HELP! I have mice....

[spies04]

Mice hate MINT! If you can plant peppermint all around your coop, you should be able to get rid of the mice in the long run. For the short term, get a bottle of peppermint essential oil (costs a few bucks at a natural foods store & some drugstores carry it), mix about 20 drops with a cup of water in a clean spray bottle, and spray around areas where you suspect they may be getting in. And I second that advice from @Ol Grey Mare about figuring how they are getting in in the first place. Best of luck!

thank you so much!! Question - is there any risk to the chickens with peppermint? I am also going to try the bucket trap too. They are making me crazy!

 

[WindyHillFarm]

The chickens won't be hurt by the mint, and it will cut down on smell / insect activity besides repelling the mice. My chickens like eating plants, but they don't seem to be interested in the mint. It's just nice to have around.

 

[spies04]

Thank you so much! I plan to get the spray and the plants. The mice make me crazy.

 

[mswings009]

Did the peppermint oil spray work? I just realized mice have moved into my coop and would like to know before I travel down an ineffective path! Thanks!

 

[spies04]

Honestly - no it did not work. Someone also said that I should put tin foil in the areas that they are getting in. We ended up moving them all to a back up coop that we have and put mice poison out. We are in the process of vaccuming it out now and found where they are getting in. Been a nightmare.

 

[chiques chicks]

Build a wooden frame in the shape of a box. Cover in chicken wire. Place snap traps inside the wire box. Mice can get in, chickens can't. Simple, cheap effective. That way you won't be catching chickens in the traps.

Or try the live box traps and add bait to them. Dispose of mice by dropping the trap in a bucket of water. These traps can also be set outside of the coop to get the mice on their way in. The traps are reusable.

 

[RonP]

Since poison is now an option,

Posted to another query.
Hope it helps.:

My understanding is that rats/mice are everywhere.
They will congregate and breed where there is available food, water, and shelter.
Look closely around any fast food restaurant and you will see rat bait stations.

They will eventually come, the idea is to prevent them from establishing a colony.
If you see 1, there are probably fifty.
If you see two or more holes, expect dozens.

Keeping a rat trap/bait station baited 24/7 hopefully keeps the population from establishing near your food source. Once established, they are very difficult to eliminate.

Remember, chickens don't attract rats, food does.

That said, I fabricated black 4 inch circular x 18" long drainage plastic pipe as a bait station.
Placed along the outside of my coop, looks like drainage pipe (not unsightly).
I put a t fitting in the center, capped, for easy viewing once a week.
Inside I maintain commercial rat poison.

My run has food scraps 24/7.
My coop has food access 24/7.
Water access 24/7.

5 years, no sign of rats or mice...

Hope this helps.