Mice in my coop!

[trinityZ61]

How to effectively rid my coop of mice?
I know they won’t be completely gone but it seems that they have rapidly reproduced and that they are making my chickens sick!

 

[ValerieJ]

Mouse traps. The kind they go into, not the kind that can harm your chickens.

 

[ValerieJ]

Oh and welcome to BYC!

 

[N F C]

Sorry to hear of the mouse problem.

Where do you keep your flock's feeders? And what type of feeders do you use? Any food left laying around in a coop or run will attract mice (and rats). Some people have had success using treadle feeders...if you use the Search Forums tool, you can find information about those. Some simply remove all food from the coop & run at the end of each day (be sure to put it back out in the mornings).

Traps can work, either the kind you buy (like the ones @ValerieJ mentions) or the kind that can be handmade. Poison left out for rodents can be a danger to poultry so be very careful using that.

Here's an article from the Learning Center that might be helpful:
mouse-chicken-pests-how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-mice.47699

Best of luck!

 

[BullChick]

I like the water trap in the coop.

 

[Claires Poultry]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

We're so glad to have you here with us!

Thank you for joining our wonderful community of fellow poultry enthusiasts!

 

[N F C]

View attachment 1945602
I like the water trap in the coop.

That's what I'd try if I had them in my coop.

 

[sourland]

Do an on site search on 'water trap'.

 

[Hughes Wildlife Farm]

Rats over threw my coop.... They are ALL gone. I used the little round green rat bait stuff.. I pour it in the rat holes, I would leave a pile by the rat holes, but no where that the chickens could get to. Rats dont stay in the coop, they do go out, so find that "out"... Took me 2 bags of rat pellets to finally get almost 20 dead rats, big suckers. Plus, I made the PVC pipe feeders. Put cover on every night, and remove covers every morning. Before I could afford the PVC pipes method... I would pull their feed bucket up really high at night, and lower it every morning... I put a glass casserole dish under their bucket feeder to catch the feed they would throw on the ground, so no food for the rats. I used glass because when I tried a cat little tray, they would just tip it over.. So, no food, no rats.
Took me about half the summer to get new "no mess" feeders, and kill every single rat

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

Just wanted to say welcome to the BYC flock!!!