5 Questions with Sharon Elizabeth Dinges

As Product Marketing Manager, Sharon Dinges is passionate about assisting poultry producers in delivering high quality protein products to the market. She advocates for IPM programs that feature rat fertility control to help the poultry industry reduce operating losses, increase biosecurity, and improve operating margins.

1 Why be proactive regarding rat population control?

Rats are a direct vector in diseases such as Salmonella Enteritidis (SE). The larger the rat population in the facility, the higher the risk of a positive swab for SE.

2 Is the risk associated with rats mainly due to food safety risks and liabilities?

Rats’ inherent gnawing behavior results in structural and infrastructure damage; the larger the population, the larger the risk of loss. Rats also have a voracious appetite for poultry feed and can contaminate up to 10x the amount they consume. They also prey on chicks and pullets, increasing stress in more mature poultry.

3 How does a rat contraceptive support a poultry facility’s IPM?

Under ideal conditions, a single breeding pair of rats can produce as many as 15,000 descendants in a single year. Traditional rodenticides may be able to temporarily knock down a rat population, but over time the population will typically rebound.

ContraPest is a rat contraceptive that integrates easily into a poultry facility’s existing IPM, targeting the rat problem at its source — rapid reproduction rate. ContraPest provides fertility control for both male and female rats, resulting in reduced litters and pups per litter.

4 What does a poultry facility typically experience after adding ContraPest to its IPM program?

When poultry facilities have made ContraPest available on a consistent basis as part of their IPM, conditions improve. This includes: fewer man hours required to repair damage from rats, reduced damage to critical infrastructure, less shrinkage of feed and chicks, and even improved working conditions.

5 How can SenesTech assist PMPs to integrate ContraPest into an existing IPM?

SenesTech knows that each production facility has unique needs and requirements. The SenesTech team provides strategic tools, supported by our real-world, wildlife behavior experience. This allows the team to serve as a trusted advisor to pest management professionals who wish to add ContraPest to the IPM program of their customers.