Infestation - mice / pack rats

[hayley3]

Instead if building a floor (which the rodents will just live under) can you dig a perimeter around just the coop section and install hardware cloth down in the ground?
This is what we did for our coop with a dirt floor..
Also I recommend you build some bucket traps. You need some 5 gallon buckets, heavy wire or metal rods and small metal cans like vegetables come in. You bait with peanut butter. You could build 4 or 5 of those and they would drown rodents all night. Just empty in morning. You can use water in summer and smell free RV antifreeze in winter. There are direction to build them on the internet. Good luck!
Edit: took some pictures of one of the bucket mouse traps my husband built for me and i can gaurentee they do work.
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I made one, thanks for sharing yours.

 

[sloanbychoice]

@50-45-1
I was so disappointed the next morning.
After I changed that flaw in mine, I baited it back up and set it right.
Not one.
Little buggers.
Idk what I did wrong.
Getting ready to go check it again this morning.

 

[hayley3]

@50-45-1
I was so disappointed the next morning.
After I changed that flaw in mine, I baited it back up and set it right.
Not one.
Little buggers.
Idk what I did wrong.
Getting ready to go check it again this morning.

I was not sure how far down to place the wire (although I used a plastic rod)...I was thinking i may need to raise it closer to the rim of the bucket. Mine is 3 inches from the top.

 

[50-45-1]

@50-45-1
I was so disappointed the next morning.
After I changed that flaw in mine, I baited it back up and set it right.
Not one.
Little buggers.
Idk what I did wrong.
Getting ready to go check it again this morning.

So sorry..was the bait still there or was it licked off?
I watched a few u-tube videos and most do have the wire and can closer to the top.
My husband made a few for me this waY and they have consistantly caught mice. I just freshen the peanut butter to activate fresh smell.
Gosh, i hope we can get this right for you.

 

[hayley3]

So sorry..was the bait still there or was it licked off?
I watched a few u-tube videos and most do have the wire and can closer to the top.
My husband made a few for me this waY and they have consistantly caught mice. I just freshen the peanut butter to activate fresh smell.
Gosh, i hope we can get this right for you.

Mine didn't work either but I didn't have a board. I just propped it against a box that they could climb on. So since that didn't work, this morning I positioned the wooden handle of a rake up to it..so will see if it helps me.

 

[aart]

I was not sure how far down to place the wire (although I used a plastic rod)...I was thinking i may need to raise it closer to the rim of the bucket. Mine is 3 inches from the top.

More like an inch from top edge would be better.

 

[50-45-1]

http://fivegallonideas.com/bucket-mouse-trap/
Here is some pretty good step by step instructions and they do have the device closer to the top.
I will make one today myself this way and see if it works better

 

[hayley3]

More like an inch from top edge would be better.

The one I bought (but haven't drove to the next county to pick up), sits on top but my bucket has ridges on the outside, at the top, so drilled below that. I may have to find a different bucket.

 

[cmom]

I tried several times and even put a ramp on the bucket but still no takers.

 

[Chicken Heel]

Millie, my Poodle/Terrier mix, who passed away in 2016 was a great mouser. She would lie under the coop for hours on end. You would occasionally hear a squeak, and alas another rodent had bitten the dust. I miss her a great deal. Fortunately, I now have two cats that are channeling their inner Millie and keeping the varmints at bay.