Ideas to stop mice chewing through haylage bales

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MissMincePie&Brandy

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Ideas wanted for best methods to keep mice from chewing through the plastic of haylage bales please!

- Cats would be good I'm sure, but we don't have cats and we have several very anti-cat dogs around during the daytime.
- Poison is not an option due to dogs around.
- wrapping extra layers of tarpauling over them, seems a bit futile, as the mice still can get in and underneath.

All I can think of are mouse traps and possibly trying those ultra sonic plug-in devices, but I don't know if they would have any effect at all in a barn??

Any other ideas/tips greatly apreciated.
 
Sorry, cats are the answer. Can't you let them loose at night if there are vicious dogs around? Jack Russell's are also quite good at mousing but as mice and cats are nocturnal creatures......simples!!
 
If you find the answer please tell me - I use hay and straw and until last week had a bit of a mice infestation in the dutch barn - mice traps are brilliant!
 
Poison is horrible but it works the best. We use it in special bait boxes and place several around the hay barn. We use rat sized ones, they seem to do for both. Place the boxes at the back of bales and top up every week.
 
*shakes fist* I was going to say cats.
The old livery yard had several ferral ones from a rescue place. They slept during the day, because they were so full of mice, ontop of the stacks. Being ferral they were dog wise.

Otherwise .....'send in the dogs!' :cool:
 
We tried poison, supposedly unpallatable to other animals, in a supposedly unbreakable tiny container, under a pallet...yep, dog got to it and ate it on day one, so I wouldn't risk it again! Luckily I saw him just as he was doing it, straight to the vets and he was fine, but it was scary.

Our JRT is a super ratter, highly recommend! He chases them with such enthusiasm, it seems to terrify them away from the entire area.

Otherwise, try wrapping them with the kind of shrink wrap stuff you get at builders merchants, as that is very tight and covers all the holes between bales, but ideally you want to wrap them underneath as well which might be awkward.

The electronic deterrent thingeys help a bit, especially if you have an open area without any obstacles before the bales.
 
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