Rats!

Myloubylou

Myloubylou

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Has anyone’s horse been upset in the stable & it turned out to be rats? My young mare has been kicking the stable walls. First we thought hormones as she doesn’t like her stable mate when she’s in season. Then we thought temper as she kicked the back wall. I have had vet out & he reckoned hormones rather than ulcers so she’s on regumate. However odd she’s only been doing in the last month & have seen rats around. Is out during day and in at night. Does it even when she’s got hay
 
I have an infra red camera in the stables and have seen a rat in with Rose, she ignores it completely but she's quite a calm mare and not easily upset. TBH I think horses are quite used to rats though. Does she have enough hay to see her through the night and into the morning? I have noticed that if Rose runs out of hay she tends to dig her bed up a bit, perhaps your mare kicks the walls instead?
 
We used to have a gelding who stamped on rats and killed them. We got quite used to finding pressed rats in the bed. We have never had another horse who did that, even though I would have said that he was the most naturally slow moving horse we've ever had - he was also the only gelding;).

We did have a mare who seemed troubled in her stable for a few days, then we found a mole had dug its way up through the earth floor!
 
Yes, mine had a rat that made a run through his old stable every night. I’d find the holes that were like burrows in his banks where it came through and sometimes his poohs were sorted through like the birds do in the field. He was very unsettled and messy at night during this time, as well as spooky in his stable. He is a sensitive sort though. YO put down poison and the rat died in his stable which was not a nice thing to find as it was still kind of alive when I found it while mucking out. Once the rat was gone, everything returned to normal.
 
A friend had a horse who frequently killed rats
Horses can be very very upset by rats .
Op you need to deal with them .
Horses are at risk from leptospirosis as are you and any dogs and cats and it kills .
It killed the son of one of my MIL’s closest friends he was a groom .
 
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We've had a rat killer - very useful! Although most horses don't manage to kill rats they are definitely upset by them. Not only do they spread disease which seriously impacts human health - weils disease as well as leptospirosis - they damage rugs and can bite horses. Horses are prey animals - think a moment. They are confined alone in a small space with something that bites them. Get some bait down or terriers in.
 
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I've been having temporary success with stopping up the holes with sponges soaked in creosote. As soon as my landlady is available ( away for Christmas and new year) I will be asking for permission to shoot the. Poison isn't an option, as there are too many cats and wild predators around. If only there were enough to get rid of the bloomin rats 😜
 
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We have had a rat problem inside and outside our house this winter! We have a local pest control chap who can find the rat runs and he has had to come back several times....he says that rats are a particular problem this year!
Nasty story alert....my neighbour's mare had her coronets nibbled by a rat, it took her a while to work it out...my old gelding will stamp on them if he can catch one!!!
 
We have a mare that is a serial rat killer!! She watches them scurry along the ledges in her stable and then knocks them off either into her water bucket and they drown or onto the floor and she crushes them! We've never seen her do it, but last year we found many victims in her stable of a morning!! Lol, she clearly isn't worried about them at all..
 
BOWS28 said:
We have a mare that is a serial rat killer!! She watches them scurry along the ledges in her stable and then knocks them off either into her water bucket and they drown or onto the floor and she crushes them! We've never seen her do it, but last year we found many victims in her stable of a morning!! Lol, she clearly isn't worried about them at all..
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Goodness, what an amazing mare!
 
I've had a horse that is happy to have a rat sleep on his back when he is lying down in his box, although recently I have a 2yr old that has been spooky about her box (same one she has always had) and that may have been rats. Have put poison down but also extended her bedding at the same time so not sure which it was.....
 
CavaloBranco said:
We have had a rat problem inside and outside our house this winter! We have a local pest control chap who can find the rat runs and he has had to come back several times....he says that rats are a particular problem this year!
Nasty story alert....my neighbour's mare had her coronets nibbled by a rat, it took her a while to work it out...my old gelding will stamp on them if he can catch one!!!
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I wouldn't mind them so much outside but not inside. I have a mouse 🐁that keeps evading capture. He has no interest in mouse traps and the cats and terriers are too lazy to catch him.
 
Yard am on is attached to working Farm & so not allowed cats - not sure of reason why?? No suitable dogs. We have all made sure feed & carrots are out of reach. With cold snap we may get more 🙁
 
My Dales would stamp on rats repeatedly until they were flattened and eviserated. I got two ferals from Cats Protection because I was overrun with rats and mice and they solved the problem in no time but it was really distressing to watch them sit on top of the stable doors and take the swallows on their way to their nests. Rats took a whole net of carrots in one night. They shaved them down to get them through the drainage holes in the feedroom wall.
 
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