Should I Feed Caught Mice to Chickens?

[Cinta]

Hi BYC!
Last night I managed to catch 5 mice with one of these: http://www.easypestsupplies.com.au/multi-catch-mouse-trap-small.html. The only problem is that i'd like to feed the mice to the chickens, but there's poison pellets in the cage and i'm not sure if the mice have eaten some or not. (I think they have, a little.) There's still pellets in the cage and the peanut butter in there has been decimated. One of my chooks has caught and ate a poisoned mouse before and it had no effect on her, but i'm really not too sure if I should feed the mice to them or not - I'm going to see what bait my friend and I used to trap those squeakers. For the time being, does anyone have any information on their experiences with poisoned mice and chickens? Have your chickens eaten poisoned mice before and was there any effects?

I think I should kill them some other way, i'd rather not take the risk!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

How much does a mouse weigh? How much poison does it take to kill a mouse? How much do your chickens weigh? How much poison does it take to harm or kill a chicken? I don’t know what poison was used so I really don’t know how much it takes to harm a chicken but dosage is very important. That’s why a chicken can eat a poisoned mouse and not be harmed. That’s why you can eat the eggs from a chicken that ate a poisoned mouse.

A few years back I was discussing poisons with the owners of the local Ace Hardware. Their huge lab had eaten rat poison and they were really worried so they called the CDC. The CDC asked what poison, how much did the dog eat, and how much did the dog weigh? When they got that information the CDC said the dog was so big compared to how much it ate that it wouldn’t even feel bad, let alone get sick. They didn’t need to do anything. If it had been a different poison, it had eaten more, or if it had been smaller the answer may have been different.

I still don’t feed poisoned mice to my chickens. I don’t care how safe it is or any of that, it doesn’t feel right and I won’t do it.

I use this to catch mice and drown them in water. The chickens get to eat those.

 

[Cinta]

Okay, thanks!
The mice wouldn't weight much, and i'm sure they're young and haven't become adults yet. I'm going to see what poison we used and i'm most probably going to catch more mice in a different trap without the poison. (Similar to yours.) I think i'll stick to drowning them for the time being!! Thanks again.

 

[wlantry]

I use this to catch mice and drown them in water. The chickens get to eat those.





Really? Does that work? What's on the sticks? (I guess we should call them planks, like on a pirate ship! Why don't the mice just walk back along the plank to safety?

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is also a version called the Adirondack mouse trap using a soft drink can and a metal bar that you might like. The first night I tried that version a possum destroyed it to get to the peanut butter so I went with this. You can easily find it on the internet.

I use chicken feed as bait on mine. The “planks” are very thin pieces of wood that are kind of balanced. When the mouse gets far enough out the plank falls in the water, just tips over. It’s really light. I normally use three triggers on this and have at times caught three mice. Sometimes birds eat the bait and trip it but they just fly out unharmed.

 

[Nupe]

Really? Does that work? What's on the sticks? (I guess we should call them planks, like on a pirate ship! Why don't the mice just walk back along the plank to safety?

By the pic, I'm guessing the "plank" is light enough that when the mouse creeps out to the edge, the whole thing falls into the water. AARRGGG!!!!

 

[Cinta]

Haha! Anyway, thanks for your helpful replies - I bought my own live catch trap yesterday - I put some peanut butter in, closed it up and left it overnight. Caught two mice! My little sizzle brute is having the time of her life!!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I would think that the sticks have a small "V" at the inboard end, then when Mickey and Minnie walk the plank, the mouse, plank and all go into Davie Jones Locker.