Found a mouse in my feeder?

[Blooie]

We had an orange tomcat who wandered too far once.....he was gone a few days and came home neutered with his ear clipped

. I didn't know anyone around here was doing that program. He stayed closer to home after that!

I'm surprised you were able to get him detached from your legs after that!

 

[chrism]

We had an orange tomcat who wandered too far once.....he was gone a few days and came home neutered with his ear clipped

. I didn't know anyone around here was doing that program. He stayed closer to home after that!

Sounds like my honeymoon.

 

[Blooie]

Sounds like my honeymoon.

You WIN! I couldn't have come up with that great a one-liner if I'd tried all night!

To add to the OP's information, I'm a confirmed germaphobe. I know, I know - then why chickens, right? Anyway, I'm concerned about a couple of things with mice in the coop. First, they are good vector for mites and lice. Second, droppings can contain the eggs of internal parasites such as tapeworm, etc. So if it was me, I'd do just what you did and hang that feeder, then as others have suggested get some kind of rodent control patrol going.

I thought I was so smart with my 1/4 inch hardware cloth going 2 feet up the sides of my run and extending 2 feet out as an apron....no pesky mouse was gonna get through that like I've seen them do with 1/2" HWC. I was right - they didn't go through it - the little monsters used it as a ladder and scaled it, then dropped down on the other side. I just saw that for the first time tonight when I went out to lock up.
Before now I hadn't seen any signs of them. But my feeders are hung and the nipples on the waterer are up too high for them to drink from, so Operation Mouse-scapade starts as soon as Ken gets back into town this weekend, and I don't care what it costs.....I'm putting 1/4" hardware cloth the rest of the way over the entire run.

 

[lazy gardener]

Blooie, oh my dear friend! You seriously think that's gonna stop a mouse? They are incredible burrowers. How deep does your skirt go? No, I'm not asking about your pretty pink gingham one... Mice will tunnel right under a skirt. My mother, who hated mice almost as much as she hated snakes and flies, complained that a mouse could back up to a solid wall and squeeze through his pucker hole (to the other side of the wall). That about sums it up. You might invest some time and effort in getting some chicken proof mouse traps. Perhaps try the water bucket/spinning can with peanut butter, with a chicken excluder over the top. Or snap or bear paw traps in a chicken proof box??? There's also an electronic zapper box. Mouse completes the circuit, and gets enough of a jolt to stop all future escapades. With Ken's electronic background, he might enjoy this one! Switch to fermented feed if you haven't, cover the feeder or put it in a metal trash can every night??? Maybe you need to get a cat? But... that comes with it's own set of issues. My cat is not a great hunter, but lately, he takes great pleasure in chasing chickens, just to see them run! Yesterday, he was in chicken torture mode, and Jack came along, and just stood there and gave the cat the stink eye. I was seriously hoping that roo would flog that cat, just a little bit. But the stand off ended in a stale mate! Perhaps you need to invest in a flock of Buckeyes. I've heard that they make wonderful mousers.

 

[Blooie]

I've seen 'em go through 1/2", LG, but I haven't seen them go through the 1/4" - yet. Our skirt is 2'. Picked up a bunch of those enclosed traps today and will be putting them out as soon as we've put everything else away. Feeder is empty by evening, food has always been stored in galvanized cans so good there. I hate those little boogers! Even the coop has hardware cloth going around it. Nope, the one I saw used the hardware cloth for a ladder and went right up it, then through the chicken wire and dropped down to the ground inside the run. I forgot to add that he is dead. (Hm hm hm hmmm) He had less trouble hitting the ground in the run than he did catching the brick I tossed at him. Stoopid mouse! Should have worn a helmet!

I'm getting more than ready to get the plastic over the run this year, lemme tell ya!

 

[lazy gardener]