# Mice in coop-driving me crazy!!



## Whitedove06 (Jul 7, 2009)

Hi all,

During mid summer I suspected and found mice running in/out of my pigeon coop. So far, I've taken measures of sweeping up spilled food and cleaning floor and removing food pan every night. One evening I found them getting under the door. My coop is right on concrete patio against house. I found holes and patched them, but now they are climbing (mice can climb, I used to raise them)
and pooping in other places where birds perch.( they might be in my attic?) I have to sweep this up every day and spray bleach water. I can't put traps outside because I have flying homers I've started training. Going to keep the area clean for my birds until I can find a way to be rid of them. Hawks and Owls need not apply.......


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## Pollo70 (Jan 3, 2012)

Have you used any type of poisen.I live near a big field I place D-con packs under my lofts and around my barn. keeps them under control once they start eating the bait they take it to there nest and the poisen spreads once they start dying they get spooked and move out of the area! if there is a food source for them they will stick around you did mention that you take the feed trays out at night that is the first step to keping them out I never leave feed trays in the loft over night. eliminate the food source try poisen baits and go from there good luck!


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## M Kurps (Mar 19, 2009)

I may be wrong but is your flight pen made of 1 inch chicken wire ? Half inch wire mesh may do the trick plus making sure again all holes are plugged. Get rid of them or you are wasting your time training your birds, they will never come into condition. IMO
Kurps


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## Pigeonfriends (Jan 19, 2012)

http://www.ehow.com/about_5333350_mint-repel-mice.html

Use mint oil on the floor of your loft, and then grow Mint and Garlic plants around the loft, promise you that the rats won't ever come again


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## Pollo70 (Jan 3, 2012)

Pigeonfriends said:


> http://www.ehow.com/about_5333350_mint-repel-mice.html
> 
> Use mint oil on the floor of your loft, and then grow Mint and Garlic plants around the loft, promise you that the rats won't ever come again


That is a good natural safe method we do that up at are camping property we grow mint around the lot and near the trailers mice and rats hate the smell of mint! old school remedie good call


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## Pigeonfriends (Jan 19, 2012)

Pollo70 said:


> That is a good natural safe method we do that up at are camping property we grow mint around the lot and near the trailers mice and rats hate the smell of mint! old school remedie good call


Yes and Garlic is great for repelling bugs so it works as a great combo for keeping the birds from getting annoyed by bugs too


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## pigeon is fun (Sep 6, 2010)

Try to put some mouse traps around your loft at night and put it away during daytime.


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## M Kurps (Mar 19, 2009)

Pigeonfriends said:


> http://www.ehow.com/about_5333350_mint-repel-mice.html
> 
> Use mint oil on the floor of your loft, and then grow Mint and Garlic plants around the loft, promise you that the rats won't ever come again


That is a good call ! I just saw a commercial on that, they put some mint oil on a cotton ball and put it in the cabinet. I have never seen it work personally but it is worth a try.
Kurps


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## Pigeonfriends (Jan 19, 2012)

ya and rub some on the pigeons too, the rats would have a second thought if they want a bite.


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## Dima (Jan 15, 2011)

I have mint plants in my garden. How do you make mint oil? Couldn't find on the internet.


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## Pigeonfriends (Jan 19, 2012)

http://forums.avianavenue.com/healthy-highway/17872-peppermint-oil.html

I think it's called peppermint oil.

anyways there are articles written Pepper mint being too strong for birds, But I'm not sure about pigeons since they can even handle raw garlic, i would suggest you try it on the outside of the loft first.


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## Pigeonfriends (Jan 19, 2012)

http://talkbudgies.com/showthread.php?t=87171

its safe for birds to consume but I'm not sure if the Oil fumes are too strong.


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## Pigeonfriends (Jan 19, 2012)

http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/oils/1341-euca-mint-100-ml

FOUND IT, who would have guessed its on a pigeon site.

