We were retained by a local horse farm with very old barns to deal with a heavy rat infestation.  During colder weather, it is common to see rodents inside horse barns.  Big problem!  Rats carry and transmit many diseases from salmonella to rabies that can make horses sick.  One study estimated that 100 rats can consume over a ton of feed in a year – and that doesn’t include the feed ruined with urine and droppings.  Horse barns are magnets for rats.  There is a constant food supply and plenty of harborage for breeding.  With this location, the main barn – with the most rodent activity – backed right up to the woods. What a set-up!  The rats bred in the wooded area and then came to the barn for food, burrowing right near the back entrance to the barn.

What could be done to decrease the rodent population? Our strategy was to reduce the rat population be using exterior bait stations along the back wall and outside wall of the barn, treating the rat burrows with tracking powder. Within a few weeks a decrease in activity was noticed.

We also instructed the manager in day-to-day operations that would go a long way toward reducing the rats.  Discussions include safer food storage and cleaning out and remove outside branches and wood near the barns to remove their favorite nesting and breeding areas.

But above all, the best way to reduce the rat population is to remove their food source.  Rats have no interest in hanging our places without a food source.  All grains and supplements should be stored in sealed metal containers.  Any spilled feed should be cleaned up and if possible hay should be stored away from the barn.  It is a big myth that cats can help control rats.  Cats could never catch enough rodents to keep up with the population and when you start have rats almost as large as the cats themselves, cats don’t find that much fun in the chase.

The major mistake with a rat or rodent problem is waiting too long to call for service and not having enough service calls. The service call should have been monthly instead of quarterly for a barn of this size.

Effective rodent control requires you to remove the rats’ food source, rodent proof the building as best as you can, clean up and eliminate nesting sites, clean up spilled feed, and practice good sanitation.  Rats that are around food and animals are a major problem.  With rodent control in horse stables, the lesson is to take care of the problem early and go at it full-bore to resolve it expeditiously.  There isn’t the luxury to mess around.  Horse owners (most of whom are women)  have little tolerance seeing rats (the size of some cats!) scampering through the barn like they own the place.

Cowleys Termite & Pest Services are experts in rodent removal and all other pest control for residential and business properties.