Need help with Mice~1

[Atrayou]

Help I am infested with mice. I swear at night when I go and let my horses in there are at least 50 mice in my coop it is way out of control now. I made the mistake of using mice bait and lost my sweet little hen Penny last week. I am still beating myself up over that one. I think she ate some of the poison. So now I am afraid to put out bait. I have tried 5 gallon buckets with a dowel and a soda can and yes I caught a load of them but this is a pain in the fanny. My coop is built up high on the wall and my chickens can go ouside when they want to. The mice have slowly destroyed parts of my coop. Chewing holes through the walls in the corners to gain access. I have used crack fill foam to block the holes and it works for a few days they chew through that. They are living in the walls and they have no fear. They will come out right in front of me. I need to come up with something that I can place in the coop at night to catch these rodents. Are there traps that can be used so they can not escape from them? I am desperate. There has got to be something I can do that is safe for my birds.
Sorry about the bold print I am just learning how to use the site.

 

[nivtup]

I would think that you should keep at it with the bucket rap, get a dozen spring traps, and be dilligent.

Seems they can reproduce every six weeks, they will win if you do not take the numbers down as fast as possible.

 

[Donna in Montana]

I am surprised you have ANY problem with mice if you have chickens around. Our chickens kill any mice they see. More then once I've seen a chicken holding a dead mouse by it's tail and running like crazy because all the other chickens are chasing it trying to get the mouse. It's a riot....

We've never lost a chicken from eating mice so any 'bug' a mouse might have apparently isn't passed on to the chicken. And we've never gotten sick from eating the eggs.

Are your chickens free to run around? I'd suggest giving them free reign of the area. Woe be to the mouse that is seen by those sharp little eyes... he's not long for this world if he can be reached at all. Ü

 

[ccflash]

I just had to deal with mice. I set the regular old mouse traps and set a milk crate over them. You can set 6 under there and they will just keep getting in there. I caught 20 in about 36 hours and my problem was solved.

Kenny

 

[mominoz]

Make sure all food, grain is locked away. Get some cats,get one of my ducks , they attack and kill mice Get a baited trap that has a key and locks with just a mouse hole, so nothing else can get the bait. Rat snake?

 

[Atrayou]

Thanks all...I have horses too so all my grain is in a safe place from rodents....I have started taking the cracked corn and layer mash out of the coop at night....yet still have tons of mice.....during daylight hours I hardly see them....and I agree if I see one my chickens ( the free roamers ) are chasing them......as for traps.......well this is what sucks for me......I am an animal lover and I have watched mice die from Decon poisoning, I have watched them drown in a bucket trap, and I have seen them flip and flop all over the plae from traps......They are disease carrying rodents BUT up close and when in distress they are very cute little things......I just want to find some type of trap that I can catch them alive in and bring them to be released in a field somewhere......call me an idiot.......but it is what it is and I feel how I feel..........Thank you all for your posts.

 

[bobbi-j]

Sounds like you need some good barn cats.

 

[brownegger]

If you must save them....Take a five gallon bucket with a lid. Cut out the center of the lid and place on bucket. Place a small amount of grain and/or peanut butter in the bottom of the bucket. Make sure the mice can get into the bucket and the edge of the remaining lid will keep them from jumping out. It may be a slow or a quick process not sure, this is just a theory to try. This way you can catch them alive and release them far from your home. Good luck, I know they are a pain to deal with. I never use commercial poisons because they travel too far into the food chain. Snakes, raptors, cats, and even your chickens could be affected obviously.

 

[GiddyMoon]

On the same idea..one trick I know works for ground squirrels, should work for mice...5 gallon bucket half full with water, build a wood plank up and over, pour black oil sunflower seeds over the water in the bucket until it looks like solid sunflower seeds, the seeds will float...place a few seeds on the ramp...they will usually jump in to get more seed and drown themselves.

 

[PhoenixAngel429]

I saw one of our chickens eating mice.