More Mice😭

[MamaPoult]

Hey all I really need your help! So I keep all of my animal feed and hay in my shed. I've seen mice in there before eating my grain so I set out the old-fashioned Victor mouse traps. So far I have caught 6 but they keep persisting. I'm so on edge everytime I go in there that 1 is going to jump out at me I hate going in there now! I know it sounds dumb. So my question is, is there anything other than traps I can do? Like any sort of trick?? Kind of like how you can hang a plastic bag or CD out to deter birds???? I really need help it's getting super annoying. Thank you all in advance!

 

[GraceAndHopeFarm]

We went with the professionally made 5 gallon bucket traps ultimately, but there was nothing like the enjoyment of watching a homemade trap. There are lots of instructions on how to build these on the Googles, but quick down and dirty -

Rolling log trap - snip off the straight portion of a coat hanger. Drill a hole in the top and bottom of a beer or soda can. Place it on the coat hanger so it spins like a log. Run the ends of the coat hanger on drilled holes at the top of the 5 gallon bucket. Construct a ramp that goes to the top of the bucket. Smear peanut butter in the middle of the can. We yielded 10 mice the first night in a badly infested chicken run.

Second design (more effective in my opinion) - The homemade Flip and Slide - Cut the straight part of a coat hanger. Create two holes into a paper plate with about 70% of the plate on one side of the holes and 30% on the other side. Install it on top of the bucket like shown below. Smear peanut butter on the smaller side. Create a ramp to the top. Important - Install a string or fishing line below the plate that prevents the plate from going beyond an 85 degree position (when the trap is activated). We used a small piece of gaffing tape to do this. The string will prevent your plate from flipping over completely and aid it in going back to the set position. 14 mice in one night with 2 traps.

 

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

If you like cats....get a kitten and raise it in that shed. Just make sure it has access to a litter box or the outdoors. My cat CleCle keeps mice out of my brooder room and does a swell job. Guineas are also quite vicious when it comes to rodents.

 

[GraceAndHopeFarm]

We caught 24 mice in two nights using homemade 5 gallon bucket traps. We have now received some products from Rinne Traps. The “Dizzy Dunker” and the “Flip and Slide”. Both are very effective and EASY to use. Been messing with these mice for 5 nights now. We have thinned them down considerably.

Also … the hens ate well the first two mornings. Now… they seem to have lost interest in eating mice We just drive them 5 miles down the road and release them. EDIT - We release the mice… not the hens. LOL.

That’s the last time we use hay in the chicken run. Never again.

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[Al Gerhart]

Dealing with rodents is very simple. You have to stop feeding them. Then they leave or revert back to natural food they have to hustle to find and that lets predators thin their numbers down quickly.

Get the feed in metal trash cans or steel drums. Buy a real rat proof treadle feeders, not one of the Chinese made ones like the Grandpa feeder. Taking the feed in at night helps but the rodents happily eat during the day.

Not much in most hay that will support a large population of rodents. It takes grain to support a large population.

 

[Rock17]

I have 2 house cats and 2 barn cats. The indoor cats used to catch up to 8 mice a day. Now they catch about 1 a week because they have killed all of them. Also they are not really house cats because they have access to the whole farm but they seem to like the house (they were raised inside the house). The outdoor cats take care of voles and rats. And the odd rabbit

 

[lagrange chicks]

There is many 5 gallon bucket traps that catch mice in numbers, I made mine but are options you can buy. 3 to 4" of water in the bucket the mice fall in and drown. I've had 3 in the bucket 1 morning.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Mice make good fertilizer too.

I keep pigeons and like to keep the local crows happy (hawk patrol) so I’ll feed them the mice as well. I have them conditioned to expect to find dead mice on top of an old swing set we have lol

 

[QuackersGoose]

Hey all I really need your help! So I keep all of my animal feed and hay in my shed. I've seen mice in there before eating my grain so I set out the old-fashioned Victor mouse traps. So far I have caught 6 but they keep persisting. I'm so on edge everytime I go in there that 1 is going to jump out at me I hate going in there now! I know it sounds dumb. So my question is, is there anything other than traps I can do? Like any sort of trick?? Kind of like how you can hang a plastic bag or CD out to deter birds???? I really need help it's getting super annoying. Thank you all in advance!

Simple Green. We pour it into cups and leave them sitting around our outbuildings and in our campers. Works amazingly well. We mop our garage floors with it, as well. No issues there with them getting into the dog food bags since we started mopping with it.

 

[bterrelonge]

Hey all I really need your help! So I keep all of my animal feed and hay in my shed. I've seen mice in there before eating my grain so I set out the old-fashioned Victor mouse traps. So far I have caught 6 but they keep persisting. I'm so on edge everytime I go in there that 1 is going to jump out at me I hate going in there now! I know it sounds dumb. So my question is, is there anything other than traps I can do? Like any sort of trick?? Kind of like how you can hang a plastic bag or CD out to deter birds???? I really need help it's getting super annoying. Thank you all in advance!

I totally understand your concern. Rats were invading my chicken coop and like you, I was terrified. They were huge. I set traps from Amazon but they figured that out. I have a camera that my husband set up so I can watch the coop for possums and racoons. What works for me now is: I take out the feed from the coop before nightfall and return the feeder early next morning. No food, no rats.