Can I feed the rodents to the girls to peck at, to train them?

kevinhannan

Chirping
8 Years
Aug 3, 2011
186
13
91
Well, my daily check on my coop revealed I have a nest of rodents underneath.
(This has given my plans to build a raised-coop a real kick to the GO-line.)

Quite frankly, I'm surprised the girls haven't pecked them to death....
I can't imagine what must have happened as some of the girls go to
bed along one of the edges of the coop and I know rodents scurry along
the edges, too. There's plenty of roosting space, too, but the girls seem
to have their own peculiar habits!

I've set up some rodent-traps which are hen-friendly - when I catch them
dead, can I feed the rodents to the girls to peck at, to train them?

Very many thanks for reading me and your time to reply.
 
As long as you know the rodents have not ingested any poison, I don't see that it will hurt. I've only ever had one mouser - and she was good. The rest of the chickens would just sort of stand around and watch her curiously. Once she had caught and killed it though, they were more than happy to help her eat it.
 
Here is some food for thought on feeding mice/rat's, normally it's not a problem to let them have at it but think of this. If you find one get it and inspect it for lice/mites which can be transfered into the chicken area. Mice and rat's do carry some diseases, but I am unclear if this can be transmitted my eating of the mouse, you may want to research that area. I do know the droppings of said rodents also carry some undesirable nasties. All of my birds stay enclosed in either pen's or runs, I do have common area's where I can walk and tend birds that chickens don't have access to, so I use rat bait and traps inside and outside to keep the population low to none.
 
Hmm... thanks for your replies, HEC and Al - that's certainly food for thought.

I can be reasonably certain that the rodents do not have poison in them as
I haven't used any (yet) - but I cannot be certain they haven't had some
from someone else....but prob unlikely.

Ticks, pests and diseases within the rodent itself is a greater worry and I
feel deffo not worth the health of my little flock - I love my little hens too much
to put them at that kind of risk that I had not considered.

So I'll kill the rodents and dispose of them by deep burial and let the worms
sort them out.

Thanks for the kind words of advice, guys!
 
If I am reading you right it almost sounds like your not sure? My motto is if you are not sure, NO until you are. If your questioning them eating mice then you have your own concerns. Me I would not train them to eat live foods like that. No Poisons, it’s a mouse and they carry certain issues we know of and that would be my concern for my chickens.

JMHO
Steve
 
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My chickens ate mouse poop once and got Spyroketes - a parasitic infection of the intestines. It was cured with antibiotics but I do not recommend that to anyone!
That is why it is good to keep mice out of the feeders. I place mine up high in the coop like a bird feeder.
 
Hi Steve,

Thanks for your post. I agree with your sentiments entirely -
"No, if you're not sure". You'll see that I wrote: "I feel deffo
not worth the health of my little flock - I love my little hens too much
to put them at that kind of risk that I had not considered."

So, I'm quite sure! I do appreciate your kind comments and time
to reply to ensure that my head is on straight ;-) fwiw, I just got
5 mouse traps and have little 'houses' to put them in to protect
the girls from the snapping!

Hi Grandma!
Yes, I've just done some plans to make a raised feeder. I promise
to take photos and post them here as a thanks you to all the
brilliant help I get here, and the fact that we all love photos of our
little goings-on in our little coops!

Thanks again, to both of you.
 
Mice and rats carry fleas, which carry tapeworms among other nasties.
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Dispose of them -

Lynne
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Sir!

Yes, Sir!

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Consider it done! I shall post pics!

(Thanks for the post! it made me smile!)
 
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