Rat problems in old grain stores

[JohnDeere8530]

I’ve a recent new farm which includes some very 1970s grain stores

The trouble is they are a hive for rats. I can’t shoot them as any stray pellet will likely end up in the grain and have tried everything from poison to trapping to blocking every hole - all to no avail

There are lots of cavities and crevasses they live in where they can access both the grain and I think water

Has anyone had any luck with placing any noxious / smelly substances in crevices that may keep them away. Creosote for example - or similar. Any ideas ?

 

[Exfarmer]

I’ve a recent new farm which includes some very 1970s grain stores

The trouble is they are a hive for rats. I can’t shoot them as any stray pellet will likely end up in the grain and have tried everything from poison to trapping to blocking every hole - all to no avail

There are lots of cavities and crevasses they live in where they can access both the grain and I think water

Has anyone had any luck with placing any noxious / smelly substances in crevices that may keep them away. Creosote for example - or similar. Any ideas ?

Think sticky boards are still allowed in such situations

 

[JohnDeere8530]

Think sticky boards are still allowed in such situations

Had thought of those but that’s last resort. I was thinking of something that may put them off living in the cavities etc

 

[PSQ]

Creosote (or similar) contamination of grain would be disaster.

All junk in and around buildings has to go, grass and vegetation needs replacing with whacked in 'type 1', holes in walls need filling with bricks and mortar.
Observe where they run up beams and trusses and make a plan to disrupt whatever they're doing for feed and shelter.
Cavities under floors are a nightmare, if you happen to have an old mill wheel hole or a mill cundy / main drain under the buildings that feeds in to a ditch, then good luck shifting them.
If you have wooden floors over soil then the only way to get rid of the rat habitat is to lift the floors and replace with gravel and / or concrete.
Poisoning works effectively when done correctly, but it's the last job on the list when everything else is in place.
It can be done, but you have to act decisively.

 

[davidroberts30]

What bait/baits did you use

 

[Dry Rot]

Clean up everything that rats eat. My hens were on self feed hoppers, then the rats arrived. So I took away the hoppers and started hand feeing. The rats have gone!

 

[JohnDeere8530]

Clean up everything that rats eat. My hens were on self feed hoppers, then the rats arrived. So I took away the hoppers and started hand feeing. The rats have gone!

Trouble is there is 1200t of wheat available to them. We’ve tried blocking all holes to outside many tines. I think they are living inside in the cavities etc

 

[Dry Rot]

Trouble is there is 1200t of wheat available to them. We’ve tried blocking all holes to outside many tines. I think they are living inside in the cavities etc

When I was a farm student, I'd wait until my boss and his wife went out, then steal the family poodle out of a kitchen window and go off hunting. A couple of milk churns full of water down the holes would bolt the rats and the poodle would delay them long enough for me to whack them with a shovel! Great sport!

 

[PI Stsker]

When I was a farm student, I'd wait until my boss and his wife went out, then steal the family poodle out of a kitchen window and go off hunting. A couple of milk churns full of water down the holes would bolt the rats and the poodle would delay them long enough for me to whack them with a shovel! Great sport!

To be fair terriers are probably the best bet. As you say whip the hose pipe down a hole or mix up an oily mix of two stroke in an old chain saw and smoke em out. Any that stay put get carbon monoxide poisoning any that bolt the dogs grab.

side note, how did you manage to train the poodle to come to the window? Hahahaha

 

[SilliamWhale]

Creosote (or similar) contamination of grain would be disaster.

All junk in and around buildings has to go, grass and vegetation needs replacing with whacked in 'type 1', holes in walls need filling with bricks and mortar.
Observe where they run up beams and trusses and make a plan to disrupt whatever they're doing for feed and shelter.
Cavities under floors are a nightmare, if you happen to have an old mill wheel hole or a mill cundy / main drain under the buildings that feeds in to a ditch, then good luck shifting them.
If you have wooden floors over soil then the only way to get rid of the rat habitat is to lift the floors and replace with gravel and / or concrete.
Poisoning works effectively when done correctly, but it's the last job on the list when everything else is in place.
It can be done, but you have to act decisively.

This and then the best thing I've done apart from that is a couple of cats

 

[PSQ]

This and then the best thing I've done apart from that is a couple of cats

A well known breakfast cereal brand had an issue a few years ago after cat faeces was found smeared through an entire processing line.
It had to be stripped down by an external cleaning contractor, with the cleaning cost and loss of a weeks worth of production billed to the supplier.

 

[SilliamWhale]

A well known breakfast cereal brand had an issue a few years ago after cat faeces was found smeared through an entire processing line.
It had to be stripped down by an external cleaning contractor, with the cleaning cost and loss of a weeks worth of production billed to the supplier.

I'm not advocating letting the cats in the grain store!

But certainly keeping them around the farmyard and the terrority works wonders. Also give them somewhere to sh!t

 

[Pan mixer]

Get a professional in, sorted mine out in two visits.

 

[Flat 10]

Trouble is there is 1200t of wheat available to them. We’ve tried blocking all holes to outside many tines. I think they are living inside in the cavities etc

I think you will only cure it when you have emptied the store. Then as PSQ says. They will take bait if no grain and you will be able to see holes easier when sheds are empty.

 

[jonnieboy]

Without getting on a high horse
Is there a point where the store is unfit for storage of food
Just asking ?

 

[Wisconsonian]

Any gas engine without a catalytic converter will produce lethal levels of carbon monoxide that will kill them in their tunnels, they won't leave if it's not smoky. NH3 works good also, but some might get away, they'll all try.

 

[Barleycorn]

Use broken glass bottles in any cement you use to block holes, they wont dig that out again in a hurry.

 

[Northern territory]

Some lads come here with thermal imaging and air rifle. I don’t think they miss many. A lot of guys with good kit out there nowadays.

 

[DrWazzock]

Legacy type farm buildings can be very difficult to secure against rodent ingress and using quantities of poison year on year isn’t great. That’s why we went to central storage.
We could just about keep the rats out here with continual pointing up of masonry, tight fitting doors and roofs and keeping clutter down to a minimum but when you’ve hay and straw on site and open sided livestock sheds it’s a real challenge. So now the bulk of the grain leaves site at harvest and what is retained for livestock feed is stored in trailers that rats can’t climb.
This is an area where we all need to make realistic risk assessments (regardless of the RT box ticking). If we get to the point of an infestation then we’ve already failed in my view. One of the worries I have about quite a few SFI options is the potential for building rat populations in rural areas with large quantities of “bird food” left strewn about the countryside right through the winter but that’s just me being a grumpy old spoilsport. Hygiene and tidiness still gets you a long way in my view.

 

[DrWazzock]

This thread just highlights a national problem with aged out of date not fit for purpose grainstores on farms. The money presently being spaffed on feeding birds would be better spent on new storage IMO, be it central or on farm. This would create economic growth, employment etc and would really improve standards but no, it’s all about “money for old rope” enviro schemes and import the grain from places out of sight.