Big Mouse Problem...

[dgeter]

We have a huge mouse problem in our coop.. we've been keeping mouse traps out there non stop (on the side that the chickens aren't in) and we've killed a ton of them but they're either breeding faster than we can keep up or more are coming in. They're even made friends with the chickens.. I'll look in there and see 4 or 5 mice laying in the nesting boxes with my hens!

I'm not sure what else to do.. I don't want to put poison out because the mice keep eating and pooping in the chicken food. I keep cleaning it out but they're pooping faster than I can get it out.

Any advice??

 

[HyLinda]

check out the post on "rat in the neighborhood" or do a search on "bucket mouse trap" I'm going to try that one, as we also have a mouse problem. They love my sunflower seeds and have ignored my peanut butter traps.

 

[Redspeckledhen]

Do you have a cat? or can you "borrow" one that doesn't bother chickens? Shut it in the coop for a while. The mice will smell the cat, and the cat will probably catch a few mice. My cats really help keep down the mouse population in my coop, which is open to the cats most afternoons until dark.

 

[dgeter]

Yes we have 4 indoor cats but they're my husbands and he's objected to my suggestion of putting them out there. My oppinion is that the cats will have the time of their lives out there..

 

[donrae]

Well, I've got a litter of orange kittens ready to be weaned and momma's already started them on snakes, mice and a baby rat that I tell myself she had to go a looooong way to find

. I'll box a couple up and send them to you, my hens have already told them who is boss.


Realistically...........can't really help otherwise

 

[FlipFlopFarmer]

Here, for mice, we keep all feed in metal barrels, in the summer, we put ant poison rings around the barrels, because ants get in the sweet feed in the summer. That bucket trap on utube sounds good, it seems you would catch alot of them with the same trap over and over, that would be the most cost effective thing. also.... about the mouse poo, they should be dead before they poop the poison, or at least i would think, so unless the chickens eat the mice, they should be okay.

 

[Kelly G]

I have just under three acres of property. I have three horses, a barn, 40 chickens, and a feed room (horse feed, chicken feed, etc - everything mice love). In less than 1 month of being there with our animals, we had (surprise, SURPRISE!) a ton of mice.

I logged onto Craig's List, found a litter of kittens - took all 5 of them. They were 4 months old. I got them spayed/nuetered/vaccinated at our local low-cost clinic (got ALL of them done for $150). For the first month I had them, I kept them locked in the feed room - until they acclimated and learned where "home" is...they also took care of my mouse problem in pretty short order.

I now have NO "mouse problem".

I would not recommend making your house-cats into outdoor cats....how about saving the life of a cat(s) that needs a place to call home? I love my 2 indoor house cats, and I love my 5 barn kitties!!! All are friendly and happy - and they don't bother my chickens at all (wouldn't trust them around chicks, though! I keep the chicks in a cat-proof brooder until they are big enough to kick some cat butt!).

Here is my staff:

Lola:

Gracie:

Baker:

Olivia:

Chili:

I have NO MORE MICE!!!!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

You could remove food at night, get a cat, or a repeating mouse trap kept set all times, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Kness-101-0-0...RA4D/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289137403&sr=8-1

 

[cparian]

Totally agree with saving a cat or two. My barn cat Tila does her job well. No mice at all. Here she is keeping watch from inside the nestboxes.

 

[dgeter]

Well here is our problem.. we live in an area with a lot of coyotes and foxes. Outdoor cats tend to get eaten here. If we got a cat he'd have to be able to get in and out of the coop and if he can get in and out of the coop, so can the predictors. We could still stick a cat in there for a day or two but we're not sure how he'll react to the chickens.

We just talked about it and I think we're gonna clean everything out of the coop next weekend, clean it, work on getting it more air-tight, and lay down poison. We'll keep the chickens locked outside till that's taken its effect and then we'll clean again.