I have mice...HELP.

[RepoBob]

I insulated my coop with styrofoam, the white 4 x 8 sheets. and covered that with OSB. The darn mice apparently think the insulation is a HabiTrail. They appear to be digging tunnels through it. I'm finding little white balls of styrofoam in a couple places in the coop. Yesterday I seen a mouse. My chickens were on roost and he was having a ball playing in the straw under the heat lamp. I live in a rural area, we have a barn that housed pigs, a horse and a few goats a couple years ago, but now is empty. There is a layer of old straw and compost about a foot deep. I know thats a breeding ground. I just got four barn cats, so that may help. Next year I plan to dig it down to soil then cover with gravel. For now I just want them out of the coop thats about 50 ft away.
My two questions are:
1: How do I keep them out of the coop, or kill them if they get in?
2: Do the little bits of styrofoam hurt chickens? They were eating it like candy.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[MissPrissy]

The styrofoam beads can get stuck in the chickens crop and cause a blockage. That means some sick chickens! Cover it all where the chickens can't get to it!

As far as mice. Putting out poison is dangerous because your chickens will eat those mice if they can catch them.

I know this may sound cruel but it works -

Powdered sugar and a few oats and rice in a bowl mixed with a good bit of plaster of paris. They will eat it. It will be like concrete in their stomachs when it mixes with their body fluids. It will be over with quickly after that. If your chickens get them when they come out looking for water they won't get sick.

 

[RepoBob]

Thanks MissPrissy

Your always there.

I'm not worried about being cruel to the mice. I don't want to make them suffer, but in this case they are a pest. They can either move or die, their choice

. Ill try your concocution (sp).
I don't use poison cause of the cats and dogs, and I don't really want the wildlife eating poisoned mice either.
In the spring I guess I'm gonna have to caulk or seal all the edges of the OSB and seal the tinyest crack. Maybe if I'm careful I can use some of that expanding foam.
What are your thoughts about a cat in the coop. I've read different opinions. I can bring one of the cats from the barn. They are pretty young (6 mo maybe) and not real big so maybe they can get along with the chickens.

Bob

 

[MissPrissy]

There are people who have cats and swear by the fact that the cats won't kill however I live in another world and cats and chickens don't mix when left alone in the dark at night. "Mmmmm, I'll have a midnight snack. Look's like chicken is on the menu!" said the fat cat.

You can seal everything good but still mice and rats will gnaw their way in. I bought galvanized trashcans and lids at Lowes. They run about $12 each but I bought them 2 at a time until I had enough. I have 10 of them. I store all of my feed and grains in those cans. I don't intend to by feed for mice and rats to get at and happy off of all winter long. Perhaps you might want to try that too. if they continue to get in the hen house and your chickens get older they might start taking care of them for you. but maybe not. There ws someone else here who had mice int he feeders eating right along side of the chickens.

Good luck with ridding yourself of those nasty little critters.

 

[RepoBob]

Yea, I have mixed feelings about the cat too. All it takes is once.
I've not had a problem with them getting into the feed yet, probably cause there is enough thats left by the chickens. I have about two inches of chopped up straw (I run wheat straw through my twig shreader cuts it up into 2 to4 inch pieces). I add a bit every weeks or so. The mice, I'm sure have all they want to eat in the straw. I keep my feed in rubbermaid containers. I know mice can chew through that so I'll be getting metal cans.
Wow, ten cans. You either have a lot of chickens or they don't eat they dine.

Seriously, do you have that many chickens or do I need to pay more attention to my chickens diet. I have 3 kinds of feed. Grower/Starter, Layer, and Treats (Cracked Corn, Sunflower Seeds, etc.)
I have 4 full grown roos ( 2 RIR, 1Black Orph, and 1 Buff orph) and 5 full grown hens Buff & Blue Orphs. In another pen I have 9 (?) checkens that are two to four monts old. The RIR's & Orphs were just up on the roost looking at the mouse. I haven't seen any during the day so maybe they are at least keeping them at bay. I don't want to feed them either, but my biggest concern is do they pose a health hazard to the chickens. The youngest chicken that would be in the coop this time of year would be about 8 weeks
Thanks for the help.
Bob

 

[MissPrissy]

I have chickens, goats and guineas. so I feed more than just the chickens.

Here is some of my flock - I have 37.

2 cans - layer feed
1 can - cracked corn
1 can - mixed grains
1 can - black oil sunflower seeds and other treats

I also have dairy goats

2 cans sweet feed
2 cans goat pellets
1 can alfalfa cubes and treat

I buy my feed at least 40 bags at a time to get the bulk rate pricing. They don't care how many different things you buy as long as it is 40 bags. Now that I no longer have the meat chickens the feed being consumed has been cut in half. The broilers ate 25lbs of feed every day.

I have a little room I keep my feed in up on pallets. Only once have we seen evidence of mice. I try to keep as much as possible inthose cans at all times. Each can will hold 3 1/2 of the 50lb bags.

I have 3 hanging feeders I keep topped off and my barn has built in feeder boxes too that I keep topped off with mixed grains.

I tend to have a lot of feed on hand but when my cans are half empty I don't wait and I stock up again. With the meat birds gone the feed should last at least 3 months or so. With spring coming my goats will forage more and there will beplenty more vegetation for them and they will slack off on the feed, too.

And some of my guineas

And my milk goats

 

[ksacres]

We have a cat in our chicken/rabbit shed. He never does more than reach out a paw to pat them. He's more of a scarecrow type deterent, if he were ever to actually catch a mouse, you can bet he would NEVER allow himself so lowly a station as to actually EAT it. Just rolls his eyes and asks where his MeowMix it.

 

[RepoBob]

Very nice MissPrissy. The goats are cute. Thanks for the insight into your farm. Now I understand why you need so many cans. I tried the plaster thing. I just was out in the coop and a mouse had his nose in it. Maybe by morning I'll have little plaster mouse statues all around the coop. lol.
ksacres, I had a cat like that once. He was just above everything.

 

[chookies]

hello, everyone! what a wonderful place!

so i have seven cats, three dogs, and three hens. the mousies have taken up residence in the insulation beneath the shingled roof of the girls' house, and burrow about here and there. kitties and hens pretty much ignore each other (unless there's a mouse involved).

two of the kitties hunt mousies. all three chooks dine on mice. one evening, in fact, as the hens were settling in for the night, a mousie ventured out, and one of the hens caught it quick as that. ate it, too.

one of the hens stalks the kitty who doesn't eat her mouse so quickly, whether kitty has a mouse or not. she will follow this poor cat around in hopes kitty will magically produce a mouse. i've seen several times where the hens will march right up and snatch a mouse away from a kitty.

the other hunter kitty, who eats her mouses, got tired of being bullied, i guess; now she scrams when she's caught a mouse and hops over the fence to enjoy her snack in peace.

a friend told me, "your place is like a situation comedy." i know what she meant now

 

[RepoBob]

Welcome chookies

I wish I could to get mine to chase mice. Maybe I'm feeding them to much