Can chickens move into a coop that has mice?

[Mganson99]

I bought a house recently that came with a coop. I've been cleaning it out and prepping it for my pullets but haven't been able to get rid of the mouse family living in there. The chicks are getting too big for their brooder and I really want to move them out to the coop but worried it would cause health issues with the mouse poop and potential fleas? Or would the mice move out once the chickens start going after them?

 

[Happy hen lover]

I'm not sure a pulley would eat a mouse? Let me get more advice @aart , @azygous , @rosemarythyme .

 

[RoyalChick]

They will cohabit with the mice and will eat babies if they find them.
The biggest challenge is trapping the mice without hurting the chickens.
I built a wooden box that makes the snap traps inaccessible to the chickens and kill the mice that way.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

My chickens eat every mouse that they can get ahold of. Some of the best mousers around!

 

[aart]

haven't been able to get rid of the mouse family living in there.

What have you done to get rid of them?
Pics of you coop, inside and out and all around, might help garner some viable advice.

The chicks are getting too big for their brooder

How old are they, in weeks?

The biggest challenge is trapping the mice without hurting the chickens.

Exactly.

 

[Fortune]

They will cohabit with the mice and will eat babies if they find them.
The biggest challenge is trapping the mice without hurting the chickens.
I built a wooden box that makes the snap traps inaccessible to the chickens and kill the mice that way.

ratinator works great...if you have mice, you'll have rats...rats are a bigger issue...I'm having to rewire my entire coop with hardware cloth due to rats. I've trapped and killed over 30 so far that I then drown but they never slow down. Its amazing how many wild rats there are. Creepy but amazing.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

I’d be worried about the mice eating your chickens’ food.

 

[azygous]

The question is, are you sure you don't have rats, as well as mice? There should be no question about whether or not to take steps to eradicate all rodents as they carry disease, will contaminate feed, and they can even attack chickens as they sleep at night on their perches, inflicting serious injury. Silkies and baby chicks are especially vulnerable.

I have tried every single rodent trap invented. Then I heard about bucket roller traps. It's what I use now. They are effective and perfectly safe around chickens with no poison or injury issues. You can forget about these traps and they will continue to trap rodents.

Amazon sells the roller that you install on any plastic bucket. You lean a stick against the bucket so the mouse or rat can climb up to the top of the bucket. You bait the roller with a dab of peanut butter and the rodent falls into the few inches of water in the bucket as the roller spins it off as it tries to get the peanut butter. it can easily trap a dozen rodents per night. The rodents drown and you need only toss the rodents out for your neighborhood crows to eat.


The only drawback is that chickens like to nibble the peanut butter off the roller.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I bought a house recently that came with a coop. I've been cleaning it out and prepping it for my pullets but haven't been able to get rid of the mouse family living in there.

I don't expect traps to eliminate mice around my coop. They live all around in hay fields and pastures. I use traps to reduce the numbers to manageable levels.

In your situation I would have used poison to try to eliminate any nearby before you were ready to take the chickens out there. Even that won't totally eliminate them but can quickly bring the numbers down. It may be too late to go that route.

The chicks are getting too big for their brooder and I really want to move them out to the coop but worried it would cause health issues with the mouse poop and potential fleas?

There are health risks with the mice and their poop. There are health risks with chicken poop if you let that build up too thick. My goal is to keep the numbers down to minimize those risks. They can also eat a lot of expensive chicken feed.

Or would the mice move out once the chickens start going after them?

Some chickens are better mousers than others. Some can catch them, some don't even try. Many chickens will eat a mouse if they can catch one. If one gets one you can see a game of tag as they all try to take it away. But it is unlikely your chickens will ever eliminate them. The mice can find nesting places where the chickens cannot get to them. They come out at night when the chickens can't see them.

I made an Adirondack bucket mouse trap similar to what Azygous is talking about. It does catch mice. You need enough water in the bottom so the rodent cannot touch the bottom and jump out. No poison is involved so I feed those mice to the chickens. I do not put any traps where the chickens can get to them but have a shed where the coop is on one end. I put the traps next to the coop in that. Raccoons and possum like peanut butter too. I have had my trap messed up when one of them went after the peanut butter.

I also use snap traps in that area. I attach the snap trap to a screw eye with a wire so the trap isn't carried off if a larger animal gets caught.

Chicken feed is a big attraction to mice. I store my bags of chicken feed in a metal trash can so the mice cannot chew their way into it. Putting the feed dishes away at night will not attract mice as bad. Some people only feed in the run to avoid attracting mice into the coop after the feed but they will be attracted to the run if you keep feed out there.

I don't know how you can totally eliminate mice, they have been around humans for thousands of years. I take measures to reduce the risks and damage.

Good luck!

 

[Fortune]

I’d be worried about the mice eating your chickens’ food.

I pick up their food and lock it up in a metal can by 6pm...they get to scrounge till morning so rats or any other interested wildlife won't find anything.

I don't expect traps to eliminate mice around my coop. They live all around in hay fields and pastures. I use traps to reduce the numbers to manageable levels.

In your situation I would have used poison to try to eliminate any nearby before you were ready to take the chickens out there. Even that won't totally eliminate them but can quickly bring the numbers down. It may be too late to go that route.


There are health risks with the mice and their poop. There are health risks with chicken poop if you let that build up too thick. My goal is to keep the numbers down to minimize those risks. They can also eat a lot of expensive chicken feed.


Some chickens are better mousers than others. Some can catch them, some don't even try. Many chickens will eat a mouse if they can catch one. If one gets one you can see a game of tag as they all try to take it away. But it is unlikely your chickens will ever eliminate them. The mice can find nesting places where the chickens cannot get to them. They come out at night when the chickens can't see them.

I made an Adirondack bucket mouse trap similar to what Azygous is talking about. It does catch mice. You need enough water in the bottom so the rodent cannot touch the bottom and jump out. No poison is involved so I feed those mice to the chickens. I do not put any traps where the chickens can get to them but have a shed where the coop is on one end. I put the traps next to the coop in that. Raccoons and possum like peanut butter too. I have had my trap messed up when one of them went after the peanut butter.

I also use snap traps in that area. I attach the snap trap to a screw eye with a wire so the trap isn't carried off if a larger animal gets caught.

Chicken feed is a big attraction to mice. I store my bags of chicken feed in a metal trash can so the mice cannot chew their way into it. Putting the feed dishes away at night will not attract mice as bad. Some people only feed in the run to avoid attracting mice into the coop after the feed but they will be attracted to the run if you keep feed out there.

I don't know how you can totally eliminate mice, they have been around humans for thousands of years. I take measures to reduce the risks and damage.

Good luck!

Please don't use poison...if you don't bury the poisoned rat right after it dies and something else eats it you introduce poison into the food chain and you can wind up killing hawks, owls, and a myriad of other wildlife. I NEVER use poison and if I ever used a snap trap I'd place it under a plastic milk crate so songbirds, squirrels and other critters are less likely to die trying to get a meal.