Mouse in the pen

[Cheekychook12]

I came across a mouse in my chickens feed, but when I came near it it didn’t run away it just sat there
I poked it gently with a stick to see if it was alive and it slowly scuttled away, do you think there was something wrong with it? Should I do anything to secure the coop?

 

[tlcmurphy]

The rodents aren’t afraid of us either. If it’s a mouse it should be afraid of the chickens!

 

[Cheekychook12]

The rodents aren’t afraid of us either. If it’s a mouse it should be afraid of the chickens!

The chickens were in bed, the little thing looked like it was scared

 

[Al Gerhart]

Scared or sick. It carries diseases that can kill you so I'd never allow a rodent to survive if I could help it. Where you see one, there are dozens. Some chickens will kill mice, on occasion one chokes to death on a mouse, many chickens won't touch them and very few will touch a full grown rat.

Get your bulk feed secured first, then a decent treadle feeder and read the negative reviews first to see if the person had a rodent problem and if it solved it or not. Never trust a "review" that has a link headed back to Amazon, they are earning commissions "recommending" the "best" feeders.

Clean up the area so the mice have no place to hide when they travel between the food and their den. For mice, they will live within say 50 to 60 feet from their food source.

Securing the coop can be done but it will cost 20 times the cost of a decent treadle feeder.

 

[Twilia]

The chickens were in bed, the little thing looked like it was scared

Poor critter. Mice are not preferable with chickens. Better seal that food away.
I would try to catch him before you birds do If you can, use a tall bucket with some bricks or ramp (something he will be able to climb) against the side. Lightly pad the bottom and Place tidbits of food inside the "trap". The idea is that a mouse will smell the food, cleverly use the objects to access the food, fall into the trap and be unable to excape. You can then release him into a meadow, woodland or such with a water source.

 

[Cheekychook12]

Scared or sick. It carries diseases that can kill you so I'd never allow a rodent to survive if I could help it. Where you see one, there are dozens. Some chickens will kill mice, on occasion one chokes to death on a mouse, many chickens won't touch them and very few will touch a full grown rat.

Get your bulk feed secured first, then a decent treadle feeder and read the negative reviews first to see if the person had a rodent problem and if it solved it or not. Never trust a "review" that has a link headed back to Amazon, they are earning commissions "recommending" the "best" feeders.

Clean up the area so the mice have no place to hide when they travel between the food and their den. For mice, they will live within say 50 to 60 feet from their food source.

Securing the coop can be done but it will cost 20 times the cost of a decent treadle feeder.

Thankfully it was only in my smaller pen with a small food source, most of my feed is secured in bins, I’ll show you pictures of the feeder I have
Problem with killing it is there’s a number of endangered mice and rodents here that are hard to tell apart from regular mice, I do prefer not to kill anyway

 

[Cheekychook12]

Poor critter. Mice are not preferable with chickens. Better seal that food away.
I would try to catch him before you birds do If you can, use a tall bucket with some bricks or ramp (something he will be able to climb) against the side. Lightly pad the bottom and Place tidbits of food inside the "trap". The idea is that a mouse will smell the food, cleverly use the objects to access the food, fall into the trap and be unable to excape. You can then release him into a meadow, woodland or such with a water source.

I haven’t seen the mouse since but I can set such a trap, there’s a nature reserve nearby that will do if I catch him

 

[Cheekychook12]

Well I found it dead this morning, so you were right about it having a disease I’m guessing, should I still set traps?
Here are the feeders I’m using at the moment

 

[Al Gerhart]

That is a rat buffet.

Any wild creature that allows you that close is dying or close to it. I heard that the actors wife that died in AZ a few weeks back, a week or so before her husband, died of hantavirus. Deadly stuff.

 

[Cheekychook12]

That is a rat buffet.

Any wild creature that allows you that close is dying or close to it. I heard that the actors wife that died in AZ a few weeks back, a week or so before her husband, died of hantavirus. Deadly stuff.

Would it work if I put a cover over it during the night? We have never had rodents here before
I figured that much
Thankfully no hantavirus in this country or at least no cases of it