Rodent Control

[elkwc]

What do you use in tractors, feed trucks, ect? We lost all of our cats and have been overrun. Have tried a few baits with mixed results.Wanting to know what others are using.

 

[Travlr]

What do you use in tractors, feed trucks, ect? We lost all of our cats and have been overrun. Have tried a few baits with mixed results.Wanting to know what others are using.

I've use Ramik green for years because it works so well. But you have to be sure it's in places where no pets or livestock can get to it. And if a mouse/rat gets poisoned and crawls out to die where a cat can get it you might lose the cat. I've never had that happen, but just be aware.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

For mice we keep the population down with Farnam Just One Bite bait bars. The bars have a hole drilled down through the middle of them. We make 'rat restaurants' that no dogs or chickens can possibly get into. My husband invented these. You get a 2" PVC T and some 2" pvc pipe and make an upside down T, don't have to glue it. You get a 2" pvc cap and drill a hole in it and put it on the tall side of the upside down T. Get a piece of wire, bend the end so the bars don't fall off and string the bars on it. Stick the wire out of the cap and bend it in place. As mice enter the T and eat the bars they keep sliding down. We put these behind things in the barn where mice hang out and also lean them up against the front tires of our trucks because rodents climb in the engine and chew the wires (very expensive). We never find and dying rodents because this is not like the warfarin baits which causes rodents to slowly bleed to death. They just go off somewhere and quickly die. Oh I forgot. On these upside down Ts we also add about a couple of of 4" long of pieces of pipe sticking out each short end of the pvc T. So long snouted dogs or chickens cannot get at it.

 

[coachg]

Summer : king snakes , rat snakes whatever your area calls them . Winter : get more cats ! I’ve used poison of all kinds with mixed results plus I about killed one of my wife’s cats .

 

[Ned Jr.]

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tomcat-bromethalin-meal-bait-5-lb
I like this stuff.

 

[Brute 23]

Irish Spring and the bucket traps

 

[SBMF 2015]

Irish Spring and the bucket traps

The dirty mice ate the Irish spring under the seat in the skid steer.

 

[Brute 23]

The dirty mice ate the Irish spring under the seat in the skid steer.

Sounds like they are ready for one of those poison bars.

A friend of mine was telling me they had bought a bucket of mouse poison to throw out in all the out buildings. They used about half the buck and out the rest on a shelf in one of the barns. The lice at through the bucket to get to the poison. I was like... what brand was that?

 

[Stonewall Joe]

For mice we keep the population down with Farnam Just One Bite bait bars. The bars have a hole drilled down through the middle of them. We make 'rat restaurants' that no dogs or chickens can possibly get into. My husband invented these. You get a 2" PVC T and some 2" pvc pipe and make an upside down T, don't have to glue it. You get a 2" pvc cap and drill a hole in it and put it on the tall side of the upside down T. Get a piece of wire, bend the end so the bars don't fall off and string the bars on it. Stick the wire out of the cap and bend it in place. As mice enter the T and eat the bars they keep sliding down. We put these behind things in the barn where mice hang out and also lean them up against the front tires of our trucks because rodents climb in the engine and chew the wires (very expensive). We never find and dying rodents because this is not like the warfarin baits which causes rodents to slowly bleed to death. They just go off somewhere and quickly die. Oh I forgot. On these upside down Ts we also add about a couple of of 4" long of pieces of pipe sticking out each short end of the pvc T. So long snouted dogs or chickens cannot get at it.

we put bait in a milk crate turned upside down with a weight on it heavy enough the dogs can't turn them over. The old metal crates are the best, with the plastic ones sometimes the holes are to small so I open some up with a hole saw. Mice and rats go in and out and the dogs and cats can't get in there

 

[Ky hills]

We like to keep a few cats around.
Also I’ll put out mouse traps and poison in the attic and various other spaces.
Sometimes, if we get very many mice or worse rats I’ll put poison in the enclosed feed room and closed off former tobacco stripping room in the respective barns.
Always concerned that the cats will get a hold of a poisoned mouse or rat, but fortunately it’s been pretty rare.
I use either the just one bite bars or the Ramik green balls. The Ramik green is easier to find around here lately, I’ve been thinking about seeing if I can order the just one bite bars from Jeffers.

