***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Kyzmette]

Quote:
When I first put mine out, I had a regular gnawing sound in a certain area under my kitchen cabinets. I took a small drill head for my dremel and drilled a tiny hole in a spot that couldn't be seen, then used a dropper to put just a couple of drops into the hole. The sound disappeared within ten minutes and never came back. Since you don't have anything dispersing the scent into the air, you would have to reapply it on occasion.

 

[Kassaundra]

Audra got a mouse today, one of the twins (Orwell or Orson I think is their names) tried to steal it, but when I went back out later to check his (Audra's) crop was way full so I think he got to keep it.

 

[Ksane]

Audra got a mouse today, one of the twins (Orwell or Orson I think is their names) tried to steal it, but when I went back out later to check his (Audra's) crop was way full so I think he got to keep it.

Haha! That's my favorite chicken show-KeepAway!
I declared war on mice last year,mthat's why I had to quit leaving 5 gal feeders full out for the birds. The mice were eating more than them. I put glue traps & poison in enclosed little tubs out for them in the house and that worked great. This is going to work awesome using fermented feed because they clean it all up before bedtime.
Kass, I'm doing it like you do-the wet layer pellets were a soggy mess, ick. Bluebonnet has real nice scratch-corn, wheat and milo. So I'm dumping fermented scratch along with the Bluebonnet layer pellets and they go bonkers. I like all their feed, it doesn't have all the plant by-product stuff like the others.

 

[Kassaundra]

Haha! That's my favorite chicken show-KeepAway!
I declared war on mice last year,mthat's why I had to quit leaving 5 gal feeders full out for the birds. The mice were eating more than them. I put glue traps & poison in enclosed little tubs out for them in the house and that worked great. This is going to work awesome using fermented feed because they clean it all up before bedtime.
Kass, I'm doing it like you do-the wet layer pellets were a soggy mess, ick. Bluebonnet has real nice scratch-corn, wheat and milo. So I'm dumping fermented scratch along with the Bluebonnet layer pellets and they go bonkers. I like all their feed, it doesn't have all the plant by-product stuff like the others.

I think I would have a mutiny if I ever stopped giving them fermented grains!!!!! I started sprouting for them this week for the winter. Even w/ the sprouts they still get the ferment though. Had to cut way back on the size b/c of the number of birds this winter though.

 

[Kyzmette]

Here's my take on peppermint oil for mice, from somebody who has used it personally and loves reading about stuff she uses extensively. There's apparently a lot of people on BYC who say it doesn't work, but my personal experience is that peppermint oil works, and it works very well, within its limitations.

Mice are like any other creature with a sense of smell. There are those who have sensitive sniffers, and those with less sensitive sniffers, and even some without any sense of smell whatsoever (I knew a guy like that, and he was also lazy, so it was a bad, BAD combination). Mice have incredibly sensitive sniffers, and for most the peppermint oil will work, but some will be left that will be resistant. For these, I found a couple drops of eucalyptus cleared them out. For those with no sniffer at all, you'll just have to trap them, but once you trap those mice, you will actually notice the absence of all the rest of the mice. If you don't take the anatomical differences of the mice into account, you won't see the full benefit of the peppermint oil.

Peppermint oil is an essential oil, and you don't want your chickens to eat essential oils, so keep it somewhere they can't get to it.

Mice have to smell the peppermint, which is why people say it has to be used in huge amounts. Peppermint is a strong smell, and you don't have to use it in huge amounts to get the smell where you want it, you just have to make sure the smell is circulating or enclosed in a space. It's hard to keep a smell trapped in an open coop.

That said, when I build my feed storage, I'm going to enclose the space and utilize peppermint oil inside that space. I'll look for other ways to de-mouse the actual feeders. I have peppermint oil in my shed right now, and haven't ever seen a mouse dropping in it.

 

[mjgigax]

Quote: I don't mind spraying something like that often. What would I dilute it with? Hmmmmmm?
I didn't get peppermint planted around my pens this year but will be sure to do it next Spring.

 

[bardies]

@bardies I'm happy for your chickie and broodie, but I'm sad for you losing your Barred Rock chickie.

Me too. This is what the kids are showing, and we lost the Jr Rooster a couple of weeks ago to some illness. We still have the Sr Rooster and 5 hens, but the only chicks that I've been able to get out of them and grow to some have been two more roosters. But, at least with them, I can theoretically make more.

 

[Ksane]

2 pips ao far in the eggs due to hatch Thursday. This is my favorite part

Oh this hatching is so addicting!! And this is my last hatch for a few months. Sad sad sad.

 

[Kassaundra]

2 pips ao far in the eggs due to hatch Thursday. This is my favorite part

Oh this hatching is so addicting!! And this is my last hatch for a few months. Sad sad sad.

What is in the bator and how many?

 

[Ksane]

What is in the bator and how many?

There's 10 Silkies and 10 Sizzles (Frizzled Silkies). Last time I had this many in lockdown but only 4 hatched and 1 of those died the next day. They'd all been alive and moving in there so I don't know what happened.