I am done done done! I need your help!

[jacks'thunder]

Now let me start off by saying I LOVE my chickens! But what do I do about the mice! I find these little mouse holes in my coop and flood them out. Most of the time they come flying out and the chicks chase them or I grab them and throw them to the kitties. I only feed enough for them to eat durring the day so at night no food is laying around. My feed is in metal containers with tight lids. My coop is pretty big(and old!) and its on a dirt floor with a footing.

This morning I saw a hole and poored some water down it. A few of my great chicken hunters were standing there watching as they know the fun game of "chase the mousie" will begin. Things go a normal and I go about my business cleaning waterers untill I feel something kinda touching my rear. First thing that comes to mind is it's a chick pecking at my pants. Nothing... so I go back to what I was doing and it happens again! So this time I start to turn in a circle to see whats behind me and I realise it's a mouse IN my pants! So I'm hopping around like a fool trying to strip off my coat, snow pants, boots, and what ever else needs to come off! I flung him in the process so my chicks got to play "chase the mousie"! So I just stood there mad and dirty! Then I had to laugh, Thank God no one saw me! LOL!!! A mouse up my snow pants!!!

How do I trap these mice? Anything that works homemade wise? Suggestions?

HELP!!!! Please

 

[KanoasDestiny]

Oh my gosh, I would have died! Lol.

You could always buy those live traps. They are metal with two holes. Put some kind of food that smells strong and good in them and the mice will flood inside. We always catch tons, then take them out to no mans land and release them. But you could do whatever you wish with them. The traps are safe and small enough where other animals can't get in or hurt by them.

 

[chandab]

There are several varieties of live mouse traps, so you wouldn't have to worry about a snap trap and your chickens.

I don't know if it would work in a chicken coop, as I don't know if the chickens would object, but there is CabFresh pouches

http://www.earthkindstore.com/servlet/the-5/mouse%2Crat%2Crodent%2Crepellent%2Crepellant%2Chow-to-get-rid/Detail?gclid=CLWpsMiZ860CFULrKgodqjdysA [its supposed to repell mice, I know it works in vehicles and homes, but don't know about chicken coups, but might be worth looking into. They do have to be replace periodically, as they lose their potency.]

 

[2minis4us]

OMG !!! Seriously !! Those chickens would be gone in a heartbeat

 

[Equuisize]

Dang, there's never anyone around with a video camera when you need them.

That'd have made America's Funniest Home Videos, for sure!!

The fellow I used to lease my boarder barn from had a lot of commercial properties,

including apartment complexes. Folks were less than tidy in the garbage dumpster areas

when dumping garbage and it was a natural draw for mice and rats.

He told me that they used, around perimeters of their buildings and dumpster areas,

granulated moth balls.

He said it was approved by the Public Health Department as a deterrent.

I keep it in the back of my mind but I've never found a situation where I was comfortable

using it though.

It seems it'd not be good for chickens that scratch at everything or around cats and dogs.

I don't know that, but it just seems the way he used it was great for that application.

I thought I'd throw it out there though in case some else could use the tip.

 

[ohmt]

I don't know how to get rid of them, but please please please be very careful when going into your chicken coop until they are gone. I have taken too many microbiology classes now so I am paranoid, but you should wear a mask when going in there. There is a disease that they can carry that if you inhale has a 100% mortality rate. We had a man die here in ND just last year when he was cleaning out his barn due to it. Once you get them out, definitely get in there and clean everything that you can. I absolutely love mice-but only my pet mice and the mice in the lab. They are vectors for way too many diseases outside of those for me to tolerate them otherwise.

 

[Carolyn R]

Omg, I was laughing my butt off reading this! Sadly, when you have farm animals, you have mice, doesn't matter if it is chickens, horses, pigs, goats..... They will even go as far as eating pieces of undigested grain and seed from horse manure. Our neighbor has a chipmunk problem, he plays walk the plank with them. I couldn't do it, but to each their own. He takes a five gallon bucket, fills it about 1/3 full of water, layers sunflower sees on top. The seeds float. He places a 1x4 on an angle and one on top like a bridge, layers the seeds on the plank then let's nature take it's course. I am sure it would work with mice.

