Mice in chicken coop- help?

[tweetzone86]

Hello all!

Well, dang it! I'm dealing with mice in the chicken coop! It's a 12x8 lofted barn shed, and since we don't have a chicken door cut in it (it's not going to be a permanent coop- we're working on a new one soon) the big door is open during the day.

Problem is, we have mice droppings in their feeder, and the other evening I closed the door and collected eggs, and spotted a mouse just as it ran under a lip in the vinyl flooring we have in there. Plus, a few of the chickens seem to be missing a couple of breast feathers. We live on 5 acres of pasture (and are building our house and currently can only mow a portion as we're using a backyard mower and don't have a riding one), and it's not fenced yet (plus severe cat allergies in the family).

Any tips? We built a feeder out of a rubbermaid tote with four 45 degree 4" elbows and it holds 50 lbs of feed, so it's not easily moved once full. We're going through a lot more feed than usual (50 lbs about every ten days +/-), despite only having 9 hens now instead of 12 (three died- two unknown (one old house, and one here in the past 2 months) and one from eating screws) and we REALLY need to get this mouse problem under control. I'm not paying for mouse feed!

Any tips! Using pine shavings as bedding now (was using hay before) and new coop we're building will have 1/2" hardware cloth lining a dirt floor with 2-3" of sand on top of it.

 

[IamRainey]

The VERY good news is that you'll be moving your chickens into a different permanent structure!

Getting rid of rodents is TOUGH. Much easier in your unique circumstances to make sure you don't get them in your new coop/run. To do that plan to get heavy gauge hardware cloth with 1/2" mesh. They won't be able to get through that. Either dig it in 12" all the way around your enclosure or embed it in a concrete footing that is dug down further than they'll tunnel. Then make sure you take it all the way to the roof. Make sure there are no voids in your structure. Take a flashlight out at night and see that there are no "leaks" of the light. If there are, seal them with sturdy materials or stuff them tight with steel wool.

Meanwhile, for now, take every scrap of food out of the coop/run when the chickens go in to roost. You can put down any of a number of traps that you can find on YouTube ONLY when the chickens are secured in their coop and make sure they're all taken up BEFORE the chickens are loose again. Repeat until they're gone or you move your chickens into their new rodent-proofed digs.

 

[tweetzone86]

The VERY good news is that you'll be moving your chickens into a different permanent structure!

Getting rid of rodents is TOUGH. Much easier in your unique circumstances to make sure you don't get them in your new coop/run. To do that plan to get heavy gauge hardware cloth with 1/2" mesh. They won't be able to get through that. Either dig it in 12" all the way around your enclosure or embed it in a concrete footing that is dug down further than they'll tunnel. Then make sure you take it all the way to the roof. Make sure there are no voids in your structure. Take a flashlight out at night and see that there are no "leaks" of the light. If there are, seal them with sturdy materials or stuff them tight with steel wool.

Meanwhile, for now, take every scrap of food out of the coop/run when the chickens go in to roost. You can put down any of a number of traps that you can find on YouTube ONLY when the chickens are secured in their coop and make sure they're all taken up BEFORE the chickens are loose again. Repeat until they're gone or you move your chickens into their new rodent-proofed digs.

Won't the chickens hurt themselves on the traps? The mice got in through the door when it's open during the day, I'm sure of it. They're nesting underneath the vinyl flooring where it has a lip by the sole plate in the shed. The darn things chewed holes to get into it from above, not below.

 

[IamRainey]

Won't the chickens hurt themselves on the traps? T

YES! They will. That's why you can only put traps out at night when the birds are secured in their coop and the rodents are more active. And you have to remove every trap before you let the chickens out again.

This is why I say it's worth EVERY effort and expenses to make you new enclosure rodent-proof and never have to deal with this again.

 

[tweetzone86]

YES! They will. That's why you can only put traps out at night when the birds are secured in their coop and the rodents are more active. And you have to remove every trap before you let the chickens out again.

This is why I say it's worth EVERY effort and expenses to make you new enclosure rodent-proof and never have to deal with this again.

The mice are INSIDE the coop, not outside...don't think outside traps will do any good...

 

[neo71665]

Don't feed inside the coop. When chickens roost at night they don't feed or drink.

Remove what the mice are after. Your still gonna have to trap them. Might shut the chickens out during the day and put down traps. Take the traps up before you let them back in for the night.

 

[tweetzone86]

Don't feed inside the coop. When chickens roost at night they don't feed or drink.

Remove what the mice are after. Your still gonna have to trap them. Might shut the chickens out during the day and put down traps. Take the traps up before you let them back in for the night.

Ok. Will their feed be all right outside? Should it be in the coop at least in winter? We get a lot of snow here.

That lock outside trap inside idea could work. I'm also going to have hubby take a box knife and cut the vinyl to be flush with the floor and remove the lip under it where they're hiding during the day and nesting.

 

[neo71665]

You need to make sure it can't get wet. I use the DIY 5 gallon bucket feeder. Mine sits outside year round but we don't have deep snow. My run is under a big ceder tree and I've yet to see any wet feed.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...lon-25-feed-bucket-feeder-for-about-3.834227/

 

[mailmamm]

Removing the feed helps a lot. Make smaller size feeder that you can move easily inside your home at night. This worked for me. Also I make plaster of paris and cornmeal dough balls and toss them along walls where rats have left poop trails. Do not let your chickens get the dough balls though. The dough balls helped too. When I found a nest a put a ball nearby and destroyed the rat nest.

 

[cmom]

I had a rat infestation in one of my coops. I tore out the ceiling and walls we had put in the inside and the rats had nests in them and when I was taking them out dozens of rats of all sizes came pouring out. I wish I had my camera handy but unfortunately didn't. I tried many different things to eliminate them. I finally resorted to poison. I had seen some rats in our barn which is behind the coops. I bought some rat bait stations and set them in the barn in places where only the rats could get to them. I was surprised I didn't find any bodies but the bait was disappearing. There is a little window above the bait so I can check it often. As the baits were being eaten by the rats I replaced them. Eventually I didn't see any more rats or their droppings. I did find some tunnels around the coops which I'm sure were made by the rats and suspect they went into their tunnels and died and that is why I didn't find any bodies. This is what I used.