Rats in the goat barn!!!

lazybee · #1 04/17/06, 06:19 PM

Okay, I've drowned a few, fed a couple to the chickens, but these rats are multiplying faster than i can keep up with them!! Does anyone have some tried and true ways of getting rid of these pests from the barn?

**mygoat** · #2 04/17/06, 06:20 PM

Cats.

lazybee · #3 04/17/06, 06:34 PM

Welllll, i already have two cats but i guess they don't like rat meat!

topside1 · #4 04/17/06, 06:50 PM

As soon as the rodents arrived I immediately pumped in carbon monoxide with a garden hose and the use of my vans tailpipe to send vapors under my barn to run the bums out or kill them dead. The idea worked and within two days evidence of the rodents habits were gone. Hope this primitive idea works.

chma4 · #5 04/17/06, 06:52 PM

get the goats out of the barn first please!!!!

deaconjim · #6 04/17/06, 07:15 PM

Get some old car rims, lay them down flat on the ground with rat poison underneath. The rats can get to the poison, but the goats can't.

Jillis · #7 04/18/06, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by topside1

As soon as the rodents arrived I immediately pumped in carbon monoxide with a garden hose and the use of my vans tailpipe to send vapors under my barn to run the bums out or kill them dead. The idea worked and within two days evidence of the rodents habits were gone. Hope this primitive idea works.

Very inventive! I'm going to remember that one!

Jillis · #8 04/18/06, 07:10 AM

I just did a google on this and came up with this from a Country Life forum:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Country Life Forum

Try a Coke! Get a big jug of Coke, pour it in pie-tins, come back in the morning with a bucket & shovel. My buddy had seen a coupla rats in his garage, set out the Coke & scooped up about 30. Rats can't burp, and they suffacate on the expanding fizz. Really!
........
just wanted to let ya know that i tried the coke and it really does work. After about 15 minutes we saw a rat just sitting there suffocating.WOW!
........
Wonder what would happen if you ground up an Alka Seltzer tablet and mixed it with dry cheese?
........
We use bull snakes.
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WHEN WE WERE KIDS WE WOULD TAKE A TIN PIE PAN AND A ATTACH AN OLD EXTENSION CORD TO IT FILL IT UP WITH MILK WHEN THE RAT TRIED TO DRINK THE MILK IT WOULD COMPLET THE CIRCUT YOU SHOULD OF SEEN THEM FLY MOM USED TO GET MAN CAUSE EACH RAT WOULD BLOW A FUSE.
........
I once filled a barrel half way full of water and put a couple half sized concrete blocks in the bottom. The water level was about 3" over the top block. I then rigged up a teter board on top about 3' long with a hinge so when a rat would get to the end, it would tip down. Baited the end of the board with peanut butter. Placed the barrel in the corn bin so that rats could get to the end of the board. After several days, the barrel had about 50 rats in it; most of which had drowned. When rats in the barrel started squealing, more would come. Fitting end to the nasty buggers.
........

That's a lot of creative solutions!
Or try this product:
http://www.critter-repellent.com/rat...id-of-rats.php

This site has great tips on getting rid of rodents and eliminating good places for them to be:
http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/hfile37.stm

And a mail order site for pest control products w/explanation of each.

Hope that helps!

I love the information superhighway!

moosemaniac · #9 04/18/06, 07:16 AM

Cats are usually good, but I had the same problem. I just put rat bait cubes in the milk shed where no other animals could get to them. I have no more rats that I'm aware of.

Ruth

lazybee · #10 04/18/06, 04:38 PM

This has been great!! I think we're going to try a couple of different ideas- my kids are homeschooled and this counts as science!!! Will let you know how it works

Laura Workman · #11 04/18/06, 11:30 PM

I had rats in my feed barn. I started feeding my two cats only in the feed barn. I left the catfood out all the time, and the door cracked open about 5 inches so the cats could come and go. Pretty soon, no more rats in the feed barn. But I still had rats in the goat shed. The goat shed has an area where goats can't go (kidding stall), so I started feeding the cats only in the goat shed. No more rats in the goat shed. I figure I'll switch off feeding areas every month or so to keep the rats away. Funny thing is, I've never seen a carcasse that looked like cat kill. Maybe the rats just don't care for the proximity?

homebirtha · #12 04/19/06, 08:47 AM

Hmmmmm, I wonder if that coke thing really works. If anyone tries it, let us know.

SHELBY · #13 04/19/06, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazybee

Welllll, i already have two cats but i guess they don't like rat meat!

Then I would think that you are overfeeding the cats. LOL

Freeholder · #14 04/19/06, 10:43 AM

Actually, while cats are usually good for mice, rats can be too big for some cats to tackle (and some rats are probably too big for any domestic cat to tackle!). Trying several options at once would probably be the best way to make sure you get all of them.

Kathleen

topside1 · #15 04/19/06, 06:27 PM

If you use coke, or pepsi, etc. how do you keep the carbonation alive? Don't must sodas loose their bubble in an hour or so especially in a pie pan? Or are there so many rodents that their drinkin liquid candy within minutes after nightfall? I hate to stir the pot but if this thread is still alive talk to me about the fizz factor. Tennessee John

Jillis · #16 04/20/06, 05:21 AM

I wonder if something with really strong carbonation such as Seagrams Ginger Ale would be better?
I don't think the carbonation decreases too much in a couple of hours...
If I ever have rats, I will try it...

Jillis · #17 04/20/06, 11:40 AM

Here is a URL to rodenticide that is not toxic to any other creature but rats and mice. It was posted on CF.

http://www.erodetrol.com/home.php