When I started keeping chickens, I prided myself on having no mice. I was soon humbled because they eventually made their way in. I screamed the first time I saw a mouse scurry across the floor of our chicken coop. Oh my goodness, it was startling. Immediately, I looked up “how to keep mice out of the chicken coop.” You know what I found? Tons of posts on how to keep mice out of the coop naturally. So I tried it. Did it work? NOPE.
Chicken Coops and Mice
First, if you are starting with chickens, get some of these amazing natural deterrents. They freshen your coop and make it smell good and are also supposed to keep rodents away. I have found that when you put these deterrents in right away, the mice are less likely to come. Here’s the thing: mice like nice, warm, cozy bedding and food. Guess what chickens have? Feathers, bedding, and yummy food. All in one spot, ready for a mouse to come in and make a home. A chicken coop or any livestock welcomes mice and other rodents. It’s like a big welcome home sign. These little critters aren’t welcome, so we need to keep them away or eliminate them.
Natural Deterrents
Of course, we wouldn’t have to kill mice in a perfect world. This was my thought when we first started having mouse issues. However, with all the different natural ways I read about keeping mice away, it just didn’t work. And by didn’t work, I mean the mouse problem got worse. It was so bad that we had to pay for pest control quarterly because they were not going away, and we found some in our home. YUCK!
Our pest guys came out, and they told us that with farm animals or any sort of livestock, rodents will make it their home. And they won’t just make a home, they will populate that home. They will also ruin your coop because they gnaw away at the little holes they come through.
We found that natural deterrents, if anything, provide a better smell than chicken poop when you walk into the coop. If they deter mice from entering, they are a great double whammy. But honestly, you’ve got to get poison or traps to knock these suckers out.
Poison
We use this mouse poison. We like it because it’s simple and effective. Pick up some extra containers, too!
We have a storage space where we put all our food, extra chicken care items, brooder set, and bedding before you enter the coop space. This is where we get mice. Why? Because of the food and bedding. It’s like they found a restaurant to feast in.
We put our poison in the little containers in this area. I have one by the food and one on the shelf. I like this poison because you can see if any mice have visited by how the block looks. It will look chewed on. If any animals get into the coop, the blocks are in the little containers, so no children or other animals will be affected by them.
This was the way we eliminated the issue with mice in our coop. Mice would come in because of the spilled food or because they were trying to nest, find the poison, and eat it. They would then go back to their den and die. We also have our pest control boxes outside for mice, which have helped tremendously. To eliminate your mouse problem, you must take care of it everywhere, inside and outside.
Things We’ve Tried That Don’t Work
Bucket Traps: These are annoying, you have to reset them all the time, and honestly are a pain to lug around and too big to be anywhere. They also don’t hold up well and break easily. We caught only a couple mice with these and it was more of a pain then a help. You will see an out-of-comission bucket trap in the video below.
Other Ways to Keep Mice Away
Food Containers
This is a must. We keep our food in metal garbage bins. Even the scratch or treats I give them go in a smaller bin. Mice are notorious for sniffing a scent and chewing through anything to get it. We have had multiple bags of feed get chewed through. It wastes your feed and makes a mess, welcoming more little mice.
When we got metal bins for our food, we saw a massive decrease in mice.
Keep Your Coop Clean
If your coop consistently has feed that has fallen or is just gross and messy, mice will want to hang out. We mIt’s all our food and water outside under our run so that we can eliminate mice wishing to go into the coop.
I also vacuum up any feed that spilled when we fed the chickens, so the smell does not attract the mice. I use a little vacuum to keep the coop less dusty and vacuum up any bedding that has made its way into the storage area.
This funny video below shows me using thedidn’tm to clean up some feed that had spilled when our daughter tried to feed the chickens. My husband, Jordan is a master scarer. He takes any opportunity to scare me. This was a perfect scare because I was already on edge because there was spilled food and withhaven’td food comes mice. Check it out and get a little laugh. haha
Have Livestock? Have Mice.
It’s just part of it. If you have feed around, it will attract mice. WeWe hope that with our products, we can deter mice and not attract them. We have seen a massive decrease in mice since having these natural deterrents and the poison in the coop.
When we first got Susan, our Babydoll lamb, I gave her a little metal bucket to feed her treats occasionally. She didn’t finish her treats one day, so I put the bucket with said grain in her little hay storage area. Guess what? There were mouse droppings in there. So, we vacuumed it all, put the natural deterrents in, and poured any leftover feed back into the metal bins. We haven’t seen any mice or droppings since.
You have to stay ahead of mice. So, if you are starting, get yourself some natural deterrents. They will make your coop smell fresh and hopefully keep those mice away if you keep all your food in metal bins.
Get more LoDown in these posts:
How to Start a Simple Backyard Farm
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