Catalog Pages: 33, 50, 58

Contains Mint oil 5.5%, Eucalyptus oil 18%, Menthol 5.5% and vitamin A 3400 iu/ml. Suggested use is under conditions such as poor ventilation, dust and elevated levels of Ammonia. Vitamin A helps in regeneration of mucous membranes, Mint and Eucalyptus promotes digestion, bile production and bile exertion. Use when respiratory or digestive functions may be a problem. An excellent product when your birds are suffering through high temperatures. Use 1 ml/cc to a gallon of drinking water. May also be used as a spray. 

Euca-Mint 100 ml/cc.



looks kinda expensive.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

I planted peppermint all around my homer flight cage, then I cut branches off and place it around the foundation of my fantail loft and flight cage.
But, as mentioned earlier, what type of wire are you using? It can't be any larger than 1/2 inch hardware mesh........no chicken wire. And all holes and gaps have to be blocked.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*In addition: They are drawn to the pigeon seed, make sure to clean up any left over seed and remove feeders at night.*


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## whytwings (Feb 12, 2011)

There are humane methods of catching and trapping the mice if that suits you , apparently they work quite well .......what you do with them after that I have no idea  perhaps take them to an open field or sneek them on the space shuttle to the moon !


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

We trapped a bunch of 'em and kept them in a big box with some food and water till we were ready to relocate them. We removed our little gang (well, gang plus new family additions  ) last week, to a nice secluded place with plenty of shelter and a small supply of food.


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## whytwings (Feb 12, 2011)

John_D said:


> We trapped a bunch of 'em and kept them in a big box with some food and water till we were ready to relocate them. We removed our little gang (well, gang plus new family additions  ) last week, to a nice secluded place with plenty of shelter and a small supply of food.


A guy at work had some video which he showed me on his cell phone .......he had a bucket full of them ....I am guessing hardware stores or somewhere like that may have them to sell ........I've started seeing them in those places .

I guess it's just another option !


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

As was mentioned, first thing is you need to make the loft safe from them. Then get rid of the mice. Your birds will get sick.


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

I've humanely trapped about 30-45 house mice this year in the house, with various traps and methods, and then released them in small groups near a field and park, with options for them to stay in temporary mouse shelters, or to disperse in different directions.

I bought 100% Japanese peppermint oil from this website, in the Netherlands, for 33,95 Euro for 100 ml (about $43 for about 3 ounce).

http://www.caipan.nl/pepermuntolie.html

The peppermint smell is supposed to be too intense for the sensitive nose of a mouse; mice are primarily nocturnal and rely very much on hearing and smelling in the dark. 

I suppose it works. In my situation I have been herding the mice from certain areas to a smaller area or room where I can trap them, excluding them from the easier-to-block places to an area of concentrated effort. Mother-in-law is elderly with Alzheimer's and often needs to be hand-fed, so there will always be something on the floor for an enterprising mouse. I suspect captured mice are replaced by mice migrating from neighbors. Doors are often open during hot weather. Not many private residences in Belgium have air-conditioning.

I read that Europeans in the past relied very much on mousebane, a common monkshood plant, planted around their barns and houses, and hung dried from the rafters in winter.

I have been blocking holes and accesses with hardware cloth (6 mm or about quarter-inch opening). It prevents the younger mobile mice from entry. Some of the mousetraps I use utilise 1/4" hardware cloth.

If I were in your situation, I would use hardware cloth everywhere. If money were an issue, I would use hardware cloth on the lower portions of the walls of the aviary. Mice can jump 40 cm or 18 inches. Last night I watched one crawl up some moderately-textured wallpaper adjacent to the doorframe, almost to the keyhole, trying to find a wide enough opening between the door and the doorframe for egress, them drop to the floor and jump up four or five times. He wanted to escape the bedroom, while another one was trying to enter the bedroom at a mouse hole I had blocked with hardware cloth. They would have to exit or enter through a British-made _Trapman_ humane trap I positioned at the holes. 

