What is a safe way to get rid of mice in Chicken Coop?

[farmgirl06]

Do mice eat the oyster shell too? or just the feed and treats?

 

[AustinRhea]

I'm interested in this answer as well. I have a ton of mice in my coop.

I put down chicken safe mouse traps but the mice had too much other feed and didn't ever care about the mouse trap lure. I was also having a problem with roaches in my chicken feed. I now add diatomaceous earth to the feed and the roaches are out of the feed and now the chickens are catching and eating them. The chickens go after the mice if I stir them up in the coop too, but they aren't catching them.

My mice are only after the feed. They don't bother the grit, the oyster shell, or the meal-worms. I know none of my post helps, but at least you know you aren't alone

 

[farmgirl06]

Thank you. It is always good to know we aren't alone, isn't it? So far I have only seen 2 mice, but if they are 'married' I'm sure there are several more nearby!

I have not seen any roaches (thankfully!). I don't know if my babies would catch them. Even though they have proven to be avid FROG catchers lately, a medium sized beetle bug ran by a few of them yesterday and they were SCARED of it! Lol!!

I haven't solved my own problem yet as I saw those 2 unwanted chicken house-guests again last night at bedtime. I hate mice. That is why I got my barn cats in the first place, but they are useless! One of them will only eat the mice if you kill it for him!!

Thank you for the tip on the diatomaceus earth- that stuff is good for soooo many things, isn't it?

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

The infamous "bucket trap" works quite well:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/747201/5-gallon-bucket-mouse-trap

Also mint is a completely safe, natural mouse repellent. Plant some mint (spearmint, peppermint, wintergreen or Melissa (lemon balm)) around your coop and/or sprinkle some dried mint leaves around your coop and in your nest boxes. It will make your coop smell nice too

 

[farmgirl06]

Ooooooh! Thank you! With ten feathered friends it can get quite stinky in there fast! I already clean their coop 2 or 3x's per week (it is actually just a repurposed garden shed with a makeshift fence, but they seem to like it! Lol) .. seems that may just kill two birds with one stone (figuratively speaking!!). I didn't know that about mint. I may put some in the Husband's workshop too! Thanks again!!!

 

[sumi]

You're welcome! See if you can find some Lemon Balm. It has the most amazing smell and I read the other day in a magazine that eating small amounts of it (2 fresh leaves on a salad for example) helps relieve stress. It has some other medicinal uses as well, but I can't remember it all now.

 

[LAYINGCHICKENZ4]

Limit amount of food left out and maybe try sneeking a mouse trap or decon in a place were the chickens cant get to.

 

[farmgirl06]

I am putting their LARGE hanging feed bucket up for the night as suggested (kind of a pain.. but my chickens are worth it!) and clean up the treat left overs (i.e.: rinds or any fruit/veggie they don't eat). Decon or poison baits wouldn't work since their coop is actually a repurposed garden shed and there is no place the mice could go that the chickens can't get too.. but I am going to try the bucket with the peanut butter can that was suggested on a previous post. Since no poison is involved my barn cats may actually eat them, although recently I have read that chickens eat mice too! Lol...

 

[hungnguyen]

I remembered putting Rat poison in a form of a solid bar into a device that has curved and U turn path. Once the bait went in, only a rat can get to it by walking into the path, not the chicken. I think the brand name was Tom Cat. It worked well as I put this trap out at night inside or near the coop. The very next day I could smell the dead rat already somewhere in my yard. Then no more rat for a long time.

Best of luck and welcome to the site

 

[liz9910]

Welcome to BYC! I would definitely remove the feeder at night time.