trailer trash....

Grandma died 8 years ago...gave the house to the grandkids (3 of them). 2 Are out of state....one is local. She is using the house for junk storage.

I could spend all night talking about what I have done to end the problem. End result, unless she does something quick, she is going to loose the house.

Anyway, the back yard is a heaven for rats. 

I have an avocado tree. Rats like avocado's. I now keep traps set around the back yard.

I have caught 2 like this the past week. Over the past 6 months I've caught smaller versions. 

This bugger was about 8" long (body). Tail was over 12" long. I've been after him for some time. I would see him on the wires between power poles. 

We have a cat and dog. Dog does a good job of keeping the raccoon's and opossums away. Cat....she is 16 years old.....I figure she is taking care of business in the front of the yard...but she does not have the energy or strength to climb trees. So, I have the traps.


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## dd57chevy (Jun 21, 2015)

I'd agree w/Joe C . Some cats won't take on a rat . Rat terriers will !


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

dd57chevy said:


> I'd agree w/Joe C . Some cats won't take on a rat . Rat terriers will !


Cats are plentiful. Get one that will take a rat and they are available. Avoid show bloodlines such as Siamese, English Blue, and a host of others. Think alley cat.


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## scrupul0us (Apr 12, 2008)

We are just getting over a horse barn infestation that manifested last spring when we started getting palleted grain deliveries

What I've done:

1) get everything off the floor, e.g clean the place up...

I have shelves made from pallets and 4x4.. I went to home depot and got some 6x6x6 concrete blocks to get them off the floor so they couldnt nest in the pallets.. blankets, etc all get hooked... things get swept twice a day

2) secure your perimeter, e.g keep it trimmed, neat, holes closed up, etc

3) remove any possible nesting areas:

I moved my wood pile, my slate pile, and my firewood pile over 500 away from the barn

4) food sources...

yes there will be inevitable grain dropping and you sound like you are keeping your grain secured... my advice, sweep back through 10 minutes after dropping grain and simply sweep up the area to remove dropped grain

you could also grain your horses before you muck the stalls... after you grain them, let them out, clean their stalls and the grain is gone

Once you do that, its time for your attack plan:

1) glue boards Ive found dont help against rats

2) the BIG spring loaded traps work and work GREAT if you can figure out their common paths and corral them towards to the traps using wood boards etc

for instance, there was one spot whered they'd always go under a stall door, so I laid out some deck boards, 10' long in a wedge shape that forced them into 10+ traps... open the barn door, they scatter, get funneled, SNAP SNAP SNAP

3) cats/terriers... our barn cat wpnt go near them and focuses on field mice and our black lab loves to chase them so not much help

4) chute em!

CCI makes a .22 LR "rat shot" with 31 grains of very small BB's in them

http://www.cci-ammunition.com/products/detail.aspx?use=3&loadNo=0039

This stuff is GREAT... So long as you are pointing at them, you'll at least stun them enough to reload or get close to pop another round to send them off

In about a months time I've dropped a good 30+ rats with this ammo and in the past week, even with this cold NY frost, we haven't seen anymore

They either got the picture and scrammed or are starving out due to us being VERY vigilant 

5) poison, yes you can use it, yes you have to be careful

the only place ive used it this season is in our gator... they'd mysteriously hop into the underside and just disappear

well low and behold, the frame under your feed is hollow and make a nice little nesting area

i removed the cover for the battery box to access this area, dropped in a tray of decon with just one corner tore off and within 24 hours we saw about 5 rats just belly up under the gator

worked great and was placed such that the dog couldnt get to it

i would never use it in a stall, near hay or a place where you might traffic it into a stall, etc

Best of luck!


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## blackjack (Oct 21, 2015)

a fake owl might be helpful but a real one would be even better. or a really big snake. lol. whatever the case, you're gonna need a predator. that isn't you. cuz, try though you might, you're not a very good one if you're still battling an infestation.  nothing personal, it's just nature. make sure your predator is fully vaccinated and don't get too attached to it cuz rats are carriers of some pretty nasty stuff... the predator is there to do a job. feelings are optional.


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## charles16 (Nov 23, 2015)

As rat traps haven't worked for you against rat infestation and having a cat is also not a good idea as you have some chickens as well. So, the only solution left to you is getting a rat exterminator in action. I suggest you to thoroughly check for reviews from friends before hiring an exterminator as it will help you in getting a good one out of all available rat exterminators in your city.


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## noquacks (Jun 5, 2010)

garyjnorman said:


> Well, trapping a rat need a lot of patience which can be done only by professionals.


Really? Hmmm, guess only pros have patience. Or knowledge of catching rats. 

A DIY can trap rats. Dont be discouraged. Traps are best. Against a wall, not in the middle of a room.


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## noquacks (Jun 5, 2010)

dd57chevy said:


> I'd agree w/Joe C . Some cats won't take on a rat . Rat terriers will !


right.


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## jomama45 (Nov 13, 2008)

The OP may have come up with a solution by now, but Guinea Hens are used around here occassionaly for rodent control. One of myy neighbors with cattle has them, as well as a bunch of other chickens and they seem to get along fine. http://homestead.org/VictoriaVarga/Guinea Fowl.htm


I can see where the standard traps and bait stations, even cats, won't work well around rats on a farm. When you have 1000's of pounds of grain around, rat's can grow huge, like the size of a small cat in some instance around here.......


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I recently picked up a funny-looking free kitten at a grain store. She has turned out to be a hybrid - domestic and African Wildcat!!! Very aggressive cat but sweet & very smart, teachable. I have two 7 yr olds that were feral that aren't used to her yet - hate her. Talk about a ratter. The African Serval eats rats primarily. ( But chicks would have to locked up.) The hybrid cats go for thousands of dollars but the ones that aren't as pretty are dumped. Just an idea, but if you familiarize yourself with the appearance of a Savannah ( the hybrid) and look in the local shelter, you would probably find one or several and would provide an answer to a very sad situation. Very smart and act rather like a dog. You might get one to fetch the rat and bring it to you :} The photo is of a Serval, the wildcat, if I can get it on, they are often illegal, but it just shows the cat's intent. Savannahs are usually legal.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)




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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)




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## dd57chevy (Jun 21, 2015)

Nik , this isn't personal , but I don't think I'd want _THAT _kitty sleeping on the bed !

:vs_OMG::vs_OMG:http://www.diychatroom.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Me either! The 82 yr-old vet said that only her mother knows her age and I wouldn't want to meet her! The photo is of the wildcat. The kid hybrid is much smaller. She does sleep with me :}


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

dd57chevy said:


> Nik , this isn't personal , but I don't think I'd want _THAT _kitty sleeping on the bed !
> 
> :vs_OMG::vs_OMG:


This one you wouldn't kick out would you? :}


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

This cat would take on any size rat but even she knew when to say, OOPS, I made a mistake.

Never had a cat that bothered our chickens nor did ferrule cats in the 30 + years we had chickens.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

SeniorSitizen said:


> This cat would take on any size rat but even she knew when to say, OOPS, I made a mistake.
> 
> Never had a cat that bothered our chickens nor did ferrule cats in the 30 + years we had chickens.


Did she grow up with the chickens?


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I just found myself saying "give me back my knife!" to my hybrid wildcat, so maybe they aren't for everyone! :wink2:


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