Why Mice Are Bad for Chickens
If you have mice in your chicken coop, you’re not alone. Many backyard chicken owners suddenly find themselves dealing with a mouse problem once they start feeding their chickens.
It’s true that if chickens catch a mouse, they will eat it, but it’s not a matter of a little bonus protein for the chickens. Mice actually pose a serious problem for chickens.
The good news? You don’t need poison, traps, or a better cat. You need to remove the food source.
Here’s what actually works.
Can mice hurt chickens?
- Mice carry and spread pathogens including salmonella, E. coli, and Coccidia Oocysts (lethal to chickens)
- Mice eat large amounts of feed and defecate in feeders
- Mice can give chickens mites and parasites
- Mice will actually nibble on the toes of sleeping chickens as they roost. I’m not making this up.
How to Get Rid of Mice in a chicken coop
Several years ago when my chickens ate from an old steel trough feeder hanging in their coop, I had a huge problem with mice. It was so bad that I could pretty much count on a mouse running away or jumping at me every time I opened my coop door.
what didn’t work
I read that mice didn’t like the smell of mint, so I planted mint around the coop.
That did nothing. I tried sealing up any gaps and cracks, but that didn’t work either. People said to get a cat, but I already owned a cat—who obviously wasn’t paying his rent.
At this point, I kind of gave up. But then everything changed when I switched to my new feeder.
First, because the feeder ports kept out the rain, I could move the feeder to the run instead of inside the coop. Right away, I noticed that I didn’t have mice jumping out at me when I opened the coop door. That was a welcome change!
I still thought that the mice would be able to get into the feeder and eat their fill like they did before. But when I checked the feed, I saw something that I hadn’t seen before. No mouse poop!
Can a Chicken Feeder Be Mouse-Proof?
Could the new feeder actually be mouse-proof? I decided to find out. I purchased two mice from a pet store and put them in a totes bin with my feeder.
tests with white mice
I used peanut butter in the ports to attract the mice. Here’s what happened: after three days, neither of the mice had gotten into the feeder.
I thought—two mice for three days is pretty compelling—but what would be more compelling would be TEN mice for a week! So I purchased ten mice and started my test again. Still no mice got in the feeder, although they really tried. See video
test with field mice
Years went by, and I got feedback from many people that the white mice that I used in these tests were no match for field mice. So I bought live mouse traps and, with the help of chicken Facebook friends, I soon had a total of five field mice that I kept over three weeks in my garage, running the same test yet again.
And you guessed it–no field mice got into the feeder either. See video.
My husband suggested we should be done with mouse testing. (It really stinks up the garage. Pee-yew!)
So what about my mouse problem? Honestly–I don’t know what happened to the little families of mice I was sustaining by my free-for-all feeder. After they couldn’t get into the feed anymore, I just stopped seeing them.
Do Other Chicken Feeder Ports Keep Mice Out?
You might wonder if the smaller generic feeder ports might be just as good at preventing mice from entering. I have never tested this, so I can’t say for sure either way. But what I can say for sure is that smaller bucket-style feeder ports spill a lot of feed onto the ground — and spilled feed is what attracts mice in the first place.
So whether the mice can or can’t get into the feeder is irrelevant. They already have a banquet laid out for them on the ground!
Because the Revolutionary Chicken feeder ports are so good at preventing feed waste, they don’t attract mice like the other ones do. If you want to see more features about them, click here.
If you’re tired of feeding mice instead of chickens, you can buy the feeder ports I tested here, or the full mouse-proof chicken feeder here. You can send them back for a full refund if you’re not 100% satisfied.
Important: What About Rats?
Rats, on the other hand, can get in the feeder, so if you have a problem with rats, make sure to use the feeder port covers at night.
