Mice in chicken coop

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It has been a wetter year than normal here in New Mexico. I think this has helped lead to a bumper crop of mice. When I sit out in my gazebo at dusk I have seen a fair amount of mice scurry along the top of the cinder-block fence/wall and also scurrying through the bushes and shrubs around me.

I recently noticed mice droppings in the coop and really don't want them in the coop, crapping everywhere, crawling all over any eggs that didn't get collected before nightfall, eating the chicken feed, spreading diseases. I know the best thing to do is to put the feed in at night but the chickens are messy so there would still be pellets on the floor of the coop even if I put the feed pail up. I decided to start trapping them with standard Victor snap traps. I had caught one a few nights ago with a trap that broke after it got one. Today I bought 4 new traps, baited them with peanut butter and then set in an area the chickens can't get to. 3 hours after sunset I checked them and there was a mouse in each one, plus two more mice that were just hanging out and not trapped when I shined a light on them. I feel a little bad about killing them but I really don't want mice in my coop. One of the trapped mice wasn't completely dead. Not only did I feel bad about him not dying quickly from the snap trap but also because I had to take a shovel to him. There are lots of things I never expected I'd have to deal with before I got chickens. This is pretty near the top of unpleasant things I didn't expect to have to deal with.
 
greenchile said:
It has been a wetter year than normal here in New Mexico. I think this has helped lead to a bumper crop of mice. When I sit out in my gazebo at dusk I have seen a fair amount of mice scurry along the top of the cinder-block fence/wall and also scurrying through the bushes and shrubs around me.

I recently noticed mice droppings in the coop and really don't want them in the coop, crapping everywhere, crawling all over any eggs that didn't get collected before nightfall, eating the chicken feed, spreading diseases. I know the best thing to do is to put the feed in at night but the chickens are messy so there would still be pellets on the floor of the coop even if I put the feed pail up. I decided to start trapping them with standard Victor snap traps. I had caught one a few nights ago with a trap that broke after it got one. Today I bought 4 new traps, baited them with peanut butter and then set in an area the chickens can't get to. 3 hours after sunset I checked them and there was a mouse in each one, plus two more mice that were just hanging out and not trapped when I shined a light on them. I feel a little bad about killing them but I really don't want mice in my coop. One of the trapped mice wasn't completely dead. Not only did I feel bad about him not dying quickly from the snap trap but also because I had to take a shovel to him. There are lots of things I never expected I'd have to deal with before I got chickens. This is pretty near the top of unpleasant things I didn't expect to have to deal with.
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I feel your pain. i'm currently battling rats in my back yard. I've put out traps the last two nights. Caught two rats the first night, three rats last night. Made my boyfriend check the traps the first morning because I was afraid of that encountering one that wasn't fully dead, but both were dead. This morning I woke up to let the girls out, and the first trap I checked, I saw the rat still moving and it started squealing when it saw me. The trap had somehow gotten it by the back leg. I had to wake the boyfriend up to dispatch it. there is no way I could have done it. I hate putting out the traps and having to kill them, but they have started tunneling into my run and I don't want them in there either. And our shed is full of rat droppings. And it's creepy as heck to hear them rustling in the leaves when I get home from work after work and go out to lock the girls up. Plus, they like to hang out outside my sliding glass bedroom door at night and one of my indoor cats sits there and attacks the door all night which drives us crazy. Once we feel like the population is more under control, I might try one of those predator pee based repellent sprays to see if that keeps them away enough to avoid setting traps, but I'm not confident that this will work. I really hate having to kill them, though, but I really don't see much of an alternative, considering how quickly rodents get out of hand.
 
It is an ongoing battle and the rain this spring sure made a population explosion around here too.

I have tiny mice that seem to be able to clean the snap traps without triggering them.
I have resorted to the bucket traps with great success.

I did this but used a wire coat hanger and water bottle smeared with peanut butter. It took literally 5 minutes to build and has caught 12 mice so far. Cost was about 3 dollars (just the bucket) I had the other stuff on hand lol.
I do not use antifreeze. I just use plain water about 6 inches deep.
Gross but very effective. I am going to put one in the coop at night to see if I can get some more of them dealt with. Thinking I will make a dome of chicken wire over the top to keep chickens out of it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/747201/5-gallon-bucket-mouse-trap
 
I've done everything eggchel recommended...danced around in a blood moon with a Mother Mary candle too...nothing worked until I just got one of my 5 gallon horse buckets. I put Layena and a paper towel with peanut butter on it in the bottom of the bucket. Then I put the bucket halfway under the shelf where I see all the mouse droppings. Poof! A lovely no-kill mouse trap. They jump down into it and can't get out. Hilarious when two of my cats jumped in after them...hahahhaa. This really does work. I take them out into the east pasture and let them go. The cats come along too, as does my Great Pyrenees dog. The mice don't usually make it through the fence.
It also helps to hang the feeders way up near the ceiling for several nights so the mice have to get into the bucket to feed. Good Luck!
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