The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Great idea @Leahs Mom, we use poison, which makes me nervous, but it seems that's all that will work on our voracious rats that start coming into my shed each fall. They ignore all traps. I have resigned myself to using poison, but might try your idea in the future, thanks.

 

[LifeOnTheMt]

I put in some of the chicken feed (I make my own, but I think store-bought would work as well). You could put it in w/ a little peanut butter or just throw some on the trap trigger and in the little hallway.

I don't think the mint would be a problem unless it is a very strong smell in a very small place. How large is your chicken house?

The coop itself is roughly 4' x 4'. The entire enclosed house is 4' x 10'. This pic is when the house was just finished last October. We've since added an enclosed covered yard (which is muddy right now but that's another story).

 

[Leahs Mom]

@oldhenlikesdogs
The nice thing about these is that you put them along the wall or "runways" that mice and rats like to go down and they find it hard to resist going into that nice dark tunnel to check things out. If you look at the box photos closely, you see that they have to go in and immediately turn a corner to get in to where the trap is. As they walk around that curve, SNAP! They don't even know it was there until it's too late.

I'm always afraid a carcass of a poison-fed creature will be left on the ground and one of the chickens - or other animals - will pick it up and get the poison that they ingested. That's why I like these. A little more work checking traps, but at least no poison.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
Use a deep litter in your run and that will fix the mud and unhealthy soil problem. Do a quick search on this thread for posts by me and you can find several on deep litter in the run

I think that house may be a bit too small to put a strong-smelling item in the 4x4 area. Birds are very sensitive.... But you could place some in the run - though I don't know that it will help as that kind of repellent is designed to be used in small, closed-in spaces such as under the hood or in the cab of a tractor or in small rooms in cabins, etc. The key is keeping the space small and the odor strong.

 

[LifeOnTheMt]

Use a deep litter in your run and that will fix the mud and unhealthy soil problem. Do a quick search on this thread for posts by me and you can find several on deep litter in the run

I think that house may be a bit too small to put a strong-smelling item in the 4x4 area. Birds are very sensitive.... But you could place some in the run - though I don't know that it will help as that kind of repellent is designed to be used in small, closed-in spaces such as under the hood or in the cab of a tractor or in small rooms in cabins, etc. The key is keeping the space small and the odor strong.

I think you're right about the coop being too small for the repeller pack. We have sand in their enclosed house and use deep litter in the coop. Thinking of adding wood chips to their yard (not pictured)? The sun is out today (yay). Per the forecast, we should have a week before more rain is due.

Thank you for the trap info. Definitely do not want poison. The traps are a great alternative!

 

[Bantambird]

With mice, I use live traps and feed them to my Marans. They love eating mice and are quite excited to catch and eat the buggers when they see one.

 

[Leahs Mom]

With mice, I use live traps and feed them to my Marans. They love eating mice and are quite excited to catch and eat the buggers when they see one.

I have a live trap that I set in the barn too. Got it from the same place as listed above with a CLEAR TOP so that I can see if they're in there. It really catches a lot of mice during the winter at least, but I've never thought about feeding them to the chickens.

I have a couple of Buckeyes that are supposed to be known for being good mousers. But they are young and I'm not sure if they'd get the idea.

@Bantambird
How do you keep them from running off before the birds can catch them?

 

[Leahs Mom]

I like the clear tops! It's another one of those things that you set in runways along walls, put in some chicken feed and check on them every now and then!

http://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/victor-tin-cat-mouse-trap

 

[Bantambird]

I have a live trap that I set in the barn too.  Got it from the same place as listed above with a CLEAR TOP so that I can see if they're in there.  It really catches a lot of mice during the winter at least, but I've never thought about feeding them to the chickens. 

I have a couple of Buckeyes that are supposed to be known for being good mousers.  But they are young and I'm not sure if they'd get the idea.

@Bantambird

How do you keep them from running off before the birds can catch them?

I realize this will sound mean, but I disorient them or kill them by throwing them down hard on the bare patch of packed dirt in the Marans run. They don't run much after the trauma, but still wiggle around enough to get the Marans' attention. The girls pluck them up and tear them apart like the little dinasaurs they are, so smacking them on the ground to knock them out or kill them probably beats being eaten fully conscious. I also made a water trap using a 5 gallon bucket, a coat hanger, and a baby bottle. I'll have to take a picture, but you drill a hole near the top on both sides opposite the handles, and a hole on the bottom of the bottle, then straighten the wire hangar, thread one side into the bucket, then through the bottle(it should rotate on the wire) then out the other side of the bucket, then secure the wire firmly. Apply peanut butter to the bottle on the outside so that when the mice crawl across the wire and reach the bottle, it rotates and throws them into the bucket. A few inches of water in the bottom ensures the mice drown. No poison!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I've seen the water bucket traps before...do you catch many that way?