Field mice

[50-45-1]

The Bucket Trap Way To Mouse Control
These will help keep the population down in certain areas. Easy to make if you have some unused buckets kicking around.

 

[Goatmum]

Nice! I’ve seen a farmer do this: a prefab inside the barn for their egg layers. They farm soy/corn snd had a few pigs indoors.m, so eggs just for personal use. The chickens got the area by the people door, near the big barn door, so fresh air and sunlight, but out of the elements.

They will have an outside run for sunshine and fresh air! We just figured with the cold Wisconsin winters, they would be much better with the coop inside the barn. They will be protected from the elements, and predators. I just don’t think we can keep the field mice out. Hopefully the chickens will chase them away.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Rodent control is still possible even surrounded by open fields. Clean up any pathways to and from their food source so predators have a better chance of getting them. Make sure you have the feed secured in a properly designed treadle feeder. That means an inward swinging door, a spring loaded door, a heavy counterweight to balance things out, a narrow and distant treadle step, and never ever block the thing open even during training. If you gotta do that, it is not a good design.

Once the feed is no longer available the mice are going to have to spend their time searching for natural food and be exposed to natural predators while scrounging for a living. That will help keep their numbers under control.

They will leave once you stop feeding them. Full sized birds are needed of course. Keep the smaller birds in a rat proof enclosure till they are a few pound and sufficient reach to use the treadle feeder.