Storage of chicken feed (mice problem)

I never had problems before.
The bag(s) of feed, were just sitting on the patio on a wooden board.
Lately I have found small holes eaten thru the bag,
and mice droppings inside the bag and around the bag.
The solution, I think, I have found is to either put all the feed onto a large plastic or steel bin,
or to put the whole bag on top of a 5 gallon bucket that has sloping sides.
For the time being I just put it on top of the 5 gallon bucket.
So far I have not seen any mice droppings.
Apparently, they can not climb a slippery sloping side ?

A metal garbage can stops the mice around here. I have also used a a door laid on top of 5 gallon buckets. I sat the buckets a couple of inches inside of the edge of the door.

Not leaving any feed in the chicken coop will also help keep the population in check.

enola said:

A metal garbage can stops the mice around here. I have also used a a door laid on top of 5 gallon buckets. I sat the buckets a couple of inches inside of the edge of the door.

Not leaving any feed in the chicken coop will also help keep the population in check.

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Agree with the metal trash can idea. Works well.

They can jump really well but no, they cannot climb a smooth side. I store mfeed in a metal garbage can with a fairly tight fitting lid. It keeps possums and raccoons out too, not just mice and rats.

Here is my mouse trap that uses the principle they cannot climb something with really smooth sides, metal or plastic. I put a couple of inches of water in the bottom so they cannot touch the bottom. That way they can’t jump out and they normally drown pretty fast. I use water so I can give them to my chickens afterwards. The chickens really love to play keep-away with them and eventually eat them.



You can look up Adirondack mouse trap to see how to do this with a metal can or plastic bottle and peanut butter for bait. Many people use those in week-end cabins but use anti-freeze instead of water so it doesn’t freeze. With anti-freeze you cannot fed the mice to the chickens. It’s poisonous.

Make sure to store feed in a trash can raised and have a rodent control program to keep numbers in check

Why do backyard poultry keepers insist upon feeding mice to chickens. They are usually loaded with salmonella. Just having them cohabitation with chickens is bad enough but feeding them to the birds?

jk47 said:

Make sure to store feed in a trash can raised

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Yeah, since we have the trash can out by the coop on the ground, we have to raise out trash can ... just put a couple 2 x 4 scraps under it ... so that we don't get moisture up in the feed which is conducive to mold. I hate having to toss the moldy feed--can't feed it to the chickens! We have to caulk/silicone some handles on the top of the lid, depending on which type of can we get. The plasic trash cans are nice, but I hear that some squirrels?? or other pests chew through the plastic.

ChickenJerk said:

... mice ... are usually loaded with salmonella. Just having them cohabitation with chickens is bad enough....

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The thought of salmonella-laced mice really bothers me. Chickens can catch salmonella just from the mice being in the feeders! Makes my skin crawl ... but that's just me. I'm sure not all mice have salmonella.

Cats are the most necessary pet we have. I cannot tell you how much I adore our cats. We have a predator camera, but we get the cats on camera almost every night out there hunting mice. It's difficult for me to believe there could still be any mice out there. This place was crawling with mice before the cats came to live here.

Seeing just one mouse supposedly represents 100 mice in the vicinity. Who knows where I read that? It seems impossible. But it's the stuff my nightmares are made of.

ChickenJerk said:

Why do backyard poultry keepers insist upon feeding mice to chickens. They are usually loaded with salmonella. Just having them cohabitation with chickens is bad enough but feeding them to the birds?

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I choose to feed mice to my chickens. They will eat mice anyway if they can catch them, just like they eat frogs or small snakes they catch. I don’t insist that anyone else feed mice to their chickens. I do not insist that no one feed mice to their chickens. It’s a personal choice.

If you read my post, I did not tell anyone to feed mice to their chickens, I mentioned I did and gave a simple way to make a free trap. Since antifreeze is often used in an Adirondack trap, I thought it prudent to give the warning about antifreeze.


God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
.

If freezing is not a problem in a trap like that a bit of detergent in the water will cause the mice to drown quicker.
I do not accept the notion that if a little salmonella is unavoidable then more of it is okay. Have had food poisoning to many times for that. But like had been said - to each his own. Bonappitite.

Indoroowet said:

The solution, I think, I have found is to either put all the feed onto a large plastic or steel bin,

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I meant to say:
put all the feed into a large plastic or steel bin,