Mice in the coop!

[Chickenmomof6]

Think so yes blue and red makes purple

The bottom of my coop is completely closed with hardware cloth. They are small, and fit trough the netting. I used to raise mice for my snakes, and I know from experience that mice that size can get trough. I had to overlap 2 sheets of hardware cloth to keep them inside their cages. Any way you could switch it out? Yours seem big enough to keep out the bigger pests, not the move unfortunately

 

[Chickenmomof6]

Make sure to use 1/4inc hardwire cloth. Mice cannot get through that.

 

[Altairsky]

1/4 inch is 6mm right? Mine is 5mm. They get trough. They are a small species of mice.

 

[Al Gerhart]

1/4 inch is 6mm right? Mine is 5mm. They get trough. They are a small species of mice.

That is incredible. I mean, that is the size of a shelf bracket hole in a cabinet, smaller than a pencil. Even a ratproof treadle feeder would have to be special made to very tight tolerances to keep out a mouse that could fit through a 1/4" hole. It would be easy to do, just hang the door down to around 1/8" gap, we normally leave up to a quarter of an inch. On the other hand, they couldn't climb the slick sheet metal to get to the gap and I wouldn't believe something that small would be able to leap 4" up so maybe not.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Agreed! I actually read the review on the Grampa feeder but opted to buy this expensive thing anyway because I was desperate. The rats were definitely eating from it at night. I know that because the food was going rapidly. We had to lay a rock on it each evening, but the rats still got into the coop because they were smelling it I guess. Being that they were still getting into the coop, we had to do something very drastic, which is putting hardwire around the entire coop (walls and floor). It took a couple of days with two people to do both. It was definitely worth it, because we haven’t seen any rats in weeks
That is why the hardwire cloth was the way to go. To hardwire the whole cook, we used two 50’ mesh rolls that cost $59. each. It did the trick and would highly recommend this.

You did your research before buying, good for you! Informed customers are the best customers.

The Chinese made Grandpa feeder and all the other clones made in China as well, all cannot stop mice or rats. The fatal flaw in their design is that the lid goes overhead, a guillotine style lid, so the lid has to be super light and balanced to avoid crushing or trapping a hen's head. So mice, rats, even tiny ground squirrels that are smaller than rats can just push up the lid and chow down.

The proper way to build a treadle feeder is to swing the door inward then spring load the door so that you have some resistance to a mouse or rat trying to push the door open. It isn't that simple, the long door means you have a lot of leverage against the spring so you need three to five pounds of force on the axle to have enough resistance at the bottom of the door. Luckily rats and even squirrels just are not very strong, three to four ounces is plenty, even if they know the feed is there they simply aren't strong enough to push the door open enough to get inside.

Now two squirrels might or a dozen rats might, but they are going to get trapped once they push into the feeder. We had one commercial flock owner that ordered dozens of our feeders. The first morning he emailed mad as hell. One of the feeders was packed with dead rats, dozens had fought their way in and suffocated. The next morning, same thing, different feeder. The first feeder he had cleaned and chloroxed and put back into use. The rats left that one alone and went to another feeder. His second email said, hold up, we are good we think. The rats went through two dozen feeders one by one and at the end either the rats were wiped out or they had left because his problem was solved.

That was the reason we switched from a simple wood block for mounting to a metal french cleat so you could lift the feeder off for cleaning. Only happened to that one customer but he had thousands of rats he said. So if that happens, more likely with squirrels than rats, you lift the feeder off the cleat, dump the feed into a clean box or trash can, dispose of the rats, drown them if any are still alive before dumping them. You might even have to remove four screws to remove the door if it is packed with squirrels. But that is rare, most of the time the squirrels don't gang up, usually a batch of siblings that are still hanging around the nest before the mom drives them away.

