Mice

[tackettsmillfarm]

OK, I've tried traps. I'm afraid to use poison because I don't want my chickens eating it. The cats do a great deal of damage to the mice, but not enough. The chickens actually attack one if they see it. I still have them in hen house at night. I see mouse poop every morning. I leave the non-poisonous snakes alone - even at the risk of them getting into the hen house and stealing eggs - which hasn't happened yet. I don't have the time to stand around and shoot them with a .22, but I wish I did. Any suggestions?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think mice are a fact of life with chicken feed around. I agree with you on the poison. It is an indiscriminate killer.

Continue trapping and don't feed the cats too much. A hungry cat is a better mouser but you don't want them to leave the area looking for food. Make sure your feed is secured in mouseproof containers. Clean up places they can nest and hide, piles of rubbish, piles of lumber, etc. I don't do a great job on this. Consider not leaving feed out for the chickens at night.

Hopefully others will have better ideas.

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

We have found that cayenne pepper works well to deter them from the places we don't want them. It is a respiratory irritant to them, but has no effect on the chickens. We sprinkle it in the chicken food and around anything we don't want them in.

We also have one of those silver box mouse traps that can hold up to thirty mice at a time (although mice have cannibalistic tendencies when food and water run out, so we empty ours regularly). I think it is called a humane mouse trap or something like that. We put a cracker with peanut butter inside it and catch 2-3 mice a night with that. Then we just leave it alone in the chicken run for a couple of days and my son empties it out. The chickens don't bother it, except to sit on top of it when the weather is hot. It did take over a week though for the mice to figure out how to get into it.

I know that mice are just a given problem when you have chickens, but we seem to be able to keep the population in check with constant trapping and keeping things clean. Don't leave anything around that will make a good home for them. Make sure treats and food are cleaned up. Also, make sure feathers are cleaned up. They like to eat the ends, and use the rest for nesting material.

HTH!

 

[citrusdreams]

The Co-Op and TSC have these black boxes in which you put blocks of mouse/rat poison. The box has small holes in it so that the mice can get in, but your chickens cannot. I put these under the henhouse, and just outside outbuildings, even in outbuildings. They work very well.

Note that chicks can get into the boxes. So if you want to get rid of your mice, you'll have to confine your chicks where they absolutely can't get to the boxes.