Plan on brooding in house at first - plan for mice?

[Thyme4Chickens]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie... ordered chicks before the coop is done, oops. We have 5 chicks arriving in either one week or two - waiting on the feed store to confirm when they are coming.

The plan is to brood them in the house for the first week (so I can keep a close eye on them), and then move to the coop if it's ready or the garage. Our brooder has 1/2 hardware cloth on the top and sides, so mice will be able to get in.

We are currently trapping mice in our house (built in the '50s) - we only see evidence of a few in our living areas. Once we have a brooder with chick feed in the living room I'm not sure what will happen! We are going to try to get the chicks on fermented feed asap, but realize they may need dry for awhile until they adjust.

Question: is it reasonable to start with mouse traps baited with chick feed near the brooder, or do I need a more aggressive plan?

 

[KHBaker]

Hi! We recently were in a similar situation. We frequently catch mice in our home, and had our brooder in our bathroom. Surprisingly, the mice either didn't notice the chicken feed, or didn't bother it, because we saw no evidence of them anywhere near it. Typically we find droppings around where they live, but nothing near the brooder. You should be okay with the mouse traps that you typically set up, but you could also have a completely difference experience than us.

Hope this helps a little anyways!

 

[jadip4]

ordered chicks before the coop is done, oops.

I'm over a year into the adventure and my coop STILL isn't 'done', lol.

Welcome to BYC!

 

[chickens really]

My Husbands favourite line..What came first? The chicken or the egg?
The Coop...
Best wishes...

 

[Thyme4Chickens]

Surprisingly, the mice either didn't notice the chicken feed, or didn't bother it, because we saw no evidence of them anywhere near it

Thanks! That's encouraging!