Removing my chicken feed at night???

[Keri78]

Hi everyone! I've been thinking alot more about mice (since we've been catching at least one a day in our traps here in the house!!!) AAAAAHHHH! Can't wait until warmer weather! We live on a farm and without fail every winter we get mice!

Anywho...this has got me thinking about my barn and my chicken tractors. I have been just leaving the feeder bucket in the nesting areas at night but it's getting kinda messy in there and I don't want to have any "visitors" taking advantage! I'm thinking about taking the food in at night when I lock them up and then just putting it back out in the morning. Any thoughts??? I've looked at the "automatic feeder" that someone on here built where they step on the pedal and the lid opens but I have tiny banties too and I just don't think they would weigh enough to get it opened!

 

[CARS]

I had a huge mouse problem in my silkie's room till I got more cats in the barn. My full size birds seem to take care of mice on their own. Have you ever seen a roo eat a mouse?? Kinda creepy but effective!

Want a few cats? I have plenty of them

 

[digitS']

I have put the feeder in a bucket with a lid but there seemed to be so much for a mouse to get into in the coop, it didn't seem like continuing the practice would be effective.

What has worked just great is to put the simple, baited, Victor traps in the coop INSIDE a cage. The mice can get in the cage, the chickens can't.

A mistake I made one winter was to pile straw so heavily in the coop that the mice could get under it and the chickens couldn't dig them out . . . but, that's another story

.

Steve

 

[Mac in Wisco]

You could put a pulley above the feeder and a rope cleat on the wall and attach a rope to lift up the feeder in the evening and lower it in the morning.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

I keep my feed in a protected area in the run. To keep the mice/rats at bay I mix crushed red pepper in with their feed. I also have 12" of shavings in the coop that I sprinkle red pepper into also. I've never had trouble with mice/rats after doing this. I guess once they burn their mouths one time they don't see the coop/run as a food source. The pepper in the coop bedding also gives the girls something to do if they decide to stay in the coop due to bad weather and some here say that the red pepper is actually good for the chickens.

 

[Keri78]

Great Tips!!!! I just told Hubby to pick me up another bale of hay on the way home tonight b/c it's FREEEZING here!!! and I want to add more hay for them...I was thinking of adding more to the floor but maybe not after that post about deep hay! I'll just add it to their boxes and ledge. I haven't seen any mice out there yet..but I know they are around so I'm trying to do the "once of prevention" thing! I was also thinking a rubbermaid shoebox size tote and this way I just put the lid on it at night and take the lid off in the morning and WAHLAH...no need to schlep chicken feed in and out everyday!

 

[nsanywhere]

wow! Just red pepper flakes?? And the chickens don't mind the spicy?

That is a fantastic tip! I'm going tomorrow and getting lots of red pepper!

 

[CARS]

Quote:
I think that many use cyanne (spelling) pepper to kick start egg laying after a molt.

 

[dlfridie]

Since I started taking the food up at night I haven't seen any mice droppings.
In the larger run, the feeder is inside a very large rolling tote with a cutout door.
The chickens have to go inside the tote to eat and there's no spillage on the ground. This also protects it from rain.
I did worry after putting down so much straw that I won't be able to see if a mouse is under foot when I go in there at night.

I wish there was a better way.

 

[CaliRooster]

I have one of these and it works

Problem is if it gets wet its starts to fail