Forgot to add, it is important to have enough sunflowers floating on the water look like it is a solid surface, so they jump in and think they are landing on a buffet!

Me, I am the type to pluck a drowning mouse out of water, dry it off and set it free in the woods. I am so pathetic. I have no issues with pest control, just prefer it to be swift and effective, lol.

The moth balls work, when winterizing our camper we use mothballs and dryer sheets in the vents.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Thanks everyone! I think I'll use alittle bit of everyones advice except for getting rid of the girls. I can't do it! I love them

I know you guys are right about the moth balls. I completely forgot about how great they work. I think I'll put them around the outside and that should slow any more from getting in. I'll look for the live traps. Maybe TSC or some kind of farm store?? And I'm definately going to purchase some of those Fresh Cab pouches. Dumb mice got in to my 4 wheeler and chewed my battery cables! But I think I'll run to the store tomorrow and see if I can find some sunflower seed for "walk the plank"(and the mouse hotel

).

Now I did call my mom and tell her what happened and she could not stop laughing at me! She said the same thing about Funniest home videos! She also reminded me that thats not the first time something has hitched a ride(or tried too) from that coop! One day I came in from night chores and jumped in the bath, dunked my head and laid back to relax and a spider the size of a quarter floated past me!

I kid you not!! I have the biggest fear of spiders and he must have been in my hair!!! I'm sooo grossed out just thinking about it... I have the willies all over again!!!

Needless to say I was up and out of there in a flash while letting out blood curtleing screams!Ewww Ewwww Ewwww!!! Lets just say he was not the last spider to hitch a ride in!! I shop vac the whole place evey other week and it seems to keep them at bay..... Yuck!!!!!! I'm so grossed out just talking about it!!!

I sleep with the covers covering my head so spiders wont get in my ears!! I always have slept like that! Yuck!!

 

[Tab]

Oh man, I feel your pain about the mouse-in-pants business. Not cool at all.

 

[Marty]

You aren't the only one. My friend had the same problem and ended up with a huge infestation of mice EVERYWHERE. It did begin with her chickens and rabbits that were no where near the house and she kept the pens very clean but they literally took over her property and chewed up everything they could. She refused to get rid of them for the longest time until she found the mice had gotten into her walls and attic and thus every room in her house. They finally had to go but the infestation remained and ended up costing her thousands in exterimating. In my pants? I would have died right then right there on the spot. I mean, suppose he bit you in the butt or something and you had to go to the hospital? Yep, I'd die. Its a lot cheaper to buy a dozen eggs.

 

[Sonya]

I think peanut butter will work better in your bucket trap...here is a link...the smell is much stronger than sunflower seeds and chances are you have some already in your pantry...we have used this method with great success...good luck.:

Mouse traps

One bad thing about this method, is if your trap is going outside in this time of year in Michigan, your water will freeze pretty quick and the mice will be enjoying the treat you left for them.

 

[Sonya]

....I just thought of something...instead of water in your bucket you could use rv antifreeze, it is safe for animals (in case something else got into it) and fairly inexpensive, $2-3/gallon...that way it will not freeze.

 

[Sonya]

I suppose windshield washer fluid would work too, if its cheaper, just check the label for hazards. (sorry for the triple post, i'm on my android tablet which won't let me edit posts)

 

[jacks'thunder]

Thanks Sonya!! I'm going to set it up this morning!!!

 

[Carolyn R]

I corrected my first post, but I forgot to add that it is important to place enough floating sunflower seeds in then bucket so it looks like a solid surface, they leep in thinking it is a buffet!

 

[MindyLee]

Poision!!!

Ok I have critters too and I am well aware of the problems poison can do. BUT I am mouse free and have NO barn cats!

