This past winter when I went to add pine shavings to my coop I inadvertently dumped mice into the coop. The shavings were being stored in my rubbermaid shed and apparently mice had burrowed into it.
Well, now they are living in the roof of the coop. The coop is a converted playhouse that originally had a cedar shingle roof that was patchy and leaky by the time I bought it. Rather than repairing the roof, I decide to cover it with corrugated metal roofing. It works well because the shingles provide some insulation, both from weather and sound. The downside... a few weeks ago I noticed mouse droppings on the ledge right under the roof, and after some investigation discovered they are having a good time chewing up the shingles and building nests.
We've been having a lot of rain, but Monday looks sunny and clear so I am planning to pull the roofing off and hopefully my chickens, guineas, and cat will have a good time murdering them all. When I reattach the panels I am planning to stuff steel wool into any areas where they can get up into the space between the wood and tin roof, but I'm looking for any other ideas to prevent the problem from reoccurring. I have started putting all feeders into a metal trash can at night and stuffed potential entry points in the coop with steel wool. The coop is four feet off the ground, but of course that is nothing to a mouse
Here are some old pictures of the coop to give you an idea of the layout, height, etc.
BTW I do have some spin traps in there but have yet to catch anything with them. For obvious reasons I don't really want to use the snap traps, though maybe I could use them under a milk crate as I've seen suggested on other threads.
Well, now they are living in the roof of the coop. The coop is a converted playhouse that originally had a cedar shingle roof that was patchy and leaky by the time I bought it. Rather than repairing the roof, I decide to cover it with corrugated metal roofing. It works well because the shingles provide some insulation, both from weather and sound. The downside... a few weeks ago I noticed mouse droppings on the ledge right under the roof, and after some investigation discovered they are having a good time chewing up the shingles and building nests.
We've been having a lot of rain, but Monday looks sunny and clear so I am planning to pull the roofing off and hopefully my chickens, guineas, and cat will have a good time murdering them all. When I reattach the panels I am planning to stuff steel wool into any areas where they can get up into the space between the wood and tin roof, but I'm looking for any other ideas to prevent the problem from reoccurring. I have started putting all feeders into a metal trash can at night and stuffed potential entry points in the coop with steel wool. The coop is four feet off the ground, but of course that is nothing to a mouse
Here are some old pictures of the coop to give you an idea of the layout, height, etc.
BTW I do have some spin traps in there but have yet to catch anything with them. For obvious reasons I don't really want to use the snap traps, though maybe I could use them under a milk crate as I've seen suggested on other threads.
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