Deep litter(bedding) in the barn.

[Livinwright Farm]

This will be my 2nd spring clean out. It is an awful job to do. I'll never do it again now that I have discover RATS in it! I've never had a rat in my barn before...mice yes...RATS?????

I just saw about a dz of them scurry when I turned on a light last night

Now what to do :/ I can't use poison... I'm just sick over it!

Have-a-heart traps & a bb gun, trust me!! My Daisy bb gun works good enough(with bbs not pellets) to kill skunks from 3 feet away! Should only take 1-3 shots to their head and then you can dispose of them.

 

[PattySh]

Never had a problem with smell either. I deep bed in the winter and we've had no lice or mite problem. It keeps them warm. I have rubber mats and we do a shavings layer then let the hay build up. Takes an old fashioned hay fork and several hours to muck out a 12 x 12 stall but worth it, goats are cozy all winter. We compost it for the garden. They waster so much hay that they are never laying in a dirty area! Summer I pick up all the wasted hay and give it to the cows or horses who are not so picky as the divas. We have the compost pile fairly close to the barn and either use a wheelbarrow or large plastic sled depending on the ground wetness, sled most often works better this season. Someone forks, someone lugs, teamwork.

Rats are hard, once you take out the deep bedding they may go away(or they may dig under your barn). Make sure they can't get into your grain. We have mice in the tack room that I do poison. I don't leave poison out near the goat pens tho so in the winter some thrive! Tend to get them in the spring when they look for food in the tack room (feed stored in metal cans in there). Year ago I used to feed the kennel dogs outside and on a drought year it called huge wood rats. We eliminated feeding the dogs outside and they went back in to the woods.

 

[elevan]

This will be my 2nd spring clean out. It is an awful job to do. I'll never do it again now that I have discover RATS in it! I've never had a rat in my barn before...mice yes...RATS?????

I just saw about a dz of them scurry when I turned on a light last night

Now what to do :/ I can't use poison... I'm just sick over it!

Have-a-heart traps & a bb gun, trust me!! My Daisy bb gun works good enough(with bbs not pellets) to kill skunks from 3 feet away! Should only take 1-3 shots to their head and then you can dispose of them.

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That's one method that definitely works.

I also find the water bucket method works well. Put a full bucket of water (5 gallon works best) in an out of the way place that the goats can't get to it and drink. Near where you keep your grain works the best. The rats go in to drink and can't get out and drown. You just have to dump the bucket, dispose of the rats and refill. I've gone to the barn to find up to 8 rats have drowned in the bucket overnight before I hate rats!!

Too bad I can't let my Basenji loose in the barn...he hates rats too and has dispatched plenty in the yard and even 1 that made it to the house. Boingo is my hero <3

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Can more than one rat at a time go into a live trap?

I can't poison...I'd be afraid my cat would eat a tainted mouse.

I have 5 water buckets out and have never had a rat in one. I did have a mouse in one last fall.

I'm sure they're wood rats as I'm surrounded by state forest.

My feed cans are secure.

Sorry to hijack your thread

I thought deep litter was great for the goats too. It gets cold here and I leave my barn open all winter for ventilation.

 

[elevan]

Can more than one rat at a time go into a live trap?

I can't poison...I'd be afraid my cat would eat a tainted mouse.

I have 5 water buckets out and have never had a rat in one. I did have a mouse in one last fall.

I'm sure they're wood rats as I'm surrounded by state forest.

My feed cans are secure.

Sorry to hijack your thread

I thought deep litter was great for the goats too. It gets cold here and I leave my barn open all winter for ventilation.

This is a great multi-catch rat trap

http://www.eggcartons.com/Multi-Catch-Round-Cage-Rat-Trap/productinfo/FHP-RT2/

 

[secuono]

I use this in the chicken coop. As long as you don't neglect it, perfectly fine.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Can more than one rat at a time go into a live trap?

I can't poison...I'd be afraid my cat would eat a tainted mouse.

I have 5 water buckets out and have never had a rat in one. I did have a mouse in one last fall.

I'm sure they're wood rats as I'm surrounded by state forest.

My feed cans are secure.

Sorry to hijack your thread

I thought deep litter was great for the goats too. It gets cold here and I leave my barn open all winter for ventilation.

This is a great multi-catch rat trap

http://www.eggcartons.com/Multi-Catch-Round-Cage-Rat-Trap/productinfo/FHP-RT2/

I just ordered 2 of these! Thank you!

Now what to do with a basket full of rats :/

 

[helmstead]

Can more than one rat at a time go into a live trap?

I can't poison...I'd be afraid my cat would eat a tainted mouse.

I have 5 water buckets out and have never had a rat in one. I did have a mouse in one last fall.

I'm sure they're wood rats as I'm surrounded by state forest.

My feed cans are secure.

Sorry to hijack your thread

I thought deep litter was great for the goats too. It gets cold here and I leave my barn open all winter for ventilation.

This is a great multi-catch rat trap

http://www.eggcartons.com/Multi-Catch-Round-Cage-Rat-Trap/productinfo/FHP-RT2/

I just ordered 2 of these! Thank you!

Now what to do with a basket full of rats :/

That is a NEAT trap!

Rocky - when I used to catch warf rats in live traps, I'd fill a muck bucket with water and just drop the trap in there (this was before I had a hubby with a gun).

 

[RockyToggRanch]

My traps came today...what kind of bait would you suggest?

Eww...I want them out of my barn, but the thought of picking up a basket of them creeps me out If I can catch a bunch of them I'll feel batter about digging out the deep bedding.

 

[elevan]

My traps came today...what kind of bait would you suggest?

Eww...I want them out of my barn, but the thought of picking up a basket of them creeps me out If I can catch a bunch of them I'll feel batter about digging out the deep bedding.

They are probably after the grain that may get left in feeders or dropped on the ground...I would start with a little grain. It's funny that when one rat goes in, others will go in too when they see the first one even if there is not anymore bait

Catfood is another great bait to use (dry).

I've dropped in a couple of blocks of rat bait / poison along with the bait (lure) before and then by the time I got a basketful they are dying from the poison.

helmstead's method works very well too.