Getting rid of those darn mice!

[Suzierd]

I would love to hear how to get rid of mice out of the chicken runs. I don't keep food in the coops and I pick up all the food at night. I still have the mice running all over the place as soon as it starts to get dark and the chickens have gone to bed, out they come to find any morsel left behind. I don't want to use poison, so no poison ideas please. I would like a good bucket system that works, I've made a few and not a single mouse went in them.

 

[aart]

I've had the buckets work...and not work. If I had your problem I would rig up a 'string' of snap traps inside small boxes so the chickens can't get into them and just keep emptying and baiting them every day.

Look for their nesting spots...where are they living/hiding?....and clear them out and/or control access with 1/2" or 1/4" hardware cloth.

Get a cat or two?

Good Luck.

 

[chfite]

The first step might be to identify where the mice are living and eliminate that.

Chris

 

[Kelsie2290]

X2 on see if you can figure out where they are living, if under the coop see if you can block access. If you can keep a clear area around the coop so they have to cross open space to get there, it helps.
Those 5 gallon bucket traps, I just use the bucket and a couple of 2-3 inch wide boards about two feet long that stick a couple of inches over the top of the bucket. I've found they work best when the bucket is up against a wall with the boards against the wall going up to the bucket. Water to about three inches from the top, and bait with a layer of sunflower seeds, some seeds making a trail up the boards helps also. I've tried the various soup can they jump on type things, and the sunflower seeds really seem to work just as well. Just feed the contents, mice and all, to the chickens in the morning and rebait the trap at night.
If you don't want to go with snap traps, electronic traps like the RatZapper work, really like those for inside use.

 

[Suzierd]

Thanks for the ideas everyone, I see the mice come out of holes in the ground. I'm always filling them in and they make more.

 

[aart]

Put the traps near the holes?

Wonders if they are voles...they look much like field mice...not sure if the trapping would be different for voles.