Mice Nursery

[Baker1968]

I have mice inside the coop, I have approached the problem many different ways, but continue to lose. First of all I have 10 hens and a rooster and I purchased their coop from the local Amish. I have been raising chickens for 5 years now and I never had this many mice. It has been a constant nursery for them. My coop has a large built in area for feed, I emptied that, thinking that would solve my problem, but it has not. I have been using a hanging feeder that is twelve inches off the floor. I purchased live traps, placed them around the run and inside the coop. I baited with bread, that did not work, so I tried peanut butter, that did not work, so then I tried cheese and that did not work. Then I tried chicken feed, and that did not work, every trap has continuously been empty. All the traps top doors have been tightly closed. Since I have not succeeded with any of those techniques, I called our extension office, they suggested placing peppermint oil on cotton balls, then placing several of them throughout the coop. Following their instructions I purchased peppermint oil and soaked 20 cotton balls with the oil, then placed them all through the coop. Thinking this was going to solve my problem, but it has had no effect at all other than the coop smelling like candy canes. I went to TSC, two weeks ago and they suggested scent packs. I purchased 2 large boxes, each box has 4 generously sized packs. I placed them inside the coop in several areas. That did not work at all, and the coop smells like a Christmas Tree (which is ok). I purchased bait stations, which I placed outside the coop and run, that has not worked. Any suggestions that doesn’t require a 9MM, will be greatly appreciated!

 

[JaeG]

We have had the most success with bait stations but sometimes you have to try a few different brands of bait block to find one that they really like. Give it a few days then check whether they have started eating the one you put out. If not, try a different brand.

 

[Baker1968]

I have 8 Tom Cat Bait Stations around the outside of my coop and run now and that has not helped at all. Thank you very much, I will try a different brand.

 

[RoyalChick]

I have lived this. I mean really lived this. Both my chickens and my cats catch mice but I was still over-run!
It took me a year to get to eradication. Now I am in a good place I feel I can share my experience. Others may have different views, I am just sharing that this worked for me and I had about as bad an infestation as you can imagine.
- Step 1 is to work on exclusion. There is not much point in killing mice if other mice can just wander in. There are too many mice out there to kill all the mice who might find your coop! Use trail cams or whatever you can get to find access points. Remember they can get through spaces just a half inch wide. I actually caught a video of a mouse squeezing through a space smaller - it was a tight fit but he did it! There are some great exclusion products available that aren't that expensive. I have found the kind that looks like a scouring pad with stainless steel wire in it to be the most versatile. You can stuff it into the smallest spaces with the aid of a screw driver. But wear gloves and goggles as the stainless steel bits are sharp! Mice really, really will not go through that stuff. Copper mesh netting also stuffs well into holes and works. I used both depending on the size of the hole I was filling. All my holes were tiny spaces between bits of hardware cloth or between the foundation and the coop structure.
- Step 2 is to eradicate the population that are by now probably breeding inside your coop. By far the most effective for me were snap traps baited with peanut butter sprinkled with chicken scratch grain. Obviously you don't want to endanger your chickens so this is requires setting the traps after the chickens are roosted and taking them up well before dawn. At one stage I was getting 6-8 mice a night on my snap traps. I hate killing anything but I had got to a really bad place with the mice. Snap traps are a bit gruesome but having seen them in action on my cameras it really is a quick death and I think much less cruel than other methods. The chickens will enjoy eating the mice bodies - although after a while mine got bored of a huge pile of mice for breakfast each morning.
- Third is to monitor with cameras even once you think they are all gone. There is never just one mouse. So if you spot even one that means you have not found all the access points and have to start over at step one.
Good luck!

 

[Baker1968]

I have lived this. I mean really lived this. Both my chickens and my cats catch mice but I was still over-run!
It took me a year to get to eradication. Now I am in a good place I feel I can share my experience. Others may have different views, I am just sharing that this worked for me and I had about as bad an infestation as you can imagine.
- Step 1 is to work on exclusion. There is not much point in killing mice if other mice can just wander in. There are too many mice out there to kill all the mice who might find your coop! Use trail cams or whatever you can get to find access points. Remember they can get through spaces just a half inch wide. I actually caught a video of a mouse squeezing through a space smaller - it was a tight fit but he did it! There are some great exclusion products available that aren't that expensive. I have found the kind that looks like a scouring pad with stainless steel wire in it to be the most versatile. You can stuff it into the smallest spaces with the aid of a screw driver. But wear gloves and goggles as the stainless steel bits are sharp! Mice really, really will not go through that stuff. Copper mesh netting also stuffs well into holes and works. I used both depending on the size of the hole I was filling. All my holes were tiny spaces between bits of hardware cloth or between the foundation and the coop structure.
- Step 2 is to eradicate the population that are by now probably breeding inside your coop. By far the most effective for me were snap traps baited with peanut butter sprinkled with chicken scratch grain. Obviously you don't want to endanger your chickens so this is requires setting the traps after the chickens are roosted and taking them up well before dawn. At one stage I was getting 6-8 mice a night on my snap traps. I hate killing anything but I had got to a really bad place with the mice. Snap traps are a bit gruesome but having seen them in action on my cameras it really is a quick death and I think much less cruel than other methods. The chickens will enjoy eating the mice bodies - although after a while mine got bored of a huge pile of mice for breakfast each morning.
- Third is to monitor with cameras even once you think they are all gone. There is never just one mouse. So if you spot even one that means you have not found all the access points and have to start over at step one.
Good luck!

