Hi all... Been awhile since I've posted. DH noticed tonite that our occasional mouse in the coop issue has blossomed into a serious rodent problem (a dozen or so that he saw, with young'uns). We've been scratching our heads over how to deal with it. Poison may poison chickens, there's too many for single traps at this point, don't own a multi-trap but may need to buy one, local cats are not catchable to put in the coop and then would just fight to get out. Too confined for firearms. The drown in a bucket trick might attract a nosey chicken... Right now we're thinking remove the food, just feed during the day by scattering on the ground and also muck out the coop and patch the holes they've chewed (it used to be tight but they've made new holes). I'd rather them dead but have run out of ideas and couldn't find much in the poultry archives. Any suggestions?

TIA

-- Susan in MO (smtroxel@socket.net), February 06, 2002

Answers

Definitely don't leave food out overnight. If you scatter it on the floor inevitably chickens will leave some and the mice continue to thrive. Store your feed elsewhere for a while. Clean out the bedding thoroughly to get rid of any scratch, etc. still around. Poke around and destroy any nests you might find. Remove the water overnight too.

Then try placing traps or bait near the coop overnight. Place chicken wire in between the old and the new wood of patches. If you can afford to, while the floor is empty cause you swept it clean, staple gun chicken wire down and then cover it with wood. This can be a good deterrent. Try this on the first 10 inches or so of the walls.

-- Anne (Healthytouch101@wildmail.com), February 06, 2002.

Go get a sealed mouse poison trap- it has one or two mouse sized openings which mice can get in and chickens cant. The poisn is inside. The poisn, I believe, makes the mouse drink itself to death, so dead bodies in the coop shouldnt be a problem. If the chickens could potentially eat the dead mouse, remove water source at night., place trap so mouse leaves premisis. Remove trap, add water in morning. OR get/ make a sturdy box, drill a mouse sized hole or two in it, set your regular mouse traps and catch them in the box the old fashioned way. I prefer this to the poison.

-- Kevin in NC (Vantravlrs@aol.com), February 06, 2002.

I put a dog carrier in my chicken house and set about 2 - 5 traps in it depending how much mouse sign I see. With the door closed a hen can't get in, but the mice can, and oh how they like that peanut butter or liver sausage.

-- Duffy (hazelm@tenforward.com), February 06, 2002.

just a thought,,, I was found a large bottle, ceramic kind, out of a barn,, that used ot old molasses,,, it had about 50 dead, mummified drowned, sugar preserved mice in it. Might be a new idea for reinventing the mouse trap

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 06, 2002.

Just One Bite mouse/rat poisoning. Here, i find it at the feed stores. I break off a piece and stick it in a long pvc pipe so my animals can't get to it. Even if your pets find a dead mouse, they've eaten such a minute amt of the poison, it won't hurt them.

-- Buk (nil@tiredofspam.com), February 06, 2002.

Anne, did you mean hardware cloth? (with the small square mesh) chicken wire is big enought for rats to get through the holes, (1 to 2 inch openings)

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), February 06, 2002.

You can do hardware cloth, but I have only used chicken wire. Then again, I have never had a mouse/rat infestation. Hmm. Don't know if that's cause my dogs work hard or the wire works.

-- Anne (Healthytouch101@wildmail.com), February 06, 2002.

Last year when I had rodent problems in my henhouse, I put put Just One Bite down in the new holes the rodents had chewed (rats, in my case), then put a board on with one nail so I could swivel it open and add more poison for a week as needed. When the poison stopped disappearing, I patched the floor properly. Incidentally, I did go ahead and put hardware cloth down, then put plywood on top of that. I haven't had any rodents chewing through since.

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), February 07, 2002.

Every night after dark I go out with one of the cats and very fast open the door and throw the cat in They VERY quickly learn the reason why and every night comes out with a mouse. Sometimes if I have time I will do that every hour with the same cat or a different one. They take good care of the problem. Sometimes just go in and lift up aq feeder ect an they will catch anything under it They love it and it sure cuts down on the problem fast.Within a week I can't fine anything in there and every time the door opens to the chicken house the cats come runnin Cindy

-- Cindy (hollo@bitwisesystems.com), February 08, 2002.

We keep a 5 gallon bucket w/ the lid on, and a mouse size hole near the base, with Just One Bite in our hen house. This means the chickens will not accidentally ingest poison, but thee rodents have easy access. We put it out right around the time the combines are running and the mice are looking for a home. Good luck! LLV

-- LLV (vadas@nfdc.net), February 11, 2002.