Keeping out mice.

[rjrinehart]

I've read that moth balls are good for keeping mice out. But what about chickens or dogs eating these?? What other repellents can I use to keep things out of my coop and run?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi.

Making sure you put your feed up EVERY night and not having debris piles on the ground for them to nest in helps a lot. If they have an easy feed supply they will move in and breed like crazy. This being spring time they seem to be having a little population boost and many of us will be fighting rodents of. I already caught and dispensed a mama and 2 juvenile rats. I'm also under the impression that rats and mice do not coexist as the rats will eat the mice.

Not sure about the moth balls, but will be curious to see the responses as well as see if it works for rats.

Of course a good barn cat would handle it for you. But that's not an option for me.

 

[lazy gardener]

Moth balls are toxic. I read a story once where there was a mother, and her children. All were MR. Come to find out, the mother grew up in a home infested with vermin. Her mother combatted this infestation by scattering mothballs around the home liberally. (Instead of cleaning up the mess!). Well, the daughter grew up to do the same thing, so she and her children were nerve damaged from life long exposure to moth balls.

As for the mice or rats. If you see one, there are most likely 20 that you don't see. Set traps in such a way that the chickens or other animals can not get to them. A covered bucket trap might do well. Switch to fermented feed, and see to it that there is never any left over at night. Even if you remove your pellets or crumble every night, there will be plenty of feed that the sloppy chickens have billed out into their bedding. Be sure your feed supply is kept in a vermin proof container. Rats and mice will both chew through plastic. Rats will even chew through concrete.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I actually cover my FF trough with a 2x4 on top of trying to put only what they need. But it varies daily sometimes.

Those rats actually fell into my FF bin when I left the lid off overnight to capture rain water. But I can see the tiny little toe prints all around my feeding station in my run.

I keep my trough tall to prevent extra waste... but I have to think there must be some left on the ground still.

I will probably need to take more proactive measures than just the customary not rolling out the welcome mat routine.