Merced County, CA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

040 requires every property to provide enough containers to hold all refuse without leakage or escaped odors, kept in good, useful, and sanitary condition to standards the health officer sets. Garbage containers specifically must stay continuously closed, opened only while garbage is being placed in or removed from them, and must at all times be closed against the access of flies, rodents, and other animals. Standard containers are capped at 33 gallons and 60 pounds when full, and every container other than a drop box must be kept closed or covered, sanitary, in good condition, identified as to ownership, and emptied on a regular schedule set by the department.

050(H) requires turkey, chicken, and other fowl ranch feed storage facilities to be designed, constructed, and maintained to prevent the entry, harborage, or breeding of rodents, alongside separate rules on manure management and a 500-foot buffer from neighboring residences. 100 lets the director or health officer inspect containers at regular intervals and tag any container found in violation, giving the owner three days to correct the condition before further enforcement.