But the worst part of the grandpa feeder is the requirement to leave the lid blocked open for several weeks. It teaches the hens that the lid isn't supposed to move when they use the feeder so it makes it much harder to train chickens to use the feeder. And, worse, it teaches the dang rodents and squirrels and wild birds that the feed is still there, to either gang up on the treadle or wait till a hen is eating.

The other fatal flaw is the wide and close in treadle step. Great for silkies and bantams, horrible if you are trying to keep vermin out of th feed. A proper treadle feeder has a narrow and distant treadle, a perch, not a wide platform. So if the squirrels or rats gang up, they can't reach the feed, rush forward, door closes. Either they don't get to eat or their buddies get trapped and killed. We recommend people using our Duck Steps to slowly move the duck step back or trim a bit off of it each week until it is no longer needed or is so far back that it can't be used by rats to get to the feed. Then again, once the rats are gone they are far less likely to come back and it takes less rat proofing abilities for the feeder to keep them out.

So your method of excluding, the #2 step on Howard E.'s excellent post on dealing with rodents, does work but it is more expensive. $128.00 of wire, plus the staples, plus two days for two people, four days of labor hired would be cost prohibited. Downsides, no free range, the coop has to be kept tight from now on, plus the cost and four days labor has got to be over $600 in most places, so you would be $700 to $1200 in expense to accomplish.

Then again, that cost spread out over twenty years with a little maintenance is paid for many times over in feed savings. A treadle feeder will last ten years IF you keep it up on patio blocks, maybe longer, so you would be spending $260 on two feeders with shipping for the same 20 years, assuming you bought two and stored one in a dry place to avoid inflation.

So yes, as you have pointed out very clearly, exclusion works, but had you had not been misled by the marketing or did a bit more research and found an actual ratproof feeder, you would have paid 50 to 60% more and saved four days of labor. The only real tragedy is the propaganda that the chinese made feeders work, you would have been better off just paying for the hardware cloth and doing the work or spending your hard earned money on a real ratproof feeder.

 

[Chickenmomof6]

1/4 inch is 6mm right? Mine is 5mm. They get trough. They are a small species of mice.

1/4 inch is 6mm right? Mine is 5mm. They get trough. They are a small species of mice.

 

[Chickenmomof6]

That is 1/4 inch hardwire cloth. Mice cannot get through that.

 

[Delphene]

Post pics of the coop, inside and out.

Okay.

 

[Delphene]

I had rats!! Many of them!!!! After months of going crazy trying everything possible from traps to snaps, I did two game changing things:
1. They love to dig, so I bought “Grampa’s feeder” from Amazon. Expensive but worth it. I put a rock on it also at night to keep the feeder closed. They really weren’t fond of stepping on the feeder, so I have it propped open all day.
2. I also really went crazy and used hardwire cloth around the entire inside walls of my coop. I then dug down about 10 inches around the entire floor of the coop and put hardwire cloth down (hammering galvanized chicken wire staples to the wood around the whole floor/wall perimeter). I know this seems extreme, but mice and rats will tunnel and burrow under the coop. The hardwire cloth was also cheaper on Amazon than Lowe’s or Home Depot. The exact one I got for $59. Worked like a charm!! No sightings in exactly three weeks!!! I know that for a fact because they are no more droppings around, and the biggest tell-tale signs were digging in the corner to get out and tunnels… No more at all!! Good luck. I hope this helps

AMAGABELI GARDEN & HOME Hardware Cloth 1/4inch 36inchx50ft 23Gauge Galvanized After Welding Wire Metal Mesh Roll​

Thank you! This information will be useful. Were getting some hardwire cloth today.

 

[Chickenmomof6]

You did your research before buying, good for you! Informed customers are the best customers.

The Chinese made Grandpa feeder and all the other clones made in China as well, all cannot stop mice or rats. The fatal flaw in their design is that the lid goes overhead, a guillotine style lid, so the lid has to be super light and balanced to avoid crushing or trapping a hen's head. So mice, rats, even tiny ground squirrels that are smaller than rats can just push up the lid and chow down.

