bringing the feeder into the house at night?

[maggiegigs]

My two chickens are "locked down" at night in the coop. Should I still remove the feeder from the coop at dusk . My reasoning is mice. It is elevated off the floor about 8 inches. Not sure if that would make a difference to a mouse.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Mice can jump higher than that.

I'd leave the feed, set some traps, and then feed the mice to the chickens too

 

[OregonChickenGal]

I put my feed up at night. It not only attracts mice but other unwanted visitors. Mice carry parasites, I would never feed mice to my chickens. I know some people do.....not me.

 

[sunflowerenvy]

my coop is secure at night i fill my feeders up at night when i go lock them up night. they have food in moring before i go let them out.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
What sunflower said. My coop is well built. My chickens are locked in it at night and they have their feeder filled when I go out to lock them up (unless it's empty during the day, which means I fill it earlier).
My chickens wake up with the sun and are hungry when they get up. I like to sleep late and I don't want them waiting on me before they can get something to eat.

 

[hallerlake]

I bring in my feed at night. It might attract more than mice.

 

[Ohhhdear]

I don't have any food in the coop, which is elevated about 3' from the ground. I do put a quart sized watering jar in the coop at night. The 2 quart sized feeders I bring into the garage at night because the chicken pasture is next to the woods and I don't want critters getting used to finding food left out.
I may change my mind in the winter and leave food in the coop overnight. Haven't had any rodent problems in the coop that I've noticed yet. There's lots of squirrels and chipmunks around, but they're usually around the wild bird feeder by the house.