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Having a rat problem on your farm? Don’t worry, we’re here for you, and believe us, we were in this terrible vermins situation as well.
The most well-known way to deal with this rodent problem is through poisonous traps. However, as we know, this is not always the best way, mainly because of the potential effect on non-target victims.
Rats, mice, and other rodents transmit more than 20 infectious and parasitic diseases of animals and humans. One rat eats 40 to 55 pounds of grain every year, but they do the most damage by stretching and soaking food with feces and urine. Furthermore, rats transmit fleas that transmit the plague from rat to rat and from rat to human, or animal.
Rats and mice also pollute water, feeders, drinkers, erode power lines, packaging, and undermine livestock foundations and river embankments. There are estimates based on many experiences that say that if you see rats by day, then there are so many of them they cannot find food at night and go out by the day. By then, their numbers are already huge, about 320ft.
Well, if you want to find out other proven ways to get rid of rats from your farm, keep reading our text and find out different ways to solve your rodent problem.
15 Proven Way on How to Get Rid of Rats on a Farm
1. Reduce the attractiveness of the agricultural environment
In short, do not give them alternative food sources, and places where they can hide and reproduce. Control your agricultural environment as much as you can and don’t give them too much space. And here we come to the second way to get rid of them.
2. Tidy up your farmyard
And remove any shrubbery, long grass, old machinery, and general debris, ideally within a 100ft radius of farm buildings. You have to do this so you can remove their hiding places, which are also rats’ nests.
3. Protect your farmhouses and shelters (don’t let them in)
Yes, one of the best ways, and one of the hardest. Rats can squeeze through the smallest holes (the size of their heads), they can climb almost anything (through pipes, over wires, cables, wood, and more), they jump very well, so they can skip various obstacles, jump from trees to or into the building and many more we can’t think off.
Well, for this to work, you have to seal all the openings with mortar, concrete, sheet metal or cloth, and that is not always easy to find. Also, the corrugated metal siding should be sealed and the corner seams should be tight.
4. Minimize the availability of water near farm buildings
You should remove all ponds, ditches, stagnant pools, dripping faucets or leaking pipes, and any other kind of water that rats can get to.
5. Remove the food source from them
Try to get rid of all possible food supplies. On the farm, this is often very difficult to do, especially if you are a livestock farmer, but it is certainly a great way to get them to leave. If you find the excrement, something needs to be done and changed. Try putting the food in well-sealed metal bins.
6. Lift everything in the air
This is not a perfect solution, because rats are really good climbers, but in some places, it can be effective. So, everything you can do to eliminate places where they can nest you have to do to get rid of rats once and for all (I wish).
7. Simple old mouse traps
We often underestimate simple mouse traps. Why not use some ordinary snap traps, glue boards, and simple, inexpensive ways to get rid of them. We can use them around holes, walls, obvious entrances to the building, or some other places where they travel.
You can bait them with a variety of foods, like nuts, butter, small pieces of meat or something like that.
8. One simple rodent trap trick
This is just so you can see how simple can it be in some places, and if there are not too many of them. Put on a hard card, book, or a flat board….. cut one walnut in half and place it vertically on the board, and cover the edge of the walnut with a bowl or small frying pan. The nut kernel must face inwards.
The rat will go inside and start nibbling on the core when it touches, half the nuts will move and the bowl will cover both the mouse and the nut.
9. Plan ahead
Set up a planned approach to controlled lured capture, which should have a start, middle, and end. This can take only 14 days, with no more than five weeks to clear the colony of rats, depending on the severity of the infection.
10. Bait stations
Proprietary bait stations may be ineffective, given rats natural prudence and cunning, so make bait cells out of materials already in their surroundings to make them feel more comfortable.
Cold, unnatural, plastic, and similar items will stand out and in no way attract rats to come to see what it is. Instead, make better use of things from your environment, things they are used to, and try to camouflage your traps or poisons into them.
11. Old wooden drawers, cabinets…
Large constructions with small enough entrances to prevent dogs or cats from being drawn into them are perfect for this type of baits. Rigid wooden cabinets that fit well with the farm environment, old drawers, or something like that, a natural wood look is ideal.
Bait containers should be around 6 x 3in, protected by a structure with an entry height of about 3in and an internal height of 6-8in.
12. Another very simple tip – Cats/Dogs
Oooh, how could we not think of that? It probably went through your head, but here we want to warn you about what people often forget. These are not ordinary house mice, these are large adult rats, so you need a cat/cats ready to tackle the challenge. They are also very, very sweet.
Some who are not yet experienced farmers (or from New York) may not know that dogs also hunt rats. Terriers are ideal dogs for that job, and I haven’t mentioned New York for no reason. From 1995, there is an organization with Terriers that hunt rats all over New York and helping them fight the disease. However, if you do not want bloodshed, these dogs should be trained on how to kill rats without blood – this involves shaking the rat until it breaks its neck.
Just look at this, crazy!
Also, snakes! I am just not sure will that solve or make problems 🙂
13. Rat poisons
We have all kinds of rat poisons, but they can make problems for animals, and the environment. So here we bring you some tips on how to not make yourself even more problems than you have to. We recommend placing rat poisons in boxes, tubes, or similar containers so that they do not come in contact with food, water, or domestic animals.
When buying poison, ask the seller how much poison you need to add, it is usually added to the food or somehow camouflaged with the food it will eat. When using baits, you should use protective gloves for self-protection, but also to prevent the transmission of human skin odors to the assigned baits.
Specifically, rodents have a strong sense of smell, and the smell of human skin repels them.
14. Electric mouse and rat traps
These days you can find all kinds of traps online, and electric traps are no different. The problem I see in some of them, that I saw and tried, is they are mostly for one or two mouses or rats. If that is your only concern, ok, but if you have tens of them or more, then I don’t think this is the best way to go. Also, they are not so cheap.
15. You are the boss of your farmhouse
If they appear indoors, you can drive them away with strong flavors. Example: Mix a spoonful of mint liquid soap with half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Add eight glasses of water to it and pour the preparation along the edges of the walls.
As we said before, to prevent rats from entering farmhouses and accompanying facilities, we first need to deny them access to food and deny shelter. These are the two basic conditions for their reproduction and survival.
