Keep Rats Out Of Your Barn
Rats in the barn can be a real nuisance. They chew wires in tractors, leave droppings everywhere and contaminate and ruin animal feed. What to do? Poisoning can reduce their numbers. However, you might not want to put poison down where your cats, dogs and chickens roam free as it will hurt them too if they eat it.
Trapping can work well but you've only got to miss one rat for the problem to continue. You could try blocking up all the holes in the barn but you might find it rather challenging and a large one could have hundreds. Some of them could be totally inaccessible making the process pointless. If you miss just one hole the rats are bound to find it. If you do decide to block the holes make sure you use very hard material such as concrete, cement, brick, stone or metal.
In response to this problem Hammer Technologies developed a new type of rat deterrent. It consists of a special floor which repels rats very effectively. This can be used in the perimeter around the edge of a building to keep them at bay.
Rat's teeth don't stop growing throughout their lives. This is the reason for them endlessly chewing on wires, tubes and other materials to sharpen them and grind down. The other reason that's chew is to find food and shelter. They open up holes to let themselves into areas and create runs. They also chew their way into food bins to find food, often spoiling the food in the process.
Droppings, urine and oily marks are clues as to the location of the rat's runs. This can be a good place to start when you are blocking up the holes. Make sure doors fit in the frames.