I would then have a barrier consisting of a minimum of a foot or so of smooth plastic material above the hardware cloth. A barrier which mice could not climb, could not get purchase on with their tiny claws, and a barrier which they could not readily chew through. I watched a mouse enlarge a pencil-diameter-sized hole in a gallon milk jug (technically a five-liter plastic bottle for distilled water) to a hole large enough for entry or egress, in about fifteen to twenty minutes. (Milk jug made of HSPE, high density poluethylene, I think). If they can get hold of an edge of this type of plastic or material of similar toughness with their jaws, they will chew through it.

My highest rate of success has come from using a a bamboo or fiberglass stick with nylon line attached to flimsy medium-iszed plastic shopping bags, with a bit of bird food or cereal grains to attract the mice. When I hear a certain amount of rustling in the dark,I jerk up the bag, and empty the mouse into a mouse or small hamster type cage, with food and water and exercise area, about the size of a small roll-aboard or carry-on piece of luggage. This entails waiting up at night from 11 P.M. bed-time to an hour or so after midnight. I try to avoid getting my scent on the trapping materials, and put some mouse-scented debris and chewed-upon toilet paper from previous mouse-house occupants into the traps and bags. The older mice are sometimes too smart for the traps. My wife saw one older mouse having a younger mouse retrieve food from a cupboard and bring it to the older mouse. I've had about fifteen escapees who needed to be re-caught. My reaction time and state of alertness is not peak during the early morning hours.

An acquaintance who owns a couple of horses said that there are always mice around to eat the dropped horse food. The grain is stored in metal bins, but the horses inevitably will drop some. His dog chases the mice. He didn't specify whether these were field mice or house mice. House mice supposedly do not thrive where there are field mice or rats.

So far it has been a contest of wits between me and the mice. They are fighting for survival, and I suppose in the long run it may entail simlar consequences for me. I have won some battles, but suspect they have the upper hand, or paws. Human technology against mice.


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## Whitedove06 (Jul 7, 2009)

Hi all- Great suggestions! My neighbor grows mint plants and I will def get some from her. Garlic is readily avail.
Several nights I went in my coop with a flashlight, and it looked like a scene from the movie " The Italian Job" with the mice running in circles like Mini Coopers! I have 1/2" hard ware cloth enclosing the coop, with smart board on the sides 24" high. They simply gnawed
a little under the door to squeeze in. Will try organic methods, and bait traps at night


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Whitedove06 said:


> Hi all- Great suggestions! My neighbor grows mint plants and I will def get some from her. Garlic is readily avail.
> Several nights I went in my coop with a flashlight, and it looked like a scene from the movie " The Italian Job" with the mice running in circles like Mini Coopers! I have 1/2" hard ware cloth enclosing the coop, with smart board on the sides 24" high. They simply gnawed
> a little under the door to squeeze in. Will try organic methods, and bait traps at night



You can run either hardware clothe or a strip of metal at the bottom of the door where they gnawed. They won't be able to get through either.


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## Daddycausingchaos (May 31, 2012)

Pollo70 said:


> Have you used any type of poisen.I live near a big field I place D-con packs under my lofts and around my barn. keeps them under control once they start eating the bait they take it to there nest and the poisen spreads once they start dying they get spooked and move out of the area! if there is a food source for them they will stick around you did mention that you take the feed trays out at night that is the first step to keping them out I never leave feed trays in the loft over night. eliminate the food source try poisen baits and go from there good luck!


I'm surrounded by corn and bean fields and I battle mice every year, especially after harvest. 
I'd like to throw some d-con packs under my loft but have always been worried the pellets might get scattered by the mice and then eaten by my chickens that I let out an hour or so each evening. Have you ever noticed any of the poison being scattered?


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## Quazar (Jul 27, 2010)

poison is not a good idea in any scenario.
mice and rats are also prey for other animals & birds.


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## whytwings (Feb 12, 2011)

Daddycausingchaos said:


> I'm surrounded by corn and bean fields and I battle mice every year, especially after harvest.
> I'd like to throw some d-con packs under my loft but have always been worried the pellets might get scattered by the mice and then eaten by my chickens that I let out an hour or so each evening. Have you ever noticed any of the poison being scattered?



