Teaching chickens to catch mice???

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@southernsibe
Warning: this may sound graphic to some viewers.

I’ve never done it, but it’s probably possible to teach chickens AND chicks (as they grow up) to hunt mice. First you’d have to introduce them to the taste. Start with some mouse meat mixed in with treats they really like. Gradually increase the mouse meat til they have a taste for it just by itself. From there gradually start giving them wholer and wholer mouse parts until you’re eventually giving them whole, but dead, mice—fur and everything. From here they may learn to hunt them on their own, which would be fantastic, but if not your gonna have to teach them to kill mice by offering live or partly-live ones. They should recognize the mice as the dead-counterpart treats, and hopefully their mouse-killing instincts will set in and they’ll do the job. I’m sure it’s possible they could pick up diseases from mice btw, just to warn you.

If anyone successfully teaches their chickens to hunt mice, lemme know the process you used. Or if anyone tries this and it works lemme know. Good luck.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

For argument's sake I will assume that there are a few shrinking violet chickens out there that have never chased or caught a mouse or that may be afraid of the little darlings, but in MHO teaching Chickens how to catch mice is like teaching a fish how to swim.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It may be a bit difficult to habituate chickens to the taste of mice because every mouse that I ever saw a chicken eat went down the hatch head first in a flash it it even took that long.

I guess that is why chickens don't have teeth because they neglect to chew their mice well before swallowing them.

 

[happyfrenchman]

It cracks me up when people are talking about how friendly their birds are..... a chicken would eat you if you were small enough. They are tenacious and merciless predators.

 

[Morrigan]

My chickens must be lazy as they don't seem interested in catching varmints. We have pocket gophers, which are about mice sized, that tunnel in their yard. One of the little guys had actually figured out to tunnel right over to their feeding dish and I watched him pop up and chow down right next to the chickens. It was a like a Disney movie where all the forest creatures were in harmony. I've since moved the feeding dish onto a concrete pad to discourage the easy eats for the gopher.

 

[Chickassan]

I think they come ready to eat mice from the factory. I was taking a trap victim to the woods to give him a proper send off and my fattest hen jumped up and stole the stiff little joker right out of my hand. No hesitation no thought whatsoever just chucked it down whole like a pelican. I was a little off put,but she saved me a walk to the woods.

 

[aart]

Actually caught a live mouse and tossed it into the coop, which is lined with 1/2" HC, it immediately climbed the HC, I knocked it down and luckily 2 of my birds were savvy enough to grab it and kill it, the others just stood there looking...until the chase was on. They seemed to need to beat it for an hours before one got it down the gullet. I canNOT understand why they don't stand on the prey and teatr it with beaks, SHM.
So they are not all instinctualy adept at 'hunting'.

 

[Chickassan]

You're right, they aren't preloaded to hunt just to eat. If that hen would have actually had to chase the mouse to eat it i think the mouse would have been safe.

Actually caught a live mouse and tossed it into the coop, which is lined with 1/2" HC, it immediately climbed the HC, I knocked it down and luckily 2 of my birds were savvy enough to grab it and kill it, the others just stood there looking...until the chase was on. They seemed to need to beat it for an hours before one got it down the gullet. I canNOT understand why they don't stand on the prey and teatr it with beaks, SHM.
So they are not all instinctualy adept at 'hunting'.

 

[SW31]

I wish mine could chase moles. With so much rain recently the ground is very soft. The moles have now tunnelled under the electric fence and made a bee line for the enclosed run. There’s enough mud as it is without the mole hills. It’s going to be a war!!!

 

[aart]

If that hen would have actually had to chase the mouse

2 of them did chase it down, 1 caught it within 15 seconds.