my feed room is infested with MICE!!!

[Marieaa70]

the title says it all... how do I get rid of them?! they are everywhere! I see them even during the day! they are chewing through the feed bags and are totally grossing me out. thank goodness they are not rats. I have used snap traps but it hasn't affected the population much. would mouse poisoning hurt my chickens or contaminate their feed? they are living in the straw bales and me and my faithful dog cant seem to catch them.

The best and only way is to get 1 or 2 cats

 

[edeveraux]

I have mice issues. Food is stored in airtight containers except what is available in the run. I use the heavy duty mouse mouse traps, swift kill, to manage them. I avoid poison.

 

[trainman]

Always keep your feed in galvanized metal trash cans with lids. They come in various sizes from about 5 to 40 gallons. You can buy them at WallyWorld, farm or feed stores and many other places. Mice or rats can't get through to the feed and they will keep feed dry if it rains in the storage area.

I'd recommend getting a cat or two. When I first got my chickens the floor literally crawled with mice eating the spilled feed around the feeder. I got a couple young cats from a friend and would lock them in with the chickens at night. They did a great job.

I also bought a metal live mouse trap at a hardware store in town. It's about the size and shape of a cigar box with 2 openings. Mice can go in but can't go out. Do what you want with them but I just plopped the trap in my pond next to the coop while taking care of the chickens and then came back and dumped the dead mice out. The chickens got some extra treats those days.

DON'T USE ANY KIND OF POISONS as the chickens might find the mice and eat them with bad results. Same with the old style spring traps. A curious chicken can get a broken neck from one.

Since getting the cats and using that trap I have not seen a mouse near the coop. The cats are still on patrol but the trap has been put away.

 

[UrbnGardenPeeps]

The best and only way is to get 1 or 2 cats

I thoroughly agree! I had a white cat who was about 14 pounds of solid muscle. He was a polydactyl and a hunting machine! I've watched him jump up and knock squirrels down out of trees! I saw him and a neighbor cat chase a raccoon out of our yard! He also chased a contractors dog (Rhodesian Ridgeback) and sent her yelping out of our yard. Funny thing is those dogs were bred to hunt lions.... He killed everything from squirrels to rabbits and birds and we never had a mouse anywhere near the coop. The trick is to find some barn kittens who were raised watching their mama hunt. Don't get them too young - 10 weeks is ideal. Of course you could end up with a dud, like my other cat. He actually brought a garter snake into the house and let it loose in the kitchen. It came crawling up out of the kitchen sink when we turned on the faucet!

 

[daystardoberman]

Yes. You can't leave feed sitting in bags. It has to be in containers, preferably metal. You might see if any of your cat friends can give you some of their litterbox clumps to put out in your feed area. The cat smell might help repel mice.

 

[Throbak]

Chickens can certainly eat mice -- I've seen mine go crazy for them when we toss out a dead one from a mousetrap. Just as long as the mice haven't ingested any poison, it should be fine.

I put 4 snap traps under a plastic tub the mice could get under but chickens couldn’t caught 4 a day for couple weeks then quit seeing them That worked for me

 

[Eggscaping]

Yes, it's safe to feed the mice to the chickens. Many chickens will actually chase and kill (and eat) their own mice. They're little velociraptors!

 

[Gab1]

the title says it all... how do I get rid of them?! they are everywhere! I see them even during the day! they are chewing through the feed bags and are totally grossing me out. thank goodness they are not rats. I have used snap traps but it hasn't affected the population much. would mouse poisoning hurt my chickens or contaminate their feed? they are living in the straw bales and me and my faithful dog cant seem to catch them.

 

[LaLaLa2019]

the title says it all... how do I get rid of them?! they are everywhere! I see them even during the day! they are chewing through the feed bags and are totally grossing me out. thank goodness they are not rats. I have used snap traps but it hasn't affected the population much. would mouse poisoning hurt my chickens or contaminate their feed? they are living in the straw bales and me and my faithful dog cant seem to catch them.

we use traps with peanut butter and move them around because they get use to the locations. All feed is in metal trash cans with lids. Some days 4 mice other days 3..21 this month then stop traps wait couple days do it again.

 

[rehdancer]

Yes, they will eat the mice - mine also eat toads, unfortunately. I use only metal containers and get them at auctions. They're MUCH cheaper and work just as well. Be sure to wash them with a brush and allow to dry thoroughly no matter where you get them.