Rodents, Rats, Mice- oh my!

[Hen_House04]

Has anyone ever used this inside and around their coop? I am having a hard time with little mice all of a sudden and Lord knows
Ican’tdorodents
I ordered one of those flapped lids where they fall into a bucket and that will arrive tomorrow. Until then, I have all four chickens in a tent in my sunroom and all the mouse traps laid out outside praying I can get rid of them!
Alllllll the help is very much appreciated!!

 

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

No have never used that. I have 2 cats...but currently i realized I have a Lil mouse in my brooder room. From time to time I catch him crawling out of folgers can I keep chick starter in for new hatchlings. So I am unable to release my female cat ms. Cleopatra aka(cleCle) in hatch room. She's not full grown but still a "predator" to baby chicks.

 

[My Three Chicks]

I purchased that exact product for a rat problem I recently dealt with. It did not help at all! Don't waste your money.

I'll tell you how I got the problem under control...I used several methods at once which I think is the best strategy.
- I called a professional exterminator and he put out baits. Those in the black plastic things you probably have seen. But if you don't want to hire an exterminator I think you can do other things to get rid of them too.
- Buy RatX (used for mice too) which are pellets that are not too toxic to chickens if they get a hold of it. If you are seeing their burrow holes, put the poison in the hole and fill the hole with dirt & gravel and stomp it down. Or you can put the poison in their paths. Although I'd still be scared about your chickens getting to it if you put it in their space.
- Buy snap traps and put in path of mice. If it's in the chickens area you can put a milk crate over top so chickens can't get to it. See pic.
- Lastly you need to remove all food sources until the problem is under control. I had rats coming out during the day and eating the feed while my chickens stood there! For a week I only fed the chickens under supervision then removed the food. A few times I literally had to chase a rat away!

After 2 weeks the problem is completely under control!

I'm currently training them on a treadle feeder though so that the rats don't come back and feed during the day on the open feeder. I've always removed all food and water overnight.

BTW in addition to the peppermint spray I also tried vinegar and tried flooding out their underground burrows. These methods also did not work.

Hope this helps!

 

[nuthatched]

I second the rat/mouse x, it's nontoxic to everything except rodents. No secondary poisoning.
That stuff doesn't work.

 

[Hen_House04]

I purchased that exact product for a rat problem I recently dealt with. It did not help at all! Don't waste your money.

I'll tell you how I got the problem under control...I used several methods at once which I think is the best strategy.
- I called a professional exterminator and he put out baits. Those in the black plastic things you probably have seen. But if you don't want to hire an exterminator I think you can do other things to get rid of them too.
- Buy RatX (used for mice too) which are pellets that are not too toxic to chickens if they get a hold of it. If you are seeing their burrow holes, put the poison in the hole and fill the hole with dirt & gravel and stomp it down. Or you can put the poison in their paths. Although I'd still be scared about your chickens getting to it if you put it in their space.
- Buy snap traps and put in path of mice. If it's in the chickens area you can put a milk crate over top so chickens can't get to it. See pic.
- Lastly you need to remove all food sources until the problem is under control. I had rats coming out during the day and eating the feed while my chickens stood there! For a week I only fed the chickens under supervision then removed the food. A few times I literally had to chase a rat away!

After 2 weeks the problem is completely under control!

I'm currently training them on a treadle feeder though so that the rats don't come back and feed during the day on the open feeder. I've always removed all food and water overnight.

BTW in addition to the peppermint spray I also tried vinegar and tried flooding out their underground burrows. These methods also did not work.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much! I greatly appreciate all of your feedback! I am going to pick up some of that RatX and try that tonight with that bucket trap and all my 400 mouse traps that I have put out last night! I have a camera in their coop which is good and bad because I definitely just stayed up all night last night watching mice squeak and run around! Lol! I regret that today! Haha! I did catch one in the trap but it clamped down on his leg rather than his head and he was able to wiggle out of it. So I am back to the drawing board. I have high hopes for tonight though! Thank you so, so much!

 

[DLA]

The MouseX worked for me too. I wouldn't put it where the chickens can eat it though. It looks just like layer pellets.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I am training my girls to use The Ratproof Feeder today. We had a horrible mouse issue last winter and I thought the feeders I bought from Revolutionary Chicken had fixed the problem. However, I've just noticed, within the last week, the mice have returned. So, I ordered The Ratproof Chicken Feeder (the person who makes them is a member here and has been making/improving the product for 10+ years), and I put them in my run last night.

The feeders aren't the prettiest and they take some skills to put together and adjust correctly (in addition to training the chickens), but from everything I've read/watched (there are several YouTube videos customers have sent in), these feeders totally eliminate rate/mice/squirrel/wild bird problems. There are very specific instructions that need to be followed for success, but I'm hopeful that I've done everything right, and I'm not going to have a rodent issue anymore! (It'll be worth the little bit of tinkering and training if the mice are gone!)

 

[My Three Chicks]

Thank you so much! I greatly appreciate all of your feedback! I am going to pick up some of that RatX and try that tonight with that bucket trap and all my 400 mouse traps that I have put out last night! I have a camera in their coop which is good and bad because I definitely just stayed up all night last night watching mice squeak and run around! Lol! I regret that today! Haha! I did catch one in the trap but it clamped down on his leg rather than his head and he was able to wiggle out of it. So I am back to the drawing board. I have high hopes for tonight though! Thank you so, so much!

You're so very welcome! Good luck. I know you’ll get it under control with your awareness and diligence. It's a problem most chicken keepers deal with from time to time. Think of it as part of the adventure

I actually caught a rat in a big sticky trap. And before I figured out how i was going to deal with exposing it, it got out of the trap!

Same here with the cameras. That's how I saw two coming out to dine side by side with my girls that was my breaking point I was so disgusted!

 

[My Three Chicks]

I am training my girls to use The Ratproof Feeder today. We had a horrible mouse issue last winter and I thought the feeders I bought from Revolutionary Chicken had fixed the problem. However, I've just noticed, within the last week, the mice have returned. So, I ordered The Ratproof Chicken Feeder (the person who makes them is a member here and has been making/improving the product for 10+ years), and I put them in my run last night.

The feeders aren't the prettiest and they take some skills to put together and adjust correctly (in addition to training the chickens), but from everything I've read/watched (there are several YouTube videos customers have sent in), these feeders totally eliminate rate/mice/squirrel/wild bird problems. There are very specific instructions that need to be followed for success, but I'm hopeful that I've done everything right, and I'm not going to have a rodent issue anymore! (It'll be worth the little bit of tinkering and training if the mice are gone!)

I'm on week 2 of training them on the Grandpas treadle feeder myself. It's the stage where there is some movement of the step and lid. Some of my girls (I have 6) have no problem but a couple of them are very hesitant so aren't eating quite as much. I've been giving them feed separately in a bowl in the morning and at night...which I know will prolong the training a bit.
Also I find that they can stand next to the step and reach their heads in without stepping on it (even with sideguards that are installed). I think I'm supposed to add something to block that from happening. But right now I'm just trying to get them more familiar.

Good luck with your treadle!

I do think it's the way to go. My exterminator even said that the rodents in time will return. Like every 6 months you may have to put some traps or poison out for an occasional visit. But the treadle feeder should keep the problem from becoming an infestation where they move in.

 

[Hen_House04]

I second the rat/mouse x, it's nontoxic to everything except rodents. No secondary poisoning.
That stuff doesn't work.

That's good to know! I am going to get some this afternoon! Thank you!