Mice

[NinjiChicki]

So we have mice with a brood of babies in our front yard, my husband doesn't want to dispose of them, despite my warning that they will keep having more broods of babies and will stick around.

I've noticed a lack of eggs from our chickens and ducks the last couple of years, partially due to it being so overly hot - 130+ feels like temps- and then rain. But I have a feeling it's also due to the mice.

What would you guys suggest, hubs doesn't want to get rid of them, but my gut says they are part of the issue. Dispose or let them be?

I'll also add in that I've heard them in our attic sometimes.

 

[NinjiChicki]

Husband here... They appear to be moving through as they are using a bird nest built by a pair a bewick wrens that passed through last year. Such that I've seen the mother and father mice are searching for and grabbing bugs to bring back to the nest.

I assure, as she can tell you, I am NOT hesitant to shoot a critter.

BUT

I don't kill for no reason. No matter the critter... Except spiders.

 

[Sussex19]

I've noticed a lack of eggs from our chickens and ducks the last couple of years, partially due to it being so overly hot - 130+ feels like temps- and then rain. But I have a feeling it's also due to the mice.

Mice tend to come and go, so if it has been a constant lack of eggs over such a lone timespan, I would say mice are unlikely to be the cause.
Having said that, if they multiply, it is not a good thing, as not only will they eat everything, they might spread disease as well. (or at least contaminate everything with their droppings)

 

[NinjiChicki]

Mice tend to come and go, so if it has been a constant lack of eggs over such a lone timespan, I would say mice are unlikely to be the cause.
Having said that, if they multiply, it is not a good thing, as not only will they eat everything, they might spread disease as well. (or at least contaminate everything with their droppings)

This brood is right over our garden I have strawberries and pineberries growing in, so that worries me, especially since our kids eat them right off the plants. They also seem to be going towards my blueberry plants that are flowering and growing tons.

Edit: The ones in the attic have been there a few years as well.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Mice destroy vehicle wiring harnesses, the idiot manufactures don't think it is a problem if the plastic used tastes sweet to a rodent. That alone is reason to exterminate any rodent that crosses your path. They spread disease and pests with their feces and urine AND they attract large predators that prey on both chickens, chicks, and eggs.

Ten become a hundred in months.

 

[NinjiChicki]

Update: Got rid of the babies in their nest, working on getting the adults now. Also, turns out we were both wrong, and they are actually rats. Yikes.