Mice and rats in hanging feeder

[Azmomm]

I currently use a metal feeder which is suspended from the coop roof. At night after chickens go into the enclosed coop area I lift the feeder off the ground with a chain and secure it til morning. The feeder is covered with a dish but the troigh still has food in it. Every morning i still find moise poops in it. Tonight i secured the.feeder within a plastic garbage bag before hanging it. Thoughts? I have traps set outside the coop but so far nothing. Maybe i will find one in the bag in morning

 

[CaramelKittey]

Yikes! What kind of bait do you use? In my goat barn, I use a little trap with peanut butter inside. It works great and keeps the mice alive for my Kitty Cat!
Not sure if this would work but.... I’ve been able to train my chickens to eat mice like insects by feeding them the dead mice my cat leaves around. They seemed to get a taste for it, and now eat mice and snakes. Gross but good.
Hope this helps!

 

[CaramelKittey]

Here is are some other things you could try.
1. Use solar powered motion sensors to scare the mice. (Haven’t tested this though and not sure if it would work)
2. Use a solar powered owl and place inside he coop. When a mouse runs by, it will place scary predator noises. This is to use to scare away hawks and owls. Should work with mice too.
3. Get a cute little Cat! They work great and are friendly, cuddly, and fluffy!
Hope this helps!

 

[CaramelKittey]

Could you scoop the food out of the feeder before closing it up? I do this with my goats and rarely have a mouse problem since.

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

Old fashion bucket trap. Fill a bucket with water (more then half way) and they go in for a drink, cant get out and drown. OR you find them still swimming in the am.

 

[Azmomm]

Gonna try the bucket trap. I use peanut butter and have ground squirrels, pack rats and mice. Seems so far only the mice can get into ft knox. No sucess with 2 kinds of snap traps. Lots of poop but no kills. Cant have kitties, dogs and coyotes, owls ...motion sensor does not seem to reguster the mice. I might eventially just take the whole feeder out though. Not really sure where to put it though

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

Be aware that rats can swim longer and handle stress better along with being smarter then mice just friendly FYI. When you do the bucket you'll need a bucket with a handle and the plastic grip. The idea is the handle is down by the water on the inside of the bucket, go in for a drink and slide on the slippery plastic grip attached to the handle.

Good luck! Let us know how many you get!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

You could put the feeder into a secure can or I have used an extra broody cage where the wire is too small for mice to enter. I dont think your bag will help. They run them rafters and right down that chain into the bag. I hate stinking mice.

 

[DoeAndGander]

I’m not sure if you guys have a fleet farm down that way but I picked up some smaller tin trash cans with lids that would work great for putting your feeder in at night

 

[aart]

No sucess with 2 kinds of snap traps. Lots of poop but no kills.

What kind of snap traps?
I like the old fashioned kind with metal kill wire, spring is stronger.
Those plastic 'easy empty' ones are too wimpy.

2 things that greatly improved my kill rate with snap traps:
-Put bait end of trap against a wall or other flat surface at least 6" tall and wide.
-I use scratch grains for bait now, cram one piece of corn or sunflower seed tightly into trigger loop.