Have Rodents Been Ardently Chewing on Your Existing Hay Covers?
Posted by CanopiesAnd Tarps on May 28th 2014
Just because the weather is getting warmer doesn't mean that the mice and rats will leave your farms supply of hay alone. So now is not the time to get complacent. That said, you may want to take care of the following farming tasks this weekend:
Examine the Hay Covers
Check your farms supply of hay covers for signs of rodent damage and activity first. Then clean and repair or replace the damaged hay covers straightaway. If you decide to clean the hay covers, be sure to use a disinfectant that is capable of killing the Hantavirus. Otherwise, you run the risk of sickening your family, pets and livestock.
Clean and Disinfect the Area
Depending on where your hay is being stored, you may need to disinfect the entire area as well as any farming equipment thats been used nearby too. The Center for Disease Control and U.S. Armed Forces Pest Management Board has a list of specific cleaning instructions that you may find helpful in that regard. Plus, most farm-related disinfectants come with instructions as well.
Trap and Remove Pests
Of course before you go through the disinfection process, youll want to render the area rodent free. Placing a variety of traps, rodenticides, repellents and rodent-eating animals in the area may help in that regard. In some instances, it may also be necessary to call in a professional exterminator.
Put New Safeguards in Place
Once those tasks are complete, youll need to put more safeguards in place than just hay covers. Storing the hay on pallets and keeping the surrounding area free of debris will help. Creating a gravel base for the pallets and sealing up any small openings in the barn may help keep the rodents at bay too.
To learn more about ordering and maintaining hay covers, please contact us by calling (877) 811-3911 toll-free. At Canopies and Tarps, we have a huge collection of rot, mold and mildew resistant hay covers on offer that are perfect for animal husbandry and farming applications.