Mouse & Rat Control

[dsboyce]

Hello everyone, I am new to the site and new to raising chickens. I have a question about keeping mice and rats out of the feed.

We just moved our meat chickens out to the coop this weekend and are hanging them with chains. I have been thinking about just raising the feeders out of the reach of the chickens at night. Will mice be able to climb down the chains to get to the food?

Thank you.

 

[Makomd]

Mice can get pretty much anywhere they want to. You may need to use traps at this point if you already have a problem. If you do not have a problem yet, prevention is key. Closed bins, sweep up spillage, etc. The chickens will terrorize the mice if it is small numbers, but if the mice are out of control time to trap or poison, but keep in mind chickens will eat mice so where and how you poison will need to be thought out.

 

[bugflipper]

I imagine they could do some crazy acrobatics to get free food. Maybe try drilling a hole in the middle of a 5 gallon bucket and thread the chain through it. During the day when it's down put the handle in the top of the feeder to prop the bucket up. Or stick a big nail through the chain under the bucket to keep it propped up. At night knock the bucket handle out or pull the pin and let the bucket drop down over the feeder.

 

[dsboyce]

Thank you. We went ahead and got metal trash cans to stick the feeders in at night. We didn't have an infestation, so this is purely prevention.


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