Mice in chicken house... any ideas on how to get rid of them? Without harming girls.

[Al Gerhart]

Control the feed, control the rodents. First step is investing in a good treadle feeder and do your research on third party websites that do not use Amazon links which are almost always affiliate links so they get a commission on the sale. Read the reviews starting with the negative reviews first. A lot of people bought a feeder not because they had rodents but because of feed waste or keeping feed dry so one of the plastic contraptions might work and get five star reviews at first. There will be a small number of negative reviews even on the best feeders available, some folks are just too darned dense to follow instructions or refuse to ask for help or are simply wanting something to complain about.

Any plastic involved is a bad thing, as are guillotine style overhead doors, as are wide treadle steps that clog easily. They need a spring loaded door or the varmits will just push the door open and gorge on your feed.

 

[MaGlockner]

does mint essential oil harm chickens? mice hate mint

 

[Al Gerhart]

Personally I have never heard of some sort of scent working at repelling mice. Lots of old wives tales that are repeated like plaster of paris or potato flakes mixed with other things but when you ask if they actually saw it worked the answer is usually no. It boils down to securing the feed, cleaning up the area, then as a last resort using poison but do the first two and the last one is not really needed.

 

[aart]

does mint essential oil harm chickens? mice hate mint

Any aromatic oils can be hard on their respiratory systems.
Plus.....

Personally I have never heard of some sort of scent working at repelling mice. Lots of old wives tales that are repeated

Agrees, with Al.

 

[MomvdH]

Bucket roller traps have pretty much eliminated my mouse and pack rat problems. Before that, they were eating my garden down to the soil, and running all over the coops and runs. They outsmarted every single type of trap I used. I now leave one bucket trap in each of my runs and keep the roller baited with peanut butter. I have flat sticks propped against each bucket so the mice can climb up to the roller. And I place each bucket trap in spots where I have found evidence of rodent activity. The buckets always are best against a wall since mice rarely like to travel out in the open space. I've caught several hundred mice and rats over the years. It is the most successful, easy to use trap I've ever tried. Those spring traps have caught my fingers more than once. Ouch! And I refuse to use poison anywhere near my chickens.

I realize this is a couple years old now, but can you leave this in the run with the chickens still in there? I want to leave one overnight for the mice, but my girls come out of the coop before I would come out to remove the trap.

 

[aart]

but can you leave this in the run with the chickens still in there?

Not a good idea to let chickens have access,
but you could fence it off to keep them away from it.

 

[MomvdH]

Not a good idea to let chickens have access,
but you could fence it off to keep them away from it.

Oh good idea! I bet it would fit in a wire dog crate! Set on end. Thank you!

 

[azygous]

I have my bucket roller traps in the runs. Aside from the chickens swiping the peanut butter off the rollers, there have never been any mishaps. But I certainly would never discourage playing it safe and preventing access to the traps. It will also save you having to keep putting new peanut butter on the rollers.