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

[aart]

Properly set snap traps have worked the best for me,
in house/garage/sheds/coop,
the old school type with the wooden base and small metal trigger mechanism.

Two key things that upped success immensely:
-Place the bait end of trap against a wall or other flat surface(like a box at least 6" tall).
-Cram some solid bait tight into trigger so they have to really dig for it.
I've found sunflower seeds or a chunk of corn from chicken scratch mix to work very well for bait.....and no more pnut butter mess.

There are various ways to protect the chickens from them...in a box with mouse sized holes down low, under a milk crate or wire basket with holes big enough for mice but too small for chickens.

Been catching mice in under-house garage and sheds(rarely in house thank goodness) for 20 years, way before chickens happened here.

I keep some always set, and am especially vigilant in spring and fall.

 

[Lumley Farm]

Any ideas on how to safely rid chicken house of mice?

I have read and tried that bounce sheets deter them. Also, Irish Spring soap. I can't use kill techniques or poison because I have dogs here all the time, and we are on 10 acres. Better to deter, cause you can't kill them all!!! I plan on these deterrents when I get my hen house too. For squirrels, real Lavender essential oil to deter.

 

[Geena]

You can also use these.

 

[MissE]

My chickens chase mice. I'm sure some go in there at night, but haven't noticed much for droppings. My mouse problem is by the feed bins in the barn. I set traps there. I use metal garbage cans, but no matter how careful I am, I always end up spilling a few pellets.

 

[Lumley Farm]

My chickens chase mice. I'm sure some go in there at night, but haven't noticed much for droppings. My mouse problem is by the feed bins in the barn. I set traps there. I use metal garbage cans, but no matter how careful I am, I always end up spilling a few pellets.

My girlfriend said she saw the chickens eating a mouse.....

 

[CluckerFamily]

My girlfriend said she saw the chickens eating a mouse.....

My chickens love to eat mice.

 

[MissE]

My girlfriend said she saw the chickens eating a mouse.....

They are worse than cats when it comes to playing with their food. It's a team effort, and once they have a mouse surrounded, they take turns pecking the poor thing to death and throwing it around. Then they play tug of war and eat it. I should feel bad, but I don't. It's just more proof that Mother Nature is not kind.

 

[Sally PB]

Number one thing to get rid of mice in the coop: don't leave feed there overnight. Ditto in the run. If there is nothing to eat, they won't come back.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

Number one thing to get rid of mice in the coop: don't leave feed there overnight. Ditto in the run. If there is nothing to eat, they won't come back.

I would agree about 95%, mice also loke cozy dry warm places to make nests and any chicken/duck/pigeon coop would be prime, i get nests in the firewood piles in the woodshed and on the porch annually, and no food in there, but you are 100 percent correct that keeping available open food sources does wonders to prevent infestation.

 

[abpatchy]

When I took over the coop there were mice. They had chewed holes in the concrete floor thru doors. I worked with traps. It kinda helped keep them in check but only that. In November I walked into my coop a little later than I usually do and there were mice everywhere! 40 or 50 (well nourished might I add) mice running around. Jumping out of the feeder, walking up and down the walls. It was disgusting!! I had to do something more drastic. I ordered some mouse and rat poison. They were theses pait cubes and I attached them thru a hole in the middle with wire. The first ones just got carried off! Insane, I tell you!!! I placed them only in the feed room where the chickens wouldn't go. I also took away the chicken feed at night so they had to eat the poison.
At first I thought it doesn't work... mice everywhere still. But suddenly I noticed less... more and more less... and suddenly they were gone. I guess they packed up and left since so many of them died. And yes, the stench got really bad a few weeks after that. But I'd rather live with that than the mice. I can't raise chicks in there with that many mice running around. I have been mice free ever since... Hope it continues. It is only February.