I have mice...HELP.

[bantymum]

Welcome chookies, Yes i love my cat too, he does a great job with the mice however he brings in big rats alive and thet always escape from his mouth in the house and I have to catch them and get rid of them.

Repobob, Try pepermint oil, it repels them.
I snap trap the mice too.
I used to humanely catch them but they escaped before I could release them.
They are cute little buggers though, sweet little faces.

 

[RepoBob]

Thank you Bantymum. Do I put pepermint oil around the perimeter of the coop? How soon after do I need to reaply? Yea, snap traps are zooming to the top of my list at the moment. They are cute, but they don't pay for their keep.
I see you are from Australia. That sure appears to be a beautiful country. Had a opportunity to go to Sidney in the early 70's. but went to Tiwan instead. Wish I would have gone to Sidney. Maybe I'll get there someday.

Bob

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

I have been fitting with mice since we moved in to our house in Aug.- so far I have not seen them in the chicken coop - most likely they are to full eating the birdseed in the cages in the house ( was wondering why my lovebird was going through so much food )
I have the little buggers in my kitchen - and we have been using the glue type traps but it is a losing battle - I think I am going to try some of MissPrissy's " speacil mice treats " and see if that helps.

I have seen my chickens eat mice - and they are fine afterwards no health problems that I have noticed so far.
I cant have a cat but with all the dogs here you would think the mice would learn to stay away !!

Julie

 

[RepoBob]

Julie, I'm glad to know they won't hurt my chickens. Now if I could get my chickens to eat them I wouldn't mind feeding them, so my chickens could get some meat protien in their diet.

I put a small dish of Miss Prissy's Mice Eliminator and its about a fourth gone. So they are eating it. Haven't seen any plaster of paris mice statues yet. haha.

 

[MissPrissy]

Give it time. I hope you mixed it heavy.

 

[jjthink]

For anyone interested in a humane way of dealing with mice, you might try Mouse Magic by Bonide, a nontoxic repellent. I haven't tried it yet but it was recommended to me by others who have had good success.

I have used hav-a-harts and relocated mice in unpopulated areas with field mice habitat. They cannot escape from the correct size grid on the traps.

Death by cat is a horrible way for them to go and it made me very upset when my cat used to catch them. Even if they escape the cat's grasp, if the cat's saliva gets into a scratch they will likely die from bacteria the cat transmits, a slow painful death. They would need a several day course of antibiotics to survive this.

A neighbor used poison against my advice and the mice suffered before they died, a gruesome scene, complete with one still alive staying by the side of his dead friend, unwilling to leave him. Glue traps are also in my opinion cruel. I have had them removed and policies changed in places I have worked, including a state capital building.

When there is an alternative, I don't want to do to others what I wouldn't want done to me. The hav-a-harts are so easy and successful, and no one gets hurt.

Just wanted to pose these ideas for anyone interested in a kindler gentler mouse downsizing.
JJ

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

I use the glue traps in the house and the other day I got a big bugger but he was barely on the board ( just his back feet were on it ) so I got a pair of heavy work gloves pulled him off and took him to the chicken coop and tossed him in !! in no time flat the girls had him and were playing a game of keep away - 16 hens 1 mouse - I almost felt sorry for him, but it gave the girls something to do while they chased each other and stealing the mouse from one another - was kinda funny to watch - in the end one of my light brahmas finally got a chance to swallow him down. I would not do this if I had only banty's I would be afraid of the mouse choking them - but my little banty hen did not even try to steal the mouse from her bigger yard mates. now if the mice are really good and stuck to the board than I dont toss them in - to much glue I am afraid will hurt the chickens -
DH hates when I feed the mice to the girls - but I think they really need the exercise and like you said its great protein for them

Julie

 

[MissPrissy]

I have seen where a mouse or mice or a rat had tried to getinto my feed bags so I keep everything in metal cans. I put out the plaster mix. After than I haven't seen anything at all and I can only hope my chickens are taking care of them and not just standing by and watching them eat feed from the hanging feeders.

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

I know my girls will take care of any mice that dare enter the coop looking for free food, the girls are also doing their best to get the little birds that land in the yard looking for something to eat - the first time I saw my chickens chase a wild bird I almost died !! they will lower thier heads and start running as fast as they can flapping thier wings - they have never gotten one but it is to funny to watch them try

I guess my girls are like the mob - they invite you in to talk and than they take you " out " -

Julie

 

[RepoBob]

JJ I too have a bit of a problem with the glue traps. Don't know if I am as all out against them is you are, but they are not real high on my list. You gotta remember though these mice may be cute, but they are costing me money. And thats the bottom line. They eat food that I put out for the chickens. I put this food out because the chickens give me eggs and pleasure. A Win Win relationship. Mice don't give me anything. I get no pleasure from them, they surley don't give me any food in return, they poop all over my stuff and chew holes in my walls and insulation. I would never think of killing one thats out in the field or down by the creek, but in my chicken house they can leave or die. Now, I don't want to be especially cruel to them, but I am going to do what is going to rid me of mice as efficiently as possible. If that means little plaster statues, glued feet, or mice with their head smashed in traps then thats what I gotta do. Please understand the three concerns I have in making this decision are 1. Well being of My Chickens 2. Cost in money and time 3. The most painless way to do it Pretty much in that order. Like your glue board at the state capital, if the cost (both in time and money) for whatever they are now using is equal to or less then glue boards then I applaud you. However, if the cost to the taxpayer is more ... well I can't think of a better way to say it but why should someone that does not agree with your sensativities have to pay for them? Please don't take this wrong I'm not critizing your sensativities, just trying to understand.
As far as the Have a Heart traps we are gonna have to agree to disagree

The way I see it is all you are doing is helping more breed. Look at it this way, if I have a couple hundred acres of timber and 400 deer live there happily. They stay in the timber because they have enough food, water and space. They breed, now we have 600. What time did the train arrive in San Francisco... oops wrong question

No seriously, the 600 would not be able to live comfortably in the timber. Now they come to my house and eat my flowers. We got a problem. I can catch them and put them back in the timber but next year we have 900 deer. So by doing what seems to be humane instead of having 400 happy deer and 1 happy homeowner we have 900 starving deer and a homeowner that no longer thinks that deer standing at the edge of the timber in the snow is so cute. If on the other hand you killed 300 of those deer (as quickly and painlessly as economically possible) you would have 300 very happy deer and a homeowner that would put out salt blocks for them. The train stopped because it didn't want to run over a nest of baby mice, and another train crashed into it so it never arrived in SanFrancisco

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Julie, all I can say is You Go Girl. Most women I know run screaming at the sight of a mouse.
Glad to know I don't have to worry about the chickens eating the mice.

I'm hoping Miss Prissy's way works so far it sounds the best.