I was just texting with my friend who boards at a SoCal barn we’ll call Ransom Ham, and she solved the rodent problem by putting peppermint oil on her horse’s hooves. Worth a shot?
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I think I know that barn. 
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I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this in the first place. I absolutely abhor rats. Had one that I taken out personally because we all know, when one comes sniffing around then they’ll bring their friends.
If you ever get a chance, watch a channel on youtube called “the mink man” where this guy takes minks from mink farms and uses them along with his dogs to help farmers get large infestations under control. From what they have found is that if there are baby rats being born, then the rat population is growing. However, if you have an infestation without babies it’s basically because the larger rats are eating the smaller rats because food supply is low.
Peppermint oil does deter rats so might work but geez ya gotta get after the population to actually make a dent in the problem.
My dad has these great traps you set w your thumbs on the sides of the bail. They are so much better than the old school ones–OUCH!
I’m another who never heard of rats chewing on hooves. Are they actually eating or are they gnawing (to wear their teeth down)?
The average Norway rat can jump almost 3’. So they can really get up and into stuff.
Peggy - Never stopped by there myself (up in Ventura County), but they’re always so nice to take in fire evacuees. 
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Cervical dislocation or decapitation is much more humane than drowning. Especially after being caught in this non-humane set-up that doesn’t kill them.
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You mean the trap that has killed 3 more rats and 2 chipmunks since? I’ve caught the hindquarters of a mouse in one of the wood ones with the bar, had to get him with a shovel. This trap prevents being able to impact with a shovel accurately, if you took the time to actually look at it’s design. No trap is going to be perfect because you can’t control how they trip the trigger.
Sometimes I think people use this forum to be exceptionally sanctimonious. I hope it makes them feel better…
Dang. I was hoping you were gonna try your hand with a samurai sword.
I’ve always drowned trapped rats myself. The bucket traps are my go to if needed. More often I have injured rats that my cat brings me (either cat is getting lazy as she ages or she thinks I prefer fresher presents); I typically set the dogs on those unless Mr LS is home. I’ve never cared to find out how Mr LS deals with them.
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My friend has 2 ferrets that live in her barn… the rats moved out when they moved in!
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AaaaakKKKKK~~~~~This is the kind of thing nightmares are made of. Cannot unsee…
Rats are crazy smart, too, which makes them tough to trap or bait. Someone on Rural Heritage once described how they found a juvenile rat caught in the humane trap they’d baited sitting on a bed of straw. They hadn’t put straw in the trap. The rat parents apparently pushed it in to their baby stem by stem.
I actually quite like pet rats. An ex of mine had a roommate that had a pet rat named Faust. He was worried the first time he brought Faust out to sit with us & watch a movie & asked if I was ok with rats. Faust quickly left him to cuddle up to me. 
More than one has been credited with saving it’s humans from a house fire.
An old country trick as described by my octogenarian neighbors was to mix Golden Malerin into pop (that’s soda for you non-Southerners) & leave it out in small bowls. It works. But will take out every non-target animal within a 5 mile radius in addition to your rats. These were the same folks I once watched kill a wasp nest by holding a lit rush broom up to it… Probably not the best source.
Wow… I had no idea they’d go for a horse’s hooves. I know they like the clippings from hooves, but never seen bite marks on a horse.
Does anyone know if bitter yuck on the hooves would help? My horse recently started getting chewed on by rats or ground squirrels, not sure which. So I’m wondering if some kind of no chew spray would stop them from doing it or do they like the taste of that stuff
It is rats that is chewing the hoofs. I found that slathering Corona or Vick’s Vapo Rub works well, but I just finally just wrapped his feet and even then the rats tried to get through. I finally moved him to a different barn.
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Sometimes I think people use this forum to show themselves as “right”. How unable to contribute to an actual conversation.
7 months later, the response is formed. Impressive. 
drink up!
I don’t understand how someone can stay in a barn that has a rat problem so severe that the rats are chewing hooves. I’d be the first to have my horse in a trailer and OUTTA THERE.
They won’t like the taste but it is not necessarily going to stop them from chewing on your horse. Barns are full of “free” food (bits of hay, spilt grains, odd carrot or two, etc.) so if there is a rodent problem it means there is food to be had. Rodents only start chewing on horses once they’re out competing one another; despite the free food being plentiful there are too many rodents to sustain so they turn to more extreme options. Putting a deterrent on the horse’s hooves probably won’t do much. Things likely won’t really change until the rodent population goes down (pest control, trapping, etc.) or the horse is just moved.
And they are SUPER smart. They can get bait out of a trap without tripping it and poison doesn’t seem to kill them, We had them at the last place I boarded. I had an electric trap and managed to kill one. After that, the rest wouldn’t go near the trap. I got mice and squirrels, but no rats. They can chew through just about anything too.
