3.6m Omlet Chicken Run for sale, Brand New in Boxes, Milton Keynes (MK19)

[Sam]

Hi. Yesterday I bought a new bag of layers pellets so took the old bag out of the dustbin and there was about half a scoop of pellets left in the old bag so I forgot to put it away so it was lying on the garage floor. I went in the garage this morning and there were tiny droppings and lots of nibbling in the bag... so I think I have mice I checked inside the dustbin and the new bag is still fine. (All chickeny stuff is kept in the garage)

 

- Should I throw away the contents of the old bag or would it still be safe for the chickens?

- Are mice like rats? (steal the chickens food at night, contaminate their water etc)

- Should I try and get rid of them? If so whats the best way?

 

Thanks

[Ain't Nobody Here]

If there's only a tiny amount left, I'd bin it. I found mice living in the space under a slab in my WIR last year . They were also in evidence in the shed and garage.

 

I bought 2 very cheap plastic mousetraps from a garden centre, put a tiny bit of Mars Bar in them and caught half a dozen or so over a couple of weeks. There's not been any sign since (I filled in the gap under the slab!)

[grracee]

I've had a similar problem aswell but not with chickens I had mice in my rabbit shed! Never thought about it but I had rabbit treats in a basket and one day I realised they were disappearing and spotted mice droppings in the basket, I always keep my pellets in a tub but never thought of the treats. I set a mouse trap and put a little bit of chocolate on there and caught one the first night and also caught a couple more and haven't had them return since.

We've never had mice before but guessing they had a nest somewhere in next doors garden as it's like an overgrown jungle and my shed is right by her fence.

 

It definitely sounds like you have them so would try a mouse trap with abit of chocolate, (they seem to prefer that to cheese!) and hopefully you can get rid of them.

[Chickybaby]

I've had mice in my shed for about 4 years.....I actually feed them but I am a big softie when it comes to wildlife. I've only seen them a few times but they are there as their food is gone in the morning. I was always told (not sure if it's true though) that if you have mice you won't get rats and vice versa....I know which I prefer! I have never had any problems with them and the chickens, I hardly ever have any sick chickens and the food, straw etc is stored in another shed well away from the mice. As long as the mice stay in and around the shed at the bottom of the garden and don't venture near the house them I'm happy for them to stay......keeps the local cats amused too!

[Mollie333]

I have mice in the garage, i don't see it as a problem, really. I use strong feed bins to store the food. It's rats and foxes that i'm more concerned about.

[Egluntyne]

I'd bin the pellets as it is probably contaminated with the mice's urine.

[Sam]

Pellets have been binned. I'm not worried about that, I just hope they don't start nibbling around and find the big sack.

 

As Mollie and Chickybaby, they aren't really that much of a problem and I'm not sure if I could bare the sight of a mouse dead on a trap The only reason I want to get rid of them is because I just hate things like mice,rats,insects and I read a post on here that once someone opened up the sack of feed and a mouse ran up their arm That is literally my worst nightmare. I'll keep a look out for some traps; thanks for the replies

[leedg]

Chickybaby, that saying is trueish, but what it actually means is that if you have mice then you havent got rats, as when rats move into an area they kill and eat any mice they can get to. we had loads of mice living in our outbuildings, used to see them almost everyday, then i noticed that i hadnt seen a mouse in a couple of weeks, sure enough a week later I saw a rat running across our garden.

[Duncan08]

We get mice they used to live under our old timber sheds and in the garage. I agree with others I don't mind them outdoors and they are quite sweet to watch, they used to come out at dusk to eat the wild bird seed that the birds dropped. But we do use a humane trap to keep them under control and release them in the woods. I haven't seen any for a while, hope that doesn't mean a rat has moved in!

[chocolateeclaire]

Despite leaving food out in the WIR I have never seen any mice in my garden - nor have my 7 cats!!!!!!!!

Claire