Mice in the chicken run! How do I eliminate them?

[PoppasGrill]

We have had issues with mice , even with no access to the chicken feed, due to our donkey feed trough. We can’t eliminate the food source, though we have limited how much feed is left in the trough at night, so the mice started going into the trough in daylight hours and the donkeys will eat beside them.
We tried the peppermint oil spray, it made the barn smell good for a while, but didn’t repel the mice, think they liked it as we could see the mice setting on top of the areas we sprayed.
Then we tried the bucket/ rolling can trap baited with peanut butter. Never caught a single mouse.
Tried baking soda mixed in corn bread mix, with no visible results.
We go have a barn cat that will gift us a dead mouse every other day, well, half a dead mouse…
We don’t want to use poison , as we don’t want the ladies to eat a poisoned mouse, or our cat to eat one.
Next will be commercial traps, but rumor has it, for every one you get in a trap there are 10 others watching it hit the trap so they stay away .
Hope you find a solution that works for you, and let us know.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Surely you can limit the feed to the donkey to one feeding a day plus some quality hay? Or build it a tall trough that no mouse can leap into?

The only sure method of rodent control is to stop feeding them. You have heard right on traps and poisons, they are smart.

Don't make me start building rat proof donkey feeders..... shipping would be enormous.

 

[FourintheRun]

No, few will do but not many.

What about rats? I’m pretty sure we’ve got rats now that spring is here and there are big holes around our skirted run, unti and out of our run

 

[HillGuy]

Catchmaster traps work great. Put in a blob of peanut butter and it will load up. https://www.catchmaster.com/products/pro-series-multi-catch-mouse-trap

 

[FourintheRun]

Catchmaster traps work great. Put in a blob of peanut butter and it will load up. https://www.catchmaster.com/products/pro-series-multi-catch-mouse-trap

We currently have a 5 gallon bucket with openings in the bottom for the chickens to eat from. So most likely we are feeding rats also. I am looking into getting the treadle style feeder options. Have you used the brand called ratproofchickenfeeder?

 

[HillGuy]

We currently have a 5 gallon bucket with openings in the bottom for the chickens to eat from. So most likely we are feeding rats also. I am looking into getting the treadle style feeder options. Have you used the brand called ratproofchickenfeeder?

Have not. Looks interesting.

 

[pdnarus10]

I have my coops inside a closed run. I let my chickens free range most of the time unless the weather is bad or there’s more hawks in the area than normal. It’s getting colder though and for the past 3 weeks, I keep seeing mice in the run at night. They’re not in the coop that I’ve seen, just the run. I want them gone. Should I place traps out at night and remove them before the chickens come out in the mornings or is there a quicker and safer solution?

I would use hardware cloth and enclose the run. Traps outside of run to catch the mice. Check out some mice traps that are friendlier online. Some use a simple box with a flip door and then they can't get out.

 

[gila_dog]

Or just accept the fact that there will always be some mice around and don't worry about it. We keep the chicken feed in a metal trash can, so no mice can get in there. We feed the chickens some kitchen scraps, so until they eat those scraps there is food for the mice. The cat gets some of them, but not all. But they aren't really hurting anything.

 

[Al Gerhart]

My 95 year old mom's car had the wiring damaged twice by mice. First time it was just a few wires in the engine compartment, enough to have it towed for repair. Second time, the car was totaled by the insurance company after the car had set for a week while she was in the hospital. A $8000 payout to the insurance company.

Mice are not harmless.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

I have my coops inside a closed run. I let my chickens free range most of the time unless the weather is bad or there’s more hawks in the area than normal. It’s getting colder though and for the past 3 weeks, I keep seeing mice in the run at night. They’re not in the coop that I’ve seen, just the run. I want them gone. Should I place traps out at night and remove them before the chickens come out in the mornings or is there a quicker and safer solution?

maybe you should go with the og pest control. If you have a VERY well trained barn cat, a livestock/ herding dog, or maybe a pair of guinea fowl, they might be able to take care of the rodents.