 

[Hogfarmer10]

We get the feral cats from animal shelter. The ones they’ve caught and are WILD and won’t tame down. The shelter fixes them and brings them to us , including some food, for free. About 50% of them end up staying. We keep them penned up for about 10 days when they arrive, so that gets them used to us feeding them and it gets them used to the barn(s) and the other livestock.

 

[simme]

Lots of chicken houses in this area. They provide what rats and mice look for - plenty of feed and good environment. The chicken companies have programs for their control and provide the baits. Here are the highlights:

Use a rotation of baits. There are neurotoxins that kill with one to two feedings. An example is Gunslinger where the active ingredient is Bromethalin. Use these baits to knock down the population including rats that have become resistant to other types of bait. Use for a couple of months and then rotate to an anticoagulant type bait where the active ingredient is Difethialone. Use that for 6 months. Then rotate to another anticoagulant where the active ingredient is Bromadiolone. After 4 months, start over with the rotation.

Put the baits in a bait station similar to this. These keep the bait dry and protected from pets and wildlife. Put a brick on top to keep skunks, possums, and coons from turning them over.


Keep the bait station loaded with fresh bait. Don't load it up with enough bait to last months. It will get stale. Be sure that there are enough bait stations. Rats and mice don't travel very far. Most important is to remove access to other food sources. To be effective, baits have to be more attractive to the mice and rats than other food sources.

Most baits are compressed blocks or pellets that the rat has to gnaw on to consume. There are newer soft baits for better consumption/palatability.

 

[Dave]

We have been over run with mice this year. On a normal year I kill 15-20 rattlers. About a third of them within a few hundred yards of the house. This year I killed 4 and all of them were better than a mile from the house. No snakes results in lots of mice. I have 2 good mouser cats. 2 dogs who love to catch mice out in the fields. Poison in the barn and shop. Still I see mice regularly when I am outside doing things.

 

[Ouachita]

We get the feral cats from animal shelter. The ones they've caught and are WILD and won't tame down. The shelter fixes them and brings them to us , including some food, for free. About 50% of them end up staying. We keep them penned up for about 10 days when they arrive, so that gets them used to us feeding them and it gets them used to the barn(s) and the other livestock.

We do the same thing. We got two male litter mates that were too young to cut, and put them in the barn near the rent house. After a few weeks, we stuffed them in a boot and took care of business. One of them disappeared after that excitement, and the other became very friendly. Too friendly, always under foot. I think some of the renters were spoiling him.

He became entangled in a renters legs and they tripped and fell. We didn't want that happening again, so we brought him to the barn at our house. He's tripped me a couple times as I walk to the truck in the dark. I got him back last week, unintentionally. He had followed me to the truck and I lost sight of him. When I shut the door, I thought my radio was playing some '80s acid rock music, so I opened the door to free his tail. It was a bit crooked for a couple days but has since straightened out nicely. Meet Mr. Bill. He sleeps in the doghouse with the redbones, Maggie and Marilyn, and the Heinz dog, Dots. We haven't had any three dog nights yet, but he's prepared for when we do.

 

[wbvs58]

Pam has been buying various electronic controllers to use around the place and they seem to be doing a good job, they have a limited range but if you have a defined enclosed area they are worth a go.

Ken

 

[4hfarms]

Greenhouse - pnutbut and baking soda mix in case they are eaten.
House- cats
Barn - electronic pulse
Coop -always has mice

Going to try the bucket trap next

 

[TCRanch]

 

[Travlr]

My little Australian shepherd was death on squirrels.

 

[Dave]

These two get half rations of Meow Mix every morning. In the afternoon they are after me to give them more. I just tell them to go kill a mouse. When we have a light skiff of snow I find their tracks all over and you can see where they are hunting. My wife just tosses the white one into the chicken house. It never bothers the chickens but catches the heck out of the mice. There is a 2x4 leaned up to a post which the cat walks up to get out of the chicken pen.

 

[ClinchValley86]

I too am overrun with mice and rats this year. Caught this big bastard in my garage a couple weeks ago, had to be close to 15 inches long with tail. As much as I hate cats, I think I need a pair of non-breeders.