Thank you very much!! Sounds like you were at the end of your rope with mice, as I am. I am definitely going to do these things. I will buy snap traps and steel wool tomorrow. I have several cameras and will install those as well. I don’t like killing anything either, but I am overwhelmed. They are breeding inside the coop. I go out late at night and slowly open the door, so I can see how many I count as they run. Yesterday, I counted 16. I have had chickens for 5 years and I never had a problem, I never saw any mice or evidence they were inside the coop, until the past 4 months.
Again, thank you for taking the time to respond and the information.

 

[cmom]

We have had the most success with bait stations but sometimes you have to try a few different brands of bait block to find one that they really like. Give it a few days then check whether they have started eating the one you put out. If not, try a different brand.

I agree. I didn't have a mouse problem but did have a coop that was infested with rats. I used the bait stations too. The rats didn't like the bait that came with the bait stations so I tried different baits. I moved the birds to another coop and renovated the coop and when I started to tear out the ceiling and walls, dozens of rats poured of all sizes poured out. There were several nests in the ceiling and walls. I did not put another ceiling in a coop nor inside walls. I like the bait stations because with the little window above the bait I can check the bait easily and replace as needed. I originally tried traps among other things to no avail. There were several tunnels around the coops and the barn, which is behind the coops. I did not find any dead rats from the poison so I assume they went into their tunnels and died so they buried themselves. It got to the point that the baits weren't being touched or rarely touched. I put the bait stations in pet carriers so that only the rats/mice could get to the baits. This is the one I had the best luck with. Here it's no longer available in the stores but is online. Good luck...

 

[RoyalChick]

I agree. I didn't have a mouse problem but did have a coop that was infested with rats. I used the bait stations too. The rats didn't like the bait that came with the bait stations so I tried different baits. I moved the birds to another coop and renovated the coop and when I started to tear out the ceiling and walls, dozens of rats poured of all sizes poured out. There were several nests in the ceiling and walls. I did not put another ceiling in a coop nor inside walls. I like the bait stations because with the little window above the bait I can check the bait easily and replace as needed. I originally tried traps among other things to no avail. There were several tunnels around the coops and the barn, which is behind the coops. I did not find any dead rats from the poison so I assume they went into their tunnels and died so they buried themselves. It got to the point that the baits weren't being touched or rarely touched. I put the bait stations in pet carriers so that only the rats/mice could get to the baits. This is the one I had the best luck with. Here it's no longer available in the stores but is online. Good luck...
View attachment 2848094

I had a couple of rats and am glad it wasn't more than that. My exclusion program was aimed at rats too - and I got some rat sized snap traps which worked a treat but are very intimidating to set because they are so huge (like the rats!).

 

[Al Gerhart]

Some people do report success with bait and traps but most do not. Rodents are smart, you might trick one or two but no trap works for long. Excluding rats is a great idea but difficult and expensive. You will need steel or hardware cloth, even wood and concrete cannot stop a rat that knows where the feed is. Then if the coop door is open during the day, the rats will just come during the day.

The solution that works as long as you have enough full sized birds like Rhode Island Reds is a treadle feeder. You can adjust the treadle feeders for bantams but the less weight it takes to use the treadle and the closer the treadle is to the feed the less rat proof it is.

Within a few days of eliminating their access to feed the rats will leave or get caught by predators while out trying to find natural foods. Just do your home work before you spend you money, don't trust shopping cart reviews, those are easily bought. And watch the independent sites that claim to be doing a review, if they have affiliate links they are promoting the one that pays them a commission. Any link that takes you to Amazon or Ebay is sure to be an affiliate link.

As for design, the feeder must have a spring loaded door or the rodents can just push the door open without using the treadle. Inward swinging doors are best, easier to train, and a narrow and distant treadle is easy for full size hens to use and prevent rodents and wild birds from just ganging up on the treadle.

Once you stop feeding the rodents they will leave. Never seen it fail.

Good luck.

 

[WIchickMama]

Just reading about your experiences gives me the "chicken skin". I don't have any suggestions, other than to deter mice from our camper when we winter it we use Coast to Coast soap and dryer sheets placed throughout. We have never had any evidence of mice (droppings, chewing, etc) in the camper or outside compartments. Not sure if it would be ok to put either ones of these throughout the coop once you have rid it of mice as a preventative.

 

[Sally PB]

other than to deter mice from our camper when we winter it we use Coast to Coast soap and dryer sheets placed throughout.

Do you mean Coast brand soap...? I couldn't find Coast to Coast soap with Google.