The proper way to build a treadle feeder is to swing the door inward then spring load the door so that you have some resistance to a mouse or rat trying to push the door open. It isn't that simple, the long door means you have a lot of leverage against the spring so you need three to five pounds of force on the axle to have enough resistance at the bottom of the door. Luckily rats and even squirrels just are not very strong, three to four ounces is plenty, even if they know the feed is there they simply aren't strong enough to push the door open enough to get inside.

Now two squirrels might or a dozen rats might, but they are going to get trapped once they push into the feeder. We had one commercial flock owner that ordered dozens of our feeders. The first morning he emailed mad as hell. One of the feeders was packed with dead rats, dozens had fought their way in and suffocated. The next morning, same thing, different feeder. The first feeder he had cleaned and chloroxed and put back into use. The rats left that one alone and went to another feeder. His second email said, hold up, we are good we think. The rats went through two dozen feeders one by one and at the end either the rats were wiped out or they had left because his problem was solved.

That was the reason we switched from a simple wood block for mounting to a metal french cleat so you could lift the feeder off for cleaning. Only happened to that one customer but he had thousands of rats he said. So if that happens, more likely with squirrels than rats, you lift the feeder off the cleat, dump the feed into a clean box or trash can, dispose of the rats, drown them if any are still alive before dumping them. You might even have to remove four screws to remove the door if it is packed with squirrels. But that is rare, most of the time the squirrels don't gang up, usually a batch of siblings that are still hanging around the nest before the mom drives them away.

But the worst part of the grandpa feeder is the requirement to leave the lid blocked open for several weeks. It teaches the hens that the lid isn't supposed to move when they use the feeder so it makes it much harder to train chickens to use the feeder. And, worse, it teaches the dang rodents and squirrels and wild birds that the feed is still there, to either gang up on the treadle or wait till a hen is eating.

The other fatal flaw is the wide and close in treadle step. Great for silkies and bantams, horrible if you are trying to keep vermin out of th feed. A proper treadle feeder has a narrow and distant treadle, a perch, not a wide platform. So if the squirrels or rats gang up, they can't reach the feed, rush forward, door closes. Either they don't get to eat or their buddies get trapped and killed. We recommend people using our Duck Steps to slowly move the duck step back or trim a bit off of it each week until it is no longer needed or is so far back that it can't be used by rats to get to the feed. Then again, once the rats are gone they are far less likely to come back and it takes less rat proofing abilities for the feeder to keep them out.

So your method of excluding, the #2 step on Howard E.'s excellent post on dealing with rodents, does work but it is more expensive. $128.00 of wire, plus the staples, plus two days for two people, four days of labor hired would be cost prohibited. Downsides, no free range, the coop has to be kept tight from now on, plus the cost and four days labor has got to be over $600 in most places, so you would be $700 to $1200 in expense to accomplish.

Then again, that cost spread out over twenty years with a little maintenance is paid for many times over in feed savings. A treadle feeder will last ten years IF you keep it up on patio blocks, maybe longer, so you would be spending $260 on two feeders with shipping for the same 20 years, assuming you bought two and stored one in a dry place to avoid inflation.

So yes, as you have pointed out very clearly, exclusion works, but had you had not been misled by the marketing or did a bit more research and found an actual ratproof feeder, you would have paid 50 to 60% more and saved four days of labor. The only real tragedy is the propaganda that the chinese made feeders work, you would have been better off just paying for the hardware cloth and doing the work or spending your hard earned money on a real ratproof feeder.

All of that is so true. I wish I could send back the feeder!!! Really isn’t good. I’m better off taking the feeder inside at night. We have a construction company so we had everything except the hardwire cloth. It took my husband and I a few hours to complete it. With his expertise and my hard labor (lol) we were a good team Honestly, if it took me a week I would have still done it! Anything to get rid of those nasty rats…