Mice?

[riftnreef]

OK...I have some mice in the garage and they have moved their way to the chicken coop. The feed is stored in a steel trash bin, so they only food they are getting is what has been spilled from the hanging feeder, and trust me, my birds don't leave much. They have chewed a number of holes around the bottom of the shed/coop and I think they go in at night for shelter in the straw bedding more than anything. I only see them when I check in on the birds at night, and they run for a hole and off they go! My cats manage to get a few here and there and just leave them dead in the yard, but I would like to reduce their numbers a bit more.

Here is my quandry...If I put out poison, I'm afraid the mice, sickly from the poison would wander into the coop during daylight hours and hence be lunch for my hens who would in turn get sick. I can't position traps around the coop as my beagle would end up with a broken foot from constantly nosing around the base of the coop for lefterover "chicken lickin's" as we call their droppings for the dogs....eewwww! Anyway...suggestions?

 

[HEChicken]

I have the same problem. I bought one of those humane traps that you put peanut butter in. Supposedly it can catch and store 4-6 and then you dispose of them. I keep Corn Snakes so I was thinking this would be a great source of free food for them. The traps didn't catch a single mouse! I guess the allure of the chicken feed was better than the peanut butter. My cat is a pretty good predator and I know he does catch them but how many we don't know because he eats them whole. The only way I even know he catches them is one night we saw him sitting on the back deck with a half eaten one, chomping away. I had a Red Star who was a great mouser. She caught a couple of dozen of them last summer, including a pregnant female. Unfortunately she was killed by my neighbor's dogs in November and none of the others have shown any inclination to learn the skill. I'm considering getting some Buckeyes this year! They're very brazen and come out in broad daylight and sit and watch us.

 

[riftnreef]

Oh, I have no doubts that should a mouse be stupid enough to show it's face during daylight hours in my coop, it would be history. These are the same birds that like to play tug-a-war with snakes out of my garden! I doubt they would turn down a mouse if they saw it, but these mice have wised up and only hit the coop at night...during the daytime they hide underneath, or in the garage I assume.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Nocturnal rodents is why I like to keep a few rat snakes around my place.

 

[mkeawsh]

Quote:
What is a "Red Star"?

 

[riftnreef]

Red sex linked breed of chicken...same idea as a golden comet. Great birds...best temperment of any breed I've ever had outside of my Barred Rock hens.

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
I so agree - she was my favorite chicken (aren't they always the ones the predators get?) Great personality, very quiet, best layer of large, dark brown eggs. Only one who was a mouser, first to come running for treats. Yep - I miss her.

 

[henney penny]

I have a little entryway before going in where the chickens are so I set those traps that look like a close pin,and I catch mice allday and night,then I throw them into the chickens,the BO`S love them,extra protein,I figure they eat worms bugs and such why not mice.

 

[riftnreef]

Clothes pin?....can't picture it, but I may have to check it out...I could place them in the run during the night and catch a few maybe.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

I can relate! After having chickens for 3 years now the mice have finally found my coop. I've seen a few here and there over the past couple of months but the other night last I heard a strange noise outside so I went out to check on the chickens (they were fine) and I uncovered at least a half dozen mice hiding under a board in the coop! They scared me and I scared them, and boy did they run. Now I'm having nightmares about our coop being overrun with the little things but can't come up with a good solution for what will probably become a fast growing problem.