I have chickens--moles or voles are tearing up ground inside the fenced in area. how do I deal?

Question

I have chickens--moles or voles are tearing up ground inside the fenced in area. how do I deal?

Answer 1

First you need to find out what your problem is. If you have rodents, tunneling "runs" in your yard you have Moles.

To kill the moles, don't listen to the old wives tales. I have heard it all. Egg shells, chewing gum, banana peelings, flooding, peppers, human hair, Soap and bacon grease, humane urine, chemical pellets and even smoke. Sorry, but it’s all worthless. You’re going to have to get rid of them and do so aggressively. For best and quickest results, use the spring traps (I saw some at Wall-Mart last week). Place them over the "runs" that you see thought your yard. Then the moles go through, it triggers the trap and you'll have one. Be sure to re-set the trap for another.

Poison peanuts/wheat also work, but results are slower. These are made by the W. R. Sweeney Company. I have also, if you have the time, walk on the mound that is left when they dig & just wait. Soon, you will see them going through the tunnel by raising the dirt again. Quickly dig them up w/a shovel. You have to move fast to get them this way. Odds are good; you won't be able to kill them fast enough.

Until you solve the real problem, you will continue to have moles. They are in you yard because there is an abundance of Grubs there. Just like another animal, they have selected your yard for the abundance of food there. You can treat your yard with a Bayer product, Merit  or a Scotts product , Grub EX. It is a granular product that spreads on the lawn much like you would spread fertilizer. A product that has Bifenthrin, sometimes called Talstar as an active ingredient in it will also work well.  Another possibility is to add nematodes to your yard. The nematodes can be found at most of your Mom and Pop garden centers, and feed on Grubs. Another product many people have had success with (myself included) is Milky Spore. To treat the lawn, just put a spoon full at 3 foot by 3 foot. Milky Spore lasts for many years. Understand, it will only kill the grub in its larva stage and will not harm the existing grubs. These are much more organic approaches, but as is normally the case with organic solutions, results will be slower. Rid your yard of the Grubs and your mole problem will not be resurfacing.

Answer 2

You can buy `gadgets` that you stick into the soil and they transmit a `noise` that moles do not like, so they will stay away from that area. You could put them outside of the pen fence, that should do the trick.

Many years ago, I had a policeman neighbour, he got so fed up with moles ploughing up his lawn,that he used to `lay in wait` for the moles to come up from the tunnel. He then blasted them with his shot-gun!. That`s what I call `using a sledge hammer to crack a nut`!

Answer 3

My grandfather used to have a huge problem with moles in his garden- Until he started growing castor beans. The moles ran the other way.