I was able to get my hands on a professional bait box and to date , none of my 100 or so pigeons have suffered any harm ......I did see my chickens chasing another hen with something in it's mouth ......I joined the chase and retrieved the mouse from her .


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## Pollo70 (Jan 3, 2012)

Daddycausingchaos said:


> I'm surrounded by corn and bean fields and I battle mice every year, especially after harvest.
> I'd like to throw some d-con packs under my loft but have always been worried the pellets might get scattered by the mice and then eaten by my chickens that I let out an hour or so each evening. Have you ever noticed any of the poison being scattered?


No scatter problem I usauly find the packs empty where I placed them. since then no sign of mice,every now and then I find 1 dead. however the packs have been staying full and there hasn't been any signs of mice. near the lofts.I have no problem with them staying in the fields but when they start venturing near my lofts they become the prey!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

whytwings said:


> I was able to get my hands on a professional bait box and to date , none of my 100 or so pigeons have suffered any harm ......I did see my chickens chasing another hen with something in it's mouth ......I joined the chase and retrieved the mouse from her .


Glad you were able to get the mouse from them. That's another reason why it isn't a good idea to poison unless there is absolutely no other way. You other pets can be poisoned by catching and eating one of the sick and dying mice.


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

A very effective mouse trap which won't endanger your birds is just a bucket or pan of water at least 3" deep. Place a board or something up to the outside so a mouse can easily get up to the rim. Scatter some floating bait on top of the water, dog food or crackers or whatever. You can feed the drowned mice to your chickens if you like, they WILL like.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

It seems I have heard of traps where the mice go in but can't get out and they eat what is in there and die.. when it is full you discard the whole thing... ewwww! not sure what it is called though.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

There are traps where they go in and can't come out. Many can get inside, and they can be released somewhere else.


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## Whitedove06 (Jul 7, 2009)

Hi all,
Done some of the recommended things; stinky stuff along walls and along outside ( I tried Mr. Clean scented spray along outside walls-seems to work pretty good) I used to raise domestic rats and lab mice as pets so I know their m.o. so to speak. I am going to redo the coop with stepson's help. Since it is against the house like a shed, I'm going to redesign it to be more like a " pop out camper, with a hardware cloth floor 24" above the patio. My neighbor is giving me some spare wood for this project and some nice 2'x2' doors, so I will divide the coop, one side for my fliers and the other for my white homers and rehab birds. Going to build steps for each side, so I can go in when needed.( will probably make these removable) This should take a day to complete. The framing is already there. Also going to reinspect corners to make sure hardware is secure. I bought traps and DeCon. Going to pull up small section of stone patio where mice/rat are burrowing and place baits down underneath there. Also baiting other areas of yard. We heat with a woodstove, so there is firewood stacked out back. Going to keep traps on back baited with peanut butter etc. Well, wish me luck!


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## whytwings (Feb 12, 2011)

Whitedove06 said:


> Hi all,
> Done some of the recommended things; stinky stuff along walls and along outside ( I tried Mr. Clean scented spray along outside walls-seems to work pretty good) I used to raise domestic rats and lab mice as pets so I know their m.o. so to speak. I am going to redo the coop with stepson's help. Since it is against the house like a shed, I'm going to redesign it to be more like a " pop out camper, with a hardware cloth floor 24" above the patio. My neighbor is giving me some spare wood for this project and some nice 2'x2' doors, so I will divide the coop, one side for my fliers and the other for my white homers and rehab birds. Going to build steps for each side, so I can go in when needed.( will probably make these removable) This should take a day to complete. The framing is already there. Also going to reinspect corners to make sure hardware is secure. I bought traps and DeCon. Going to pull up small section of stone patio where mice/rat are burrowing and place baits down underneath there. Also baiting other areas of yard. We heat with a woodstove, so there is firewood stacked out back. Going to keep traps on back baited with peanut butter etc. Well, wish me luck!



good luck whitedove , wishing you success


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