Mouse or rodent control

[Kanga77510]

What's the best one? I've seen droppings in the coop and want to sang the little bugger. Poison could get into the chickens, and would the snap traps break their toes? I want the rodent to be dispatched quickly.

 

[chocolate m'scovy]

Put the cats in the chicken house.

 

[4 Love of Baby Chickens]

Read my lips.

get ------------ a ---------- cat----------!!!!!

Cats are the best way to keep the mice and rats down without worrying about poison and don't bother with the snap traps. All you have to do is make sure they have food once a day and fresh water.

 

[Kanga77510]

We have two indoor kitties, I'm not thrilled with the idea of having an outdoor cat. Is there anything else I can do?

 

[chocolate m'scovy]

Why don't you want an outdoor cat? Ours roam outside almost all day and still love to come inside and snuggle on our beds.

 

[little_grey_bantam]

Outdoor cats don't typically live as long... and they are against the elements and wildlife

if they're not spayed, they will produce a crazy amount of kittens (sadly, sometimes people take their cats and "set them free" onto other peoples property when there are too many) and unaltered boys will mostly pee all over things... I know way too many people who have had barns and sheds, as well as cars, furniture and what not ruined by cat urine

Unless you get an altered cat, and plan to protect it, I would advise against it unless you really love them. At the same time, if you rescue (and alter) unwanted feral cats, you are saving lives... just make sure you spay/neuter them lol or it sort of defeats the purpose of giving a homeless animal a home.

If you're wanting another animal, a rat terrier would do a killer job. We've had a rescue rat terrier... he left rat bodies ALL over the yard, but pooed away from the house... our two rescue rat terriers now, 1 chases and kills AND eats the rodents he kills and the other 2 chases and kills and eats the rabbits in the yard. They never chase our birds, but were raised with our chickens from the beginning. We have also had a pair of rat terriers who were so feral (they were raised this way sadly) they lived in the coop. Never lost a bird while we had them. They HATED predators and they killed and ate rats and rodents.

Now if you want something else to get rid of rats, I'd leave Hav-A-Heart traps... we have caught literally hundreds, if not thousands of rodents throughout the year with them, though they are alive

Tossing snakes into the barn is alright, we've never lost a bird due to a snake, they eat rodents and leave.

That's about it lol Other than making sure you don't leave anything that rats would want to live in (give them a food source and a place to live and you have tenants

)

 

[kcfuerst]

My educated suggestion:

Remove **all** food sources for the evening.

Put a trash can in the coop that cannot roll over or move (like a square bathroom trash container). Face it in a direction that the girls cannot get into; i.e., up against the wall with only a crack a rat could get into, especially at night when the girls are asleep.

Put some wonderful food (peanut butter is awesome) for rats stuck tightly onto a snap trap with saran wrap (insures "tugging" thus snapping the trap) inside the can. Voila! Have a rat in the can the next day.

Repeat until satisfied all are caught.

Find the cracks and crevices where rats are entering your coop/run and eliminate them immediately.

 

[strawberryfields]

I am with you there... but how do you eliminate all entrances? We have horses and goats, too.

The bucket of death is what I will be trying next.

I also got a sparrow trap on order, should be great for mice, too.

Can't wait!

 

[atlantachickenwhisperer]

Hey Backyard Poultry Buffs,


Listen to Dr. Brigid McCrea, PhD, Poultry Scientist, Professor, and Small Flock Specialist discuss rodent control in the chicken coop.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/backyardpoultry/2010/01/21/backyard-poultry-with-the-chicken-whisperer

Enjoy!