Do mice proof cages/coops even exist?

[bobsmith2002]

I had to get rid of my coops and aviaries because of a severe mice (not rats) infestation. My aviaries and coops were lined with 1/2 x 1/2" hardware cloth from top to bottom, but the mice were smart enough to chew their way between the wooden gaps of the door frame.

For those of you who have birds outdoors, do you just let the mice come out at night and don't do anything about it? Or is your coop/aviary really that secure?

Also, mice poop that contaminate the bird's water supply renders their eggs infertile. How do you deal with this?

 

[Zenmonkey]

Cats. Two females, spayed. I forgive them many transgressions because they negate mice.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Also, mice poop that contaminate the bird's water supply renders their eggs infertile. How do you deal with this?

Really? I never knew this. I guess it's moot for us though, as we water our flock in buckets. If a mouse got into one of those it would drown.

As for your other questions, I don't really know. Our hen house is certainly not mouse-proof by any means. But we do have cats. If we have mice, I never see them.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Also, mice poop that contaminate the bird's water supply renders their eggs infertile. How do you deal with this?

I don't because they don't. If that was the case, then I wouldn't have had as many chicks as I did the last few years at the barn

 

[StinkyAcres]

I'm not as concerned about mice than I am with rats. Rats do a lot more damage and eat a lot of feed. Mice make nests here and there in my coops. I clear them out and I feed the pinkies to the ducks.

Some things that might help are snap traps, bucket traps, removing feed at night, treadle feeders, spraying mint oil, covering wood with aluminum, and keeping compost piles far from the coop.

 

[bobsmith2002]

Also, do zoos have to deal with mice and rats in their animal enclosures or do they have state of the art defensive protection?

 

[StinkyAcres]

Also, do zoos have to deal with mice and rats in their animal enclosures or do they have state of the art defensive protection?

I'm sure they do deal with rodents and other pests in some of the more open enclosures. But I know some enclosures have a concrete floor which should keep out a lot of different pests and predators. Did your aviary have a concrete floor?

 

[Ted Brown]

I have not seen a mouse nor signs of them in six years. In the run their droppings would disappear as I use deep litter; in the coop I use deep bedding & drop boards, again do not see although droppings from the flock disappears pretty quickly.

My coop is elevated 3'+ on a 4x4 frame. I had 6" aluminium bent on the outside as a drip edge with 1.75" extending between the frame & coop floor; I use the area underneath as a run space so it is enclosed with 1/2" HC. I believe the combination deters mice and other critters.

 

[Ridgerunner]

mice poop that contaminate the bird's water supply renders their eggs infertile. How do you deal with this?

I consider any poop in their water supply unhealthy, including chicken poop. I change the water daily. As far as I'm concerned that is just basic sanitation.

For those of you who have birds outdoors, do you just let the mice come out at night and don't do anything about it? Or is your coop/aviary really that secure?

The way my coop is set up I cannot keep mice out. I don't try for 100% avoidance. But I try to manage the numbers.

If I find a mouse nest I feed the babies to the chickens. But that is incidental, not my major effort.

If my chickens see a mouse during the day they may try to catch it and eat it. They are not real successful at that as mice can be pretty quick in getting away. Obviously at night the chickens cannot see them.

I have an Adirondack trap set up outside of the normal chicken area but near where I keep the feed. You can do a search for this type of trap. Basically it is a bucket with a few inches of water in it set up so they fall in and drown. I feed the drowned mice to the flock.

If the numbers get high I add snap traps to my arsenal. I set them around the outside of the coop but where chickens can't get to them. To keep raccoon, possum, or a dog and such from setting them off and getting one stuck on them, I put them inside places too small for these animals to get to them. Imagine a four-sided box open on the ends 12 to 18 inches long and big enough for the trap to work. Set them along walls which are normal paths for mice.

I wire the traps in place so if a mouse or something bigger like a rat gets caught but not killed, it cannot drag the trap away. I feed trapped mice to the flock.