How do i make sure i will not get rodents?

[Roosterboy]

My mom is terrified of rodents. I need to know i won't get them. It will be small (Less than five birds unless bantams)

Also, flies. We have a very high amount of flies in summer

I don't want to kill the rodents but i don't want them around.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

The number one way to protect against rodents is to keep the chickens' food from being available to them. Instead of keeping food around all day, you could feed the chickens twice daily in smaller amounts.

Also, store your chickens' food in metal garbage pails. Rodents can't chew through those.

Having a cat or two always helps as well.

Cleaning your coop regularly will prevent the buildup of the birds' droppings, which is something you should be doing anyway to promote their overall health. This will keep the flies down. You can also sprinkle DE (do a search on this site, there are so many threads about this stuff) in the coop and run.

 

[derby]

I do all those things as well. I also only feed them inside the coop so there isn't any debris laying around outside to attract rodent attention.

Derby

 

[jhm47]

No matter what you do, you can never be absolutely sure that you will never get rodents. The advice that the others have given you above is excellent, and will help a lot to keep any possible infestations to a minimum. Good luck!

 

[Miltonchix]

The ONLY way you'll NEVER have ANY rodents is simple.
Just hitch a ride on the next spacecraft leaving for Mars. They ain't found anything moving there..........yet.

 

[Roosterboy]

Stop taking it so literally!

I get that i may find rodents but i just want to know how i can try to prevent them

 

[Wifezilla]

I don't have my ducks yet, but I already have mice.

You could get a snake

 

[Roosterboy]

Quote:
I would like to get a native garter snake. Could i do that outside?

 

[mamaKate]

I have lots of garter snakes in the back yard and I did see less mice when their numbers increased. If you keep it in a cage, it couldn't reach the mice. Also, unless your coop is heated, it would hibernate. Chickens eat small snakes. Your best bet is to follow the great advice in the previous posts. Maybe you could start with just a couple of birds to show your mom how great they are and that you'll be diligent about their care.