Peppermint?

[greeneggsnham]

Ok so I live in the middle of absolutely nowhere and we are surrouned by fields on three sides with the road in front. Every year we are overrun with mice on the property. They are attracted by the grain that is the grain bins and the occasional grain spill on the ground. I want to keep my chicken feed out in a storage room next to the coop. I have it in a large galvonized (sp?) steel trash can with a bungee cord holding the lid down. I want to keep the mice out of the feed I will be putting in the coop and was wondering if it was ok to plant peppermint around the run and coop. Will it harm the chickens in any way? I know mice are very adverse to peppermint and that is what I use to keep them out of the house in the winter. If my chickens eat enough will it give a slight flavor to the eggs?

 

[scooter147]

Shouldn't harm them. I have it growing in a few spots in my yard and when the chickens free range other then wanting to scratch in it I have not seen them eat on the plants. That's my experience with it. It does add a nice flavor to tea.

 

[imthedude]

sounds like you need a cat.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

It won't hurt the birds, but they'll sure eat it where ever they can reach it.

.....Alan.

 

[greeneggsnham]

Thanks guys that makes me feel better. Oh and imthedude..we have tons of barn cats that run wild on our property but we still get mice so I'm not sure they are really doin their jobs.

 

[jimk]

A little off topic, but while my chickens also devour our peppermint, they completely ignore our mountain mint, despite it being right in the run next to the coop. It's not a true mint, although it smells fairly minty. It has a round, woody stem and can get to be a few feet tall.