Petra Pancake
Songster
I seem to have a severe mouse problem developing outside my coop. My chickens get their food poured in through a hole (with a lid) in the roof of the coop. A bit of the food often spills and lies around on the roof. For 2-3 weeks now I've seen lots of mouse droppings there. Today some rainwater mixed with the mouse droppings ended up in my eye (ugh). After reading up on mouseborne diseases such as leprospirosis and meningitis I'm ready to get rid of the beasties. Also worried about them attracting predators. But how to get rid of them? First step of course: no more chicken food spills. And then? Are traps efficient outdoors? Don't want to use poison because of my children and also the chickens. Cats - there are lots of feral cats around but somehow they must have overlooked this little mouse restaurant. Do mint and cloves oil work as a deterrent? Any other ideas?