How can I get rid of my mice and rat problem ??

[connor97]

I live in the city so we have tons of rats and mice living in our hedges here. Everynight I go out and there are tons of mice and rats eating my chickens feed and crawling around. We have been setting traps and usually catch at least one a night when we set them, and we have also tried using this sound thing that is supposed to repel rodents away, but when we were using it we would still catch rats in the traps so obviously it isn't working very well. What do you suggest I do? Would getting a feral cat help? I have my 2 house cats which go outside during the day but have to be in by night, and the rats don't come out during the day.

 

[keirys]

You have to take the food source away, we have a raccoon problem we stopped using feeders. I just bring out a huge scoop of feed when I let them out every morning ! Also a 5 gallon bucket trap might work... A feral cat might do more harm than good.

 

[4 the Birds]

Trapping and or catching mice can be a losing battle. What you want to do is put rat poison (normally a small block of bait) in and under things so that the chickens or your pets cannot access the bait. Multiple mice will nibble on this and clear out the population or at least knock it down to a very small number in your control area.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

I'd remove any chicken feed at night. I take my feeder out of the run when I lock up the girls and bring it back in the morning when I let them out. Remove the food and you'll remove a lot of your mice/rat problem.

 

[Just Wingin It]

I agree, no food at night. My mother just told me to put peppermint oil on cotton balls out, mice dont like the smell. Chickens might eat the cotton balls.. maybe just a few drops on the fence here and there, worth a shot.

 

[Ch1ckens]

Rat poision will help a lot, just make sure your chickens cant acces it and your cats wont eat the dead rats because they will still have posion in their system

 

[aart]

Google bucket trap for mice

 

[TomWin42]

Keeping your enclosure as clean and tidy as possible is your first port of call, to prevent them turning up in the first place. You can get electronic traps as well which might be more effective than just the plain old snap traps.

 

[furbabymum]

Won't work for you since you are in the city but I've witnessed my guineas killing them.

 

[CedarAcres]

I'd take the food away at night. If the area is no longer appealing to them, they'll move on to somewhere else they can get an easy meal. I'd also combine removing the food with traps, so the ones that do come around, get trapped.