If you own livestock, you probably have mice. However, since the weather has taken a turn toward chilly, there seems to be a prolific number scurrying around … even with a half dozen peanut butter loaded traps. Any suggestion to help eradicate or at least, decline our mice herd would be greatly appreciated. Let’s look at the big picture to see if we can develop a comprehensive “plan of attack”.

When rodents come into your barn, they usually do not come alone. These rodents can damage your barn by chewing wood, storing food, chewing electrical wires and fabric or cloth-like materials, and leaving behind numerous amounts of waste during their scavenging. They are also known to carry infectious diseases that can be spread from their waste or foraging activities.

Barns or stables provide the perfect environment for mice due to various hiding places like stacks of hay, tractors, and other machinery and excessive amounts of food on the ground. Rodents have a quick breeding time, which means they can have several litters throughout the year. Due to this reason, they can increase their population by breeding or attracting other members of their species. A few cats or owls roaming your barn may not be enough for a large rodent infestation.

Mice can infest a barn at any time, but they usually come inside when the weather becomes cooler. If you suspect a mouse infestation, you might need to attack with multiple solutions.

Experts recommend removing easy food and water sources, however, with livestock this is virtually impossible but do the best you can by keeping feed in metal or heavy plastic air tight containers and hanging buckets or raise water troughs.

They also recommend removing easy hiding places, hah ahaha haha. There are a plethora of hiding places in EVERY barn or stable, GOOD LUCK!

Inside barns, use snap traps due to non-toxic control and allow quick removal of deceased pests. However, you must place any snap trap in an area not within reach of animals and pets.

Tamper-proof bait stations loaded with rodenticide baits are best used for ongoing rodent control. These rodent stations must be placed outside barns to deter mice from entering your barn. When mice feed on the synthetic rodenticide, their blood becomes clotted, leading to death within 2 to 4 days.

Now, if you’re not a fan of poison or traps, consider getting a cat! Some cats enjoy hunting more than others, but all can help to take care of mice in your barn to various degrees. If you do get a feline helper, do not put out mouse poison, which can be harmful if your cat catches a mouse that has eaten it! (Note, a well fed cat is a good mouser, so don’t expect them to survive on their prey.)

There are a few ways you can try to deter mice naturally:

• Try a mouse repellent containing ammonium, for some reason, ammonium smells like predator urine. You can make your own ammonium traps by putting small caps filled with the liquid near mouse entry points.
• Mice do not like any mint or pepper smells. Try sprinkling cayenne pepper near mouse-prone areas (or create a sachet). Soak cotton balls in peppermint oil.
• Mice are also repelled by camphor, lavender, and wormwood. You can find dried lavender in health food stores and some garden centers
• Sometimes just the scent of cats will be enough to deter mice from returning to an area. You could try sprinkling kitty litter around entrances, after all, it smells like cat urine!
• And finally, sonic mouse deterrents (which make beeping noises) may also be effective.

What’s worked for you?