How can I get a field mouse out of the chickens run?

[Annalyse]

So my silkie wouldn't come in when she usually comes in when I call her and she was making the noises as if something was wrong. So I picked her up put her in myself went back into the run to grab the feed bowl and something moved. Turns out there was a field mouse in the bale of straw there. I tried catching him/her with my hands but her ran s I was about to but also kind of chickened out because I didn't want him to bite me. He was very interactive with me though not scared. I id those noises you would do with any animal you want to come to you and he came closer but then chicken out. The point is my dad and I went back to catch him but couldn't find him. We did find a stash of his food source which is my chicken's feed. Most likely from the feed bowl, I keep outside that none of them use and now I know why. I NEED TO GET HIM OUT. We're setting up a catcher tomorrow that won't kill him but I don't want him giving my flock any diseases. My Rooster didn't even do anything.

PS: My silkie has made "friends" with a bird, chipmunk, squirrel, and now a mouse. All 4 which have been in the run and my Rooster never sees them but the tiniest member of the flock does.

Has anyone dealt with this problem befoer

 

[Waterfowllady]

So my silkie wouldn't come in when she usually comes in when I call her and she was making the noises as if something was wrong. So I picked her up put her in myself went back into the run to grab the feed bowl and something moved. Turns out there was a field mouse in the bale of straw there. I tried catching him/her with my hands but her ran s I was about to but also kind of chickened out because I didn't want him to bite me. He was very interactive with me though not scared. I id those noises you would do with any animal you want to come to you and he came closer but then chicken out. The point is my dad and I went back to catch him but couldn't find him. We did find a stash of his food source which is my chicken's feed. Most likely from the feed bowl, I keep outside that none of them use and now I know why. I NEED TO GET HIM OUT. We're setting up a catcher tomorrow that won't kill him but I don't want him giving my flock any diseases. My Rooster didn't even do anything.

PS: My silkie has made "friends" with a bird, chipmunk, squirrel, and now a mouse. All 4 which have been in the run and my Rooster never sees them but the tiniest member of the flock does.

Has anyone dealt with this problem befoer

I always lock up my feed in a shed from home depot, trash cans with lids also work. I also have more protection with my chickens coop vs my ducks who free range (even though my chickens have EATEN mice before) and put the food on the highest level in the coop

 

[U_Stormcrow]

STUNNED none of your birds have eaten the mouse. But yes, a metal container with a latching lid is your anti-rodent friend. or a barn cat. or both.

 

[Cebarmlds]

Sit in the run and call softly, here mousey mousey. It'll come to you and you pick it up by the tail and.. down the hatch.

 

[333113]

If you can't find the mouse, maybe your chickens have already eaten it!

 

[Cebarmlds]

Yes, seriously i would think the chickens would've eaten it.

 

[Waterfowllady]

STUNNED none of your birds have eaten the mouse. But yes, a metal container with a latching lid is your anti-rodent friend. or a barn cat. or both.

I also have 4 cats who bring me mice all the time They help lots too

 

[BantammChick]

Do you have a cat? My cat doesn't bother the chickens (I have to feed her before letting them out or they will eat her food).

 

[Annalyse]

Thanks all. So where I store the feed isnt a problem. I keep 2 small dishes of food out in the run that the chickens eat. One is a small rubber bowl and the other is a big PVC pipe lid. I put the pipe lid in the coop at night and leave the rubber bowl outside bc they never eat out of it. And the whole chickens eating the mouse thing. My Rooster acts tough but he chickens out and runs away first leaving his girls behind. . It was bedtime so I got everyone in to bed and that's when I kept calling my silkie who wasnt coming in so I shit the girls in and picked her up separately. The mouse hides/sleeps during the day in the hay bale and at night hes probably active to get the feed and store it behind the bale. My silkie makes friends with rodents so to her she was calling me saying their was something in there. no doubt if my buff saw that mouse she would have ran too it. I dont want them eating him because that's bad. Oh and I also dont have any cats because we love our poodles. Haha

 

[Waterfowllady]

Thanks all. So where I store the feed isnt a problem. I keep 2 small dishes of food out in the run that the chickens eat. One is a small rubber bowl and the other is a big PVC pipe lid. I put the pipe lid in the coop at night and leave the rubber bowl outside bc they never eat out of it. And the whole chickens eating the mouse thing. My Rooster acts tough but he chickens out and runs away first leaving his girls behind. . It was bedtime so I got everyone in to bed and that's when I kept calling my silkie who wasnt coming in so I shit the girls in and picked her up separately. The mouse hides/sleeps during the day in the hay bale and at night hes probably active to get the feed and store it behind the bale. My silkie makes friends with rodents so to her she was calling me saying their was something in there. no doubt if my buff saw that mouse she would have ran too it. I dont want them eating him because that's bad. Oh and I also dont have any cats because we love our poodles. Haha

Poodles have a high prey drive and if you took that hay bale out and had your poodles with you I believe they would go after it and try and kill the mouse, or at least mine did. Why is it bad for them to eat the mouse? It's the natural cycle of life, your chickens are omnivores. If one of your chickens would eat it, Im willing to bet that mouse has already been attacked or will be, if one chicken sees it, they are all bound to.