Mouse made a burrow under the corner of my coop!

[sigmachigirl]

We caught one within 4 minutes of setting the trap!!! Not sure if there have been more since then, but I'm guessing that is why my kitten has been wanting to get to the coop!!! Best part with the trap I used, just uses peanut butter and you don't have to touch them to drop the dead bodies in the trash!

 

[taylorm17]

I'm pretty sure it was a mouse. I saw it pretty close. The whole may have been there previously. It was scrap wood. It was only the one mouse. That was a year or so back and that was the only one we have seen.

 

[Cowdoggin]

Yes Mice do burrow. Mice and rats also look different, (at least to me) plus a baby rat is the size of an adult mouse at 4wks of age and although wended it's not really leaving the nest area yet. And by 5 to 6 wks the baby rat is almost twice the size of an adult mouse.

Anyway, I simple use cats. Raise my cats around the chicks and ducklings, so they NEVER bother any chicks or duckling I have, whether in the house or outside, but still get rid of unwanted pest. However, I have heard/read that Buckeye chickens make pretty good mousers too..

Yaa, you dont have to get of your food/water, I dont even get rid of the food even if I catch a mouse in it... I just "try" to catch the mouse and help it find the cat...unless my daughter is with me and feels sorry for the poor mouse.. but keeping things picked up at night will discourage rodents from coming into the barn/pen.. But just remember, Mice/rats are smart and you may have to 'change things up" to eliminate ALL the pest..

 

[sigmachigirl]

It was definitely a field mouse, in our case. Very cute little thing. Looked nothing like a rat. So far no other catches here. Will have to put them out nightly I think for a while.

 

[ronott1]

Yes Mice do burrow. Mice and rats also look different, (at least to me) plus a baby rat is the size of an adult mouse at 4wks of age and although wended it's not really leaving the nest area yet. And by 5 to 6 wks the baby rat is almost twice the size of an adult mouse.

Anyway, I simple use cats. Raise my cats around the chicks and ducklings, so they NEVER bother any chicks or duckling I have, whether in the house or outside, but still get rid of unwanted pest. However, I have heard/read that Buckeye chickens make pretty good mousers too..

Yaa, you dont have to get of your food/water, I dont even get rid of the food even if I catch a mouse in it... I just "try" to catch the mouse and help it find the cat...unless my daughter is with me and feels sorry for the poor mouse.. but keeping things picked up at night will discourage rodents from coming into the barn/pen.. But just remember, Mice/rats are smart and you may have to 'change things up" to eliminate ALL the pest..

Thanks fort the tips!

 

[ronott1]

It was definitely a field mouse, in our case. Very cute little thing. Looked nothing like a rat. So far no other catches here. Will have to put them out nightly I think for a while.

Field mice are very cute. Here in California we have a native mouse called a Kangaroo Mouse. It has a very long tail.

 

[sigmachigirl]

Yeah, it was darling. I felt horrible catching it, but, I didn't want more adorable mice around my girls. We live in the PNW, Puget Sound area. The Kangaroo mouse sounds cute too. My husband got all squeamish. If our coop were further out from the house, we probably would have just let the cats do the work, but, our dogs, and kitten were going crazy over by the coop (just off our patio). I figured they were just being weirdos over the chickens. Guess not. The kitten ran straight for the area where the first mouse was caught. And yes, thank you thank you for all the advice all. Makes me feel a lot better. I was a little panicky this morning.

 

[Cowdoggin]

I lived in Phoenix, AZ as kid and if I remember right the Kangaroo mouse is there too, at least in some areas. I now live in Middleton ID (near Boise) and we deal with field mice and voles..at least the cats do anyway. But about 3-4 wks ago I found a mouse in the gain bin, when I went to feed the chickens/ducks. Got pict too.. When my 16 yer old daughter seen it the "poor little, brave mouse" trying get out. It was jumping up right where we was standing, showing No fear, and before I could stop her, my daughter reached in a picked the mouse up, by it's tail and put it across her arm. She never got bit. She really wanted to keep it. So yes, I broke down, because it was cute and seemed pretty friendly already..but luckily for me, the mouse escaped out of the coffee can before we made it out of the chicken barn..my daughter was a little upset and now she wants some pet mice from the pet store.

 

[ronott1]

I lived in Phoenix, AZ as kid and if I remember right the Kangaroo mouse is there too, at least in some areas. I now live in Middleton ID (near Boise) and we deal with field mice and voles..at least the cats do anyway. But about 3-4 wks ago I found a mouse in the gain bin, when I went to feed the chickens/ducks. Got pict too.. When my 16 yer old daughter seen it the "poor little, brave mouse" trying get out. It was jumping up right where we was standing, showing No fear, and before I could stop her, my daughter reached in a picked the mouse up, by it's tail and put it across her arm. She never got bit. She really wanted to keep it. So yes, I broke down, because it was cute and seemed pretty friendly already..but luckily for me, the mouse escaped out of the coffee can before we made it out of the chicken barn..my daughter was a little upset and now she wants some pet mice from the pet store.

That is a great Story!

 

[newchickmom]

I don't worry about mice because the chickens will kill and eat them. They are very quick catching them.