What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[brambles]

(dear liza, dear liza)

 

But there is.

 

I'm not sure if it's because I've switched to flax and that makes a cosy place to go - although I'm going back onto straw once this bale of flax is done as it's all bitty over the eggs.

 

Each time I've opened the hatch today, the mouse has shot away out of the nest box. I would rather it wasn't there due to the risk of it spreading disease to the girls and weeing on the eggs before I collect them - or eating them!

 

I have two great mouser cats and the chickens have on occasion run off with cat killed mice.

 

What can I do?

[CluckyBucks]

Dear Liza a mouse

 

I used to have a mouse living under the eglu, not sure if it went in the nest box though.

 

I would try plugging the nextbox hole up with something, i.e, a cork??

 

and put plenty of humaine traps down, or buy more cats

 

xx xx

 

P.s, be sure to clean up any spilled food as thats what used to attract my mouse

[brambles]

I saw it exit through a large gap that I'm in talks with omlet about (and they have been brilliant so far!), but also zoom out through the nestbox door, which is rather hard to plug shut - the girls would complain during the day!

 

Sorting the food overnight is not a problem, but I think it's there to shelter from the weather - autumnal hormones maybe, rather than to eat as there's loads of food in the garden in the form of fruit, etc still on trees and bushes.

[brambles]

... off to find the humane traps. Last time we needed them the mice had pooed in my breadbin. It was autumn - I think they were looking for somewhere to shelter! Unfortunately we had to get the council man in since it was kitchens and hygiene when the humane traps had no success.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

We tried the humane traps & I swear the little monsters came back, so we only have the snappy traps now.......not brill for a chook house though

 

I nearly had heart failure one evening, I was cooking in the kitchen, as you do & suddenly the trap above the extractor on top of the cupboards, shot up in the air complete with mouse & landed on the floor next to me .............my mum & I have never moved so fast in our entire lives...and I think supper was rethought that night too

 

Sha x

[Chicken Shirl]

Humane traps worked for me when we had mice in the house. You have to be sure to take the little critters a couple of miles away to release them as they do come back. I think we must have had hundreds of them living in the dry stone walls of the old part of our house. It took two years to clear them completely. I kept a diary everytime we caught one. The cheeky blighters would appear in the middle of the day. Good luck with catching yours

[sandyhas3chucks]

we live with ours

It is impossible to keep the floor clear of food.

The mice were here and loved to watch before the chooks, I do use lots of StalosanF in the hope of keeping diseases down.

Someone said if you have mice you don't have rats.

Dunno if that is true. Mine eat mice, so they have to be fast.

Mind you for the 2nd time this year I have an injured pigeon in a metre Eglu run down the end of the garden, so maybe I am just odd!

Though I will draw the line at injured foxes of any age!

[Chicken Shirl]

we live with ours

It is impossible to keep the floor clear of food.

The mice were here and loved to watch before the chooks, I do use lots of StalosanF in the hope of keeping diseases down.

Someone said if you have mice you don't have rats.

Dunno if that is true. Mine eat mice, so they have to be fast.

Mind you for the 2nd time this year I have an injured pigeon in a metre Eglu run down the end of the garden, so maybe I am just odd!

Though I will draw the line at injured foxes of any age!

 

I have heard that about the mice and rats also. Don't know how true it is.

[brambles]

I hope that's true. However, we're metres away over the back fence from the Shropshire Union canal, so I don't hold out too many hopes! We also have fields and woods opposite/50 yards down the road and our cats bring a steady supply in, so i can't help thinking we've just got to live with it!

 

Good thought about the Stalosan. I'll keep on using it in my tidy ups of the run.

[sandyhas3chucks]

Good thought about the Stalosan. I'll keep on using it in my tidy ups of the run.

couldn't thonk what else to do, but try keep the mices healthy & disease free too

Also sprinkle it under shed and in other places in the garden too.

[stoice]

we live with ours

It is impossible to keep the floor clear of food.

The mice were here and loved to watch before the chooks, I do use lots of StalosanF in the hope of keeping diseases down.

Someone said if you have mice you don't have rats.

Dunno if that is true. Mine eat mice, so they have to be fast.

Mind you for the 2nd time this year I have an injured pigeon in a metre Eglu run down the end of the garden, so maybe I am just odd!

Though I will draw the line at injured foxes of any age!

 

I have heard that about the mice and rats also. Don't know how true it is.

 

I'd heard this too. But last autumn when struggling with a ratty problem i managed to catch a

mouse (Plus several slugs ) in the rat trap. I suppose it depends on whether they have different places to nest.

 

I have baiting stations out now and have not seen any evidence of mice or rats all summer. (Although Autumn and winter seems to be when they'll search for a warmer home so will have to check our garage again)