Rats and Mice

[Folly's place]

I've used poison twice; once in the barn for rats, and this winter for mice in the coop. Carefully managed, no pets out loose, and the only effective method for rats especially. My latest barn cat was too afraid of the chickens to enter the coop and work on mice there, and she moved to an indoor home last fall. Without a barn cat, the mice really took over! They have been living in burrows under the broken concrete floor, and no new concrete can be poured until spring.
Mary

 

[X_and_Z]

Was going to do something like this so I assuming it would attract them. I may have to scratch this idea and only put feed out when feeding

Well, you definitely don't want to use chicken wire like that - it only keeps chickens in, predators and rodents will go through it easily.

I have a similar feeder in my predator/rodent proof run without issues. In the open chicken yard I have this feeder:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EOXEUJA/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_2_w

There are lots of variations of these feeders out there and there are even plans to make your own.

I was reading an article about someone's coop evolution and they originally didn't think they had a rodent problem. This changed once they put in a webcam and were able to watch the rats eat from the feeders all night.

 

[Folly's place]

Rats also eat eggs, and kill chickens at night. Happened here!
Mary

 

[X_and_Z]

Rats also eat eggs, and kill chickens at night. Happened here!
Mary

Yeah - I can't find the article to look up all the details and it has been a while since I read the article (I mostly just came away with even if you don't think you have a rodent problem you do) but I think they were lucky that the only real consequence was increased feed bills until they re-engineered their coop.

Your chickens didn't eat any poisoned mice? I can keep track of my own dogs and would talk to my neighbors about using poison (although they may nix the idea due to outdoor cats) but my chickens think mice are the best snack ever. I am more interested in targeting rats than mice but the bait stations impact both species.

 

[Folly's place]

I hate using poison too, but went for it this winter, over an amazing mouse visitation. I used a anti-coagulant poison first, in bait stations, which were also separate from chicken sections of the coop and run. I did find a few dead/ dying mice, and removed them to the garbage. Most poisoned rodents return and die in their burrows, which is good. The anti-coagulant poisons need to be eaten in fairly large quantities to be effective, so I thought slightly safer.
After three weeks, nearly no poison was eaten, but I still saw a mouse at night, so I switched to a nerve poison, and in two days, no more bait taken, and no mice.
It's all miserable, but finally necessary here.
I'm planning on a new barn cat or two this spring, and many fewer rodents!
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

I did talk to the neighbors when using poison in the barn, but now there's nobody nearby with free roaming cats or dogs, so no issues about that.
Mary

 

[TeeMom]

We had a horrible mouse problem and also saw a few rats as well in our first years with chickens. The rats we were able to get rid of after figuring out where they were nesting and getting rid of that opportunity. We trapped the mice, but they were so numerous last winter that dozens could be seen scattering if you turned on the coop light at night. Feed is in a large tote that is raised off of the ground that the chickens have to stick their heads into to feed. There is very little waste, but mice figured out how to jump up into it and chow to their little hearts content. The coop became so overrun that I could smell mouse urine when I walked into the coop. I'm not comfortable with poison either, but I was desperate. So, my last resort before poison was to adopt a kitten. We raised him in the coop amongst the chickens so he learned very early that chicks and ducklings were not to be eaten, but mice were. He has made all the difference. This winter there is not one trace of a mouse. We see him with mice constantly outside, but the coop itself has not a trace. He has seen many chicks and ducklings come and go, but hasn't touched a one. I am SO pleased!

 

[drumstick diva]

too bad you couldn't clone that cat and make a fortune selling them. I am very impressed.

 

[Foster's Freehold]

I've used poison twice; once in the barn for rats, and this winter for mice in the coop. Carefully managed, no pets out loose, and the only effective method for rats especially. My latest barn cat was too afraid of the chickens to enter the coop and work on mice there, and she moved to an indoor home last fall. Without a barn cat, the mice really took over! They have been living in burrows under the broken concrete floor, and no new concrete can be poured until spring.
Mary

In years gone by, I would move my 4x8 coop to new ground. Of course, the deep litter would be moved to the compost pile. And the burrows under that were spectacular hunting for the hens. The terriers got their fair share too. I kinda felt sorry for one mouse, it was stuck between going out of the fence to the dogs or in the fence to the hens.

 

[FamilyFarm12]

My feeder is only in the run because of mice. We had some in the coop, but put a trap against the wall and checked it daily. Haven’t seen one since