I did something foolish, and now probably deserve the mouse problem I think I have. Over Christmas, I was going away for a few weeks, so to entertain the girls between chicken-sitter visits, I bought them a flock block for their run. After I returned, I noticed they hadn't touched it. A few weeks ago, my daughter said "oh mom, they are finally eating the block!" Indeed, they had whittled away at it. Tonight, it's halfway gone. However, for the first time, I heard some rustling in the straw on the floor of the run...and some more, and some more. I don't think the chickens ate it at all...I think I have mice (or, gasp, rats...I don't even want to think about that). I had lured them right in. Ugh. I know mice come with having chickens, but I haven't had them yet and I am DEATHLY afraid of them and need to get rid of them! I don't think I can handle snap traps (I figured I could put them in a cage in the run the girls can't get to), and I don't want to do poison in case the chicks eat the mice. I built 1/4" hardware cloth all around and buried--how did they get in there!?? Help! It's so gross I don't think I will sleep tonight!
If chickens see mice they eat them! I'm sure you might have rats but I believe your chickens would keep the mice population down, mine do!
Rats are much larger. Mine are also (or tend to be) nocturnal and dig holes for access. I have been investigating ways to get rid of them so far the leading contender is http://www.ratzapper.com/ and http://www.amazon.com/Victor-M240-Electronic-Rat-Trap/dp/B000LNX06C . The price is a bit high on my budget so no decision yet.
I have rodent issues. I have used a variety of means to get rid of them. The electric traps work great, but EAT batteries up like crazy. Snap traps work, but need to be kept out of the reach of the birds, so I pop a milk crate over the top of them weighed down with a heavy paving stone. A .22 with a scope works well for rats/squirrels/chipmunks and improves your aim. Live traps work OK, but often get cleaned out by non-target rodents without catching anything. I never had much luck with the multi-catch traps. I like them in theory, but the reality is they are not very effective. I hope this helps. Good luck.
Our rodent issue is a large, getting larger each year, population of chipmunks. I'd mentioned to my partner how I was going to visit my parents and pick up my old pellet gun to wittle down the population and she became very upset at the notion of killing these cute little bugger that eat out chicken feed and burrow far too many holes for access to our yard. This summer I'll just not mention it and have my pellet gun handy those days she's away and I get to bask in the sun with drinks on the deck.
We have only had intermittent rat problems. I'm more of a lover than a fighter, so we borrowed a ordinary live trap and used it as a template to build our own. I have relocated all our periodic rodent guests with great success. I just have to keep putting it out until they are all caught and make sure to drive them out several miles for release. Leather gloves and an old ax handle let me handle the trap with no fear of catching rat cooties.
One of the biggest reason for rodents in a coop is the availability of feed. If you do not feed inside the coop rodents have little reason to be there other than passing through. Do you have somewhere outside the coop you can feed your chickens?
The first time I got a flock block my girls just looked at it. Once they started pecking it, it was gone within a few days. Set some traps and see if you catch any.
I have a dog breed with a shiu-tuz and blue healer, he loves to go out by the chicken coop and sometimes he will bring bsck to use rats. we never have problems with rats because he kills any rat he sees. you should just get a small dog to get rid of them.
