Mouse in the chicken house

What on earth are wild barn cats for if not to control, maim and eliminate the mouse population? Oh, right, they're there to remind them you're not feeding them.

While watering the birds, I found a mouse, a brave one, running around in the pen with the BABIES and the broody. My chickens LOVE to eat mice, but apparently, only when all the hard work of killing it has been done for them.

How do you handle mice in the coop? Poisons will kill your birds, traps will trap your birds, live bucket traps, well they'll eat the bait and knock it over. I have a blocked off space up high... would it be worth it to set live traps up there, perhaps? They're good at climbing walls aren't they?

Any advice? Any advice other than get new cats, that is, because that's CLEARLY an issue.

I've had excellent success with live mouse traps and then I leave them in there and 24 hours later they die. Not sure why they die so quickly but the always do.

This is the trap: http://www.trapman.co.uk/multi-live-catch-repeating-mouse-trap.htm

You can get plastic as well which is cheaper and work fine and still see somewhat through the lid.

Funny you have cats and mice. I only have one cat here at home and he keeps all the mice down, the voles and even the gophers in the field in front of the house.

Do your cats go in your chicken house? With the broody and her babies?
Mice are opportunistic, if they know they are safe in a certain part of the coop the cats cant get at they stay there.
I saw a really neat mouse trip today at Peavey Mart, only $9. It was wire, with a hole in the top of it with the wire bent in the inward direction (if that make sense), then they crawl into the trap but with the wire sticking inside they cannot climb back out. Looked pretty nifty.

I was setting up my brooder house for our meat birds that arrived today and there were a lot of mice in there, of course the cats cannot get in that building but my one cat that sits outside the building hunting I put her in there for the hours I was gone to get the chicks and not a sign of a mouse. When I checked her before leaving this am she had a mouse in her mouth and one under her paw.

I don't really trust her in with the little new born chicks but in a couple weeks she will have free range in there again.

Was this idea but a square one completely enclosed in wire, not sure why they have a hole in the bottom of this one, maybe to get the mice out? The one at peavey had a hinged door to get the mice out with.

Interesting design. I wonder if it is meant to sit over a pail of water? Drowning may seem cruel, but I often find drowned mice in the chickens water buckets, even when it seems they should be able to climb out of a rough-edged rubber pail.

Invest in an electric mouse trap (on sale right now at amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Victor-M2524-Electronic-Mouse-Trap/dp/B000E1RIUU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370112487&sr=8-1&keywords=electric+mouse+traps ) and I guarantee you'll never have another live mouse in your hen house again. Best mouse traps EVER imo.

You could try a tin cat by viktor.

Coopslave,
Just how big is your cat that it helps keep the gopher population in control at your place.

foal0069 wrote:Coopslave,
Just how big is your cat that it helps keep the gopher population in control at your place.

Believe me, he does not CONTROL the populations, but you can see a spot in front of the house, proably 2 acres, there is not a gopher or hole in sight!
He is a good sized cat, but I am amazed at the size of the ones he drags home. Yes, they all make their way to the porch and he eats them on the front door mat.....sigh....welcome everyone.......
Some are so big he only eats the head. Oh, and I can tell you from personal experience that gopher guts are great, green, gobs!!!

(sorry, a bit gross but true)

Take a five gallon or smaller pail , drill two holes into it at opposite sides , insert a dowel with a small piece of wood as a shelf in the muddle .Fill in about two inches of water , lay a plank against the pail to serve as a ramp .Now put Peanut butter on the shelf and .......drowned mouse ! Just make sure that the dowel can turn very easily .Mice LOVE peanut butter and will attempt to get to it by jumping or attempting to crawl along the dowel which in turn will turn and drop them into the water , then it's swim till your little feet can't do it anymore .........works great ! Better then traps because they won't run off with it if they only marginally get caught

Thats no good Sweetened hopefully somebodies suggestion works well for you. I was out the other day with my hens and they actually trapped a medium sized squirrel in their pen and were taking pot shots at it funniest thing I have ever saw.

THanks everyone. I like that ketch all idea. Moose has access to dry ice with his work, and it would be easy to gas them on one of those with another box around it. I have an issue with drowning, perhaps because I fear it very much, but I know it is done a lot.

Glad I dont seem to be the only one dealing with or who has dealt with this at some point.

I have that trap Hidden and so far it hasn't caught a thing - thought it would catch pack rats but no.... perhaps I'm missing something, I haven't seen instructions. The base I have for mine is metal without the hole at the bottom, longer tines.

I find mice have a six week cycle of reproduction - there are tons, you catch them all, there are none for five week and then they are BACK...

Pack rats are the horrendous plague here. They tear apart everything....then pee on it.

I miss my cat. I didn't know how hard he was working until he was gone. Now there are mice and squirrels, voles and chipmunks everywhere.

The spinning bucket trap works well - when mice are breeding you can fill a bucket pretty quickly with drowned mice!

Ruffledfeathers wrote:Thats no good Sweetened hopefully somebodies suggestion works well for you. I was out the other day with my hens and they actually trapped a medium sized squirrel in their pen and were taking pot shots at it funniest thing I have ever saw.

Waiting on the video!!!

KathyS wrote:Interesting design. I wonder if it is meant to sit over a pail of water? Drowning may seem cruel, but I often find drowned mice in the chickens water buckets, even when it seems they should be able to climb out of a rough-edged rubber pail.

Yes, it is to put over a pail of water.

You can also hook the flip style live traps to a hose the mice follow that ends in a bucket of water.

coopslave wrote:

Ruffledfeathers wrote:Thats no good Sweetened hopefully somebodies suggestion works well for you. I was out the other day with my hens and they actually trapped a medium sized squirrel in their pen and were taking pot shots at it funniest thing I have ever saw.

Waiting on the video!!!

Oh Coopie you pot stirrer. I would be more than happy to post vids because I'm pretty sure I owe somebody on here a chicken dance too but that's not gonna happen until I change my internet provider, sorry and I need to have my camera out with me at all times.

The most interesting things always seem to happen when I don't have my camera with me!

heda gobbler wrote:
I miss my cat. I didn't know how hard he was working until he was gone. Now there are mice and squirrels, voles and chipmunks everywhere.

Oh Miss Heda I have a cat for you. She's a tabby lean mean killin machine, unfortunately the hubby does not like her and I'm looking for a new home for her.

Unfortunately LGD has a bad habit of killing cats. Wonder if she'd like the barn at husband's ranch? It's full of pack rats and LGD never goes there.....

Sadly LGD probably killed my beloved Siamese. Love that dog but he has his flaws...

I just about forgot about your beast of a dog. How could I do that He's got to be one of the biggest dogs I've ever met.