Using Posion for Mice

[Quackattack717]

Hello,

We have always had mice issues in our home but this is our first year with a backyard flock. We originally tried the normal traps but the mice always outsmart them. We do not want to use the sticky traps because they are very cruel. We have a pest company and used posion this past year. But now with a flock we’re afraid to do so in case a duck or chicken would eat a poisoned mouse! Please give me your opinions and past experiences with mice and your backyard flock!

Thank you!

 

[aart]

I use snap traps, they are set up all year, spring and fall sees an uptick in activity.
Bait end against wall with piece of grain/seed stuffed tight into trigger.
Put trap under milk crate or mesh basket if where chickens are.
Keep your feed stores in metal cans. Maybe pick up feeders at night.

Here's more:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/search/83337112/?q=mice&t=post&o=date&c[title_only]=1

 

[featherhead007]

Hello,

We have always had mice issues in our home but this is our first year with a backyard flock. We originally tried the normal traps but the mice always outsmart them. We do not want to use the sticky traps because they are very cruel. We have a pest company and used posion this past year. But now with a flock we’re afraid to do so in case a duck or chicken would eat a poisoned mouse! Please give me your opinions and past experiences with mice and your backyard flock!

Thank you!

Opinion: NEVER use poison on mice, that can be consumed by your birds. I made that mistake and killed two of my lovely hens in he process. Poison, not a good idea!

 

[Quackattack717]

Opinion: NEVER use poison on mice, that can be consumed by your birds. I made that mistake and killed two of my lovely hens in he process. Poison, not a good idea!

That’s why I was asking. We bought snap traps the other night and they’re all snapped but no mice in them! My husband said we’re going to have to get the sticky traps but I really don’t want to do that to the poor little mice! So I thought I’d ask other’s opinions. The mice are in our home. I don’t think we’ve had any issues with them out back with the flock. We live next to an open field so that’s where they come from, our flock may be bringing more of them because there’s more food in our backyard for them but they’ve always been an issue in our home.

 

[aart]

We bought snap traps the other night and they’re all snapped but no mice in them!

Bait end against wall with piece of grain/seed stuffed tight into trigger.

 

[123RedBeard]

What Kind of Traps Did You Get?

I have, and like both of these the best of all that I've tried ...

They both are 90° strike's ... which in my opinion is twice as fast to the kill, as the regular 180° swing one ... also another benefit is you don't have to get your fingers too close to the trapped mouse to release the trap ...

I like a piece of dog food CRAMMED into the first one, the second one just drop it in the "hole" when they nose it up, they are dead!

https://www.victorpest.com/victor-power-kill-mouse-trap-bm142s-4


https://www.victorpest.com/victor-quick-kill-mouse-trap-bm140s-4

 

[Folly's place]

Get a house cat?!
The snap traps I've found best are the old style wood base with wire spring type, not the modern plastic models. Bucket traps will get some; a five gallon plastic bucket with a little feed on the bottom, and a ramp on the top. Checked daily, you could release them to take their chances outside...
Try to fix their access points so they can't get inside. It's an ongoing story here, but we do try.
Most poisoned rodents return to their burrows and die there. This may become a smelly mess with house mice, aside from your concerns about your outside chickens. One dead mouse can create quite an aroma indoors!!!
Mary

 

[aart]

One dead mouse can create quite an aroma indoors!!!

I hate it when I can smell that dead body but not find it.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I think you were asking a similar question before?
Anyways, same answer: Get some larger ducks, White Layers for example.
Of my four White Layers three are mousetraps on legs, the fourth one i might just not have seen catching and swallowing a mouse. Blanca Duck just recently caught an incautious mouse in the duck-house that was trying to climb into the feeder. And let the ducks patrol the area around your house to deter any intruding mouse.
When we bought our house here almost two years ago, it was vacant for over a year and there were mice everywhere. Paid a fortune for exterminators and they caught lots of mice in traps and disgusting glue strips, but the mice kept coming.
Then we got our first ducks, Indian Runners, and at first the situation became even worse due to the stored duck-food and the feeder in the duck-house. - Until the ducks were large enough to catch, kill, dismantle and eat the mice. It was over within weeks. Apparently listening to the crunching noise of your cousin's bones being crushed in a duck-bill is a very effective deterrent. We rarely have a mouse around the house now and non inside.
If you really want to use traps, get some inspiration from the YouTube channel »Mouse Trap Monday«, Shawn is presenting some weird, some ancient and a lot of very effective mouse-traps.

 

[aart]

Get some larger ducks,

Mice are in the house, not the coop/run area.

If you really want to use traps, get some inspiration from the YouTube channel »Mouse Trap Monday«, Shawn is presenting some weird, some ancient and a lot of very effective mouse-traps.

This guy vids are great!