Mice

[MotherofHens5819]

So we have done all we can to make out coop pest and predator free but mice are just something I think we all deal with. We have open feeders and recently found some
Mice dropping. Obviously we don’t want it but can anyone tell us what the major concerns of mice are and then i gotta figure out the best way to entice them into spme
Sort of trap.

 

[nuthatched]

Snap traps, baited with bread mixed with peanut butter into a thick dough. Make sure you get it under the metal lip.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

can anyone tell us what the major concerns of mice are

Mice are carriers of disease and parasites, so you want to do what you can to keep them away from your chicken area. Removing feed at night (or finding a way to close the feeders) would be a priority if I were you.

 

[Penpal]

Your chickens don't need to have food in front of them all the time. Put out as much as they will eat at one time. Later, give them more food they will eat all at one time. How often you have to feed them will depend partly on if they also range and are eating other stuff.

Keep the rest of your feed in metal garbage cans.

 

[saysfaa]

Peanut butter.

Placing the traps is more important than what is used for bait. Set the traps along a wall, especially if there is stuff set along the wall that they can run behind.

After you catch the mice you know are there, take away their shelter too. Shelter is anything they might nest in and the things they can run behind.

And take away access into the buildings and maybe from one area to another within the buildings. Steel wool in the holes is worth doing but not enough by itself. Clearing clutter, brush, tall grass, and other shelter from around the building helps. A hardware cloth apron around the building and over openings like the eaves helps.

 

[springvalley123]

I used to put my metal food cans on concrete pavers to keep them off the ground, but the pavers are a natural nesting area for mice. Likewise, they would nest under the concrete blocks I used to provide a hopping up point for the nest boxes and roosts. Since your birds might want to check out whatever you put into the traps, you'll need to make sure the birds can't get at the traps. Someone else on this site has a great suggestion--they put the baited traps in wire dog crates. Even a plastic crate, the mice could get in through the closed door.