Colorado

[maggiemo]

Oh boy I am glad to hear I am not the only one with mouse problems. I bought one of those expensive electric mouse traps. It caught 10 a night for about 3 nights then it broke. I sent it back they sent another one, same thing. Worked great for a few nights then broke. I sent it back.
Judy, how can you use poison with chickens around? Don't the chickens eat the poisoned mice?
Bumpershoot, how do the mice get in the bucket? Do you suspend the can with a string?

 

[maggiemo]

Quote: That sleeping chicken is super cute. I have a friend who took a chicken (Sparky) in the house because it had frost bitten toes and it imprinted with the family and stayed in the house for the rest of it's life. The rest of it's LONG life.

 

[Ashdoes]

Our barn was over run with mice this last couple months, so we had traps hidden everywhere. Then in the baby stall, we got a shoe box and cut a couple mouse sized holes, and put four traps in it. We caught a frenzy of mice for a week, and it finally slowed down. Feeding them to the chickens actually helped the chickens figure out to eat them, and now we see at least one chicken a day being chased with a mouse in its mouth.

 

[Ashdoes]

Ashdoes - If you have (or plan to have) any male and female legbar chicks I'd be interested since I have 0 to show out of all of the eggs I got from you (not your fault!). I don't want to do any eggs now since we'll be moving in a few weeks but I can do chicks.

I have eggs in the incubator right now, but I have someone that wants a large order, and I'm guessing she'll end up with all the females from this hatch. We'll start a new hatch next Monday, and I can put you first on that list.
No one ever wants them, but I am growing out 5 Roos right now, they're about two months now. Pretty boys, but since I'm not going to keep breeding Creams, I don't really need them.

 

[trsturself]

I have eggs in the incubator right now, but I have someone that wants a large order, and I'm guessing she'll end up with all the females from this hatch. We'll start a new hatch next Monday, and I can put you first on that list.
No one ever wants them, but I am growing out 5 Roos right now, they're about two months now. Pretty boys, but since I'm not going to keep breeding Creams, I don't really need them.

Your next hatch will be perfect timing for me. We can get them after our move. I would take one of your roos now but I'd rather get a pair so they have a friend to grow up with.

 

[suncatcher]

We use a live trap, it works really well, bought it years ago at Big R. After they were caught we took them way out in the tree area here, and let them go. Would catch four at a time sometimes!!! All total, we caught close to thirty the first year we lived here, this year we have cats, and not a mouse in sight!!!

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! Planted some more of my garden, nothing has sprouted yet, wihich is good, as we had a hard frost two nights ago. Yikes!!! Has rained every evening, Saturday we got an inch of rain, nice for the pasture, not so good to drive in, they closed Ute Pass, guess after the last flash flood they are being more careful!

Welcome home Tst! That chick is adorable!!! Looks like you may have a house chicken, or yard chicken!

 

[Pozees]

I actually don't use the poison around the chickens, come to think of it, I use it in the crawl space under the house, and I just now read an article that says even when they say no risk of secondary poisoning, there could be, because it can take them a while to die after they first consume the poison and they may eat more in the meantime, so might have more in their systems than testing accounted for. The article recommends drowning buckets or the rat zapper, or snap traps. My LF will eat mice anytime they find them, my cats don't go outside, but I did just spot a mouse this past weekend by the food barrels, so I am probably going to have to set a few traps where the chickens can't get to them, probably as others have suggested, in a box.

 

[katie5668]

First snake event over the weekend...walked in to check on chicks..actually youngsters now. There was a medium sized bull snake skimming across the top of the brooder tank!
Chased that feller away & then created a different holding area for the chicks..open to sight of the other chickens so in another couple of weeks they should be good to meld with the group.
The snake I am sure will be back..but I will happily trade a few eggs for Rattlesnake guarding & of course rodent gobbling. We have had a healthy crop of bull snakes here on this place since day one..they are quiet & gentle snakes..but deadly enemies for Rattlers. So contract made..bull snakes & their get can live here..just keep the rattlers at bay!

Won't be long before it will be time to release my lil ones to the main flock...nervous about that but know that with proper introduction it should work OK.

 

[katie5668]

oh oh almost forgot ..the poison issue..I will not use poisons at all...my son lost a cat that ate a mouse that it found in the field. Then when I asked him he said yah he had Decon under the kitchen sink where the cats could not get to it. But the mouse ate..went out to the pasture then died..cat found it..YUMMY..NOT!

I would just worry about my critters getting hold of a mouse that had eaten the poison...too risky. Live traps are good & yep if the chickens once learn that mice are food..the mice don't stand a chance! Tis , in my mind , a better way to go!

 

[Ashdoes]

I had an exterminator out last winter, and he used an Eco friendly "poison". So it takes a minuscule amount to kill the mouse, that isn't enough to kill a secondary animal, like a chicken. Instead of just killing the mouse, to rot, it dries it out from the inside. We only used it under the house, and under the kitchen sink. Never had an issue, with odor or dead chickens. But, would never put it in the barn, or on the ground anywhere.