Sprouting barley, mice eating my seeds !

[petalumapaul]

I know I am nuts, but I am trying to fence off an area of my chicken run to grow a little patch of sprouted barley.

I soak the barley seeds overnight, then spread them on the soil in the run.
I put a screen over them to prevent the chickens from eating the seeds.

However, after two days all the seeds are gone, and I found mice crawling all over !

How can I grow some grass and prevent the mice from eating my seeds?

 

[Stiggy]

mice traps.... and lots of them. chickens love eating mice ( the adults, tho ive found bantys to be scared of them and meat birds to be very fond of them. unless you make it mice proof then they will keep coming back. another thing that chickens like is sunflower seads, and planting some can be nice for them, and corn, they love corn

 

[petalumapaul]

I caught one mouse this morning and put two more traps out this evening.

 

[Stiggy]

nice one, what did you use for bait if anything? we use some peanut butter on the trap