HELP! Mice Infestation in Chicken Coop

[surprzchx4life]

Mice in my chicken coop. Have taken preventative steps , but they are in anyway...now with fall upon us (I live in Michigan, they are there to stay) Any suggestions for ridding these pests? I have 10 adult chickens, 6 week old chicks. No rats, just mice (poison killing has always made me nervous because we have other pets and children) Thank you!

 

[guineapeeps]

I don’t really like to use poison either because I’m worried that my dog or cat would find one of the poisoned mice and eat it and get sick. I tried using the traditional wooden snap traps but caught a few wild birds them occasionally and they weren’t very dependable so stopped using them. I started using several other methods which seemed to work well. Here’s what I used:

The water bucket trap:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...phic-mice-being-caught.1127824/#post-17409157

My favorite traditional type traps that kept wild birds or chicks from getting in the traps and keeps bait from being stolen:
(They are hard to find in stores but available on Amazon)

https://www.amazon.com/D-Ultra-Cove...535206811&sr=8-4&keywords=Covered+mouse+traps

Lastly, I also used a large live metal trap that would usually get a few per night in. Once, captured I would get rid of them (usually letting my son get them with his B.B. gun since I hate doing that type of stuff). I usually used peanut butter as bait which they seem to love. Here is the metal trap that I used:

http://www.victorpest.com/victor-tin-cat-mouse-trap-m310s

Good luck!

 

[Folly's place]

I let things get out of hand this spring; untold numbers of mice! No barn cat right now, so no help there. A few were trapped in snap traps, but for the rest, it took bait.
I used the bait stations, in a closed off section of the coop, and another bait station inside a closed live trap. The birds couldn't get into either place, and it worked fine. I only found a very few dead or dying mice, and disposed of them. I think most went back to their burrows and died there, not accessable to the birds.
Mary

 

[llombardo]

I have had mice get into the house, peppermint actually worked. I had to stop using it because my one dog is allergic.

I never thought about mice being by the chickens, never saw one there but I do have a four foot garter snake that is living right outside the run--my guess is he didn't get to be four foot without eating something. I tried catching it to remove it but now I'm thinking it's probably helping me out. I don't want the chickens to eat it though.

 

[aart]

now with fall upon us (I live in Michigan, they are there to stay)

Definitely rodent war season here...I just set lots of snap traps in all the outbuildings and attached garage and patrol them every day to empty and reset. Setting bait end of trap up against a flat vertical surface like a a wall or a box improved my catch rate greatly. Bucket traps can work well too.
Luckily none of my traps need to be set inside the coop itself, just the large shed the coop is in...but putting snap traps inside a shoe box with mouse sized entry hole can work well.

Clearing any long vegetation from around the coop can help, as can keeping your feed in a metal garbage cans..and maybe another metal can for the feeder itself at night.

 

[enoryz]

Mice have no chance in my coop. My chickens tear them up. We cleaned up on 4 this past weekend.

 

[Folly's place]

Mice do great at night while the chickens are roosting. If they are killing mice during the day, you have a LOT of mice!
Mary