I have chicken feed all over the place on the floor of my barn and no mice. Well Im sure theres mice BUT few and I dont see them or their poop so Im doing something right. I have 25 chickens, 6 bunnys, 2 swans, and 8 horses in the barn and Im telling ya, feed everywhere.

I use the red container of poision from TSC and oh boy dose it work. It is safe for pets ( if they eat a dead mouse/rat, they dont get sick from it). I use the blocks by the feed area and under the pallets that the hay sits on. IT WORKS!

3 yrs ago, my barn was mouseville. I could stand there and literlly see a hundred mice at my feet eating and running to the feed dishs. The chickens where overwelmed and couldnt stand the mice either. So after doing all I could do without poision, I broke down and bought a small tub of it. Since then I have only seen maybe 6 mice in my barn!!! And that was 3 yrs ago!!! All my pets have done just fine with it! I did have barn cats till I got rid of them this fall. I am a poison free type of person ands hate to think I now use it, BUT stand 120% behind this and will continue to use it as it works! If your responsable with the poision, you should'nt have any issues with it... I do recomend the blocks only, not the pellets...

GOOD LUCK!

 

[jacks'thunder]

Poision!!!

Ok I have critters too and I am well aware of the problems poison can do. BUT I am mouse free and have NO barn cats!

I have chicken feed all over the place on the floor of my barn and no mice. Well Im sure theres mice BUT few and I dont see them or their poop so Im doing something right. I have 25 chickens, 6 bunnys, 2 swans, and 8 horses in the barn and Im telling ya, feed everywhere.

I use the red container of poision from TSC and oh boy dose it work. It is safe for pets ( if they eat a dead mouse/rat, they dont get sick from it). I use the blocks by the feed area and under the pallets that the hay sits on. IT WORKS!

3 yrs ago, my barn was mouseville. I could stand there and literlly see a hundred mice at my feet eating and running to the feed dishs. The chickens where overwelmed and couldnt stand the mice either. So after doing all I could do without poision, I broke down and bought a small tub of it. Since then I have only seen maybe 6 mice in my barn!!! And that was 3 yrs ago!!! All my pets have done just fine with it! I did have barn cats till I got rid of them this fall. I am a poison free type of person ands hate to think I now use it, BUT stand 120% behind this and will continue to use it as it works! If your responsable with the poision, you should'nt have any issues with it... I do recomend the blocks only, not the pellets...

GOOD LUCK!

Hummmm, this may work. If you say it's safe if my cats eat a mouse who ate some. If it's at TSC I'll check it out on Wednesday when I go. Thank you!

I set my baccon bits and peanut butter 5gal bucket traps yesterday! Nothing when I checked around 10pm but fingers crossed for this morning!

 

[MountainWoman]

I had mice in my barn (my chicken coop is part of the barn structure. I purchased a bunch of those plug in mice repellers (way more than suggested), plugged them in and in about 3 weeks, I was mouse free and they have never returned. You can also plant certain flowers around your coop that tend to repel mice or herbs like mint.

 

[LAZY J MINIS]

THANKS FOR THE LAUGH!!! I KNOW MICE ARE A PROBLEM BUT I COULD VISILIZE(sp)THE MOUSE RUN, AND THE RIPPING OFF THE CLOTHES. GLAD YOU ARE OK. I NEEDED A GOOD LAUGH TODAY.

 

[Katiean]

I would have died laughing watching you hop around and flinging your clothes!!!

Anyway, the live traps work great! You do not even have to bait them. Just put them by a wall where you figure they will go. You can catch several mice in a day with them. The only way I could figure out how to empty the trap was to fill a 5 gallon bucket with enough water to cover the trap and drop the trap in. After a few minutes I would go back, empty the water and get rid of the mice. I don't have any mice any more. My cats are KILLERS!! The neighbors don't have any mice either. They have had to resort to pigeons, quail and rabbits.