Mice in machinery

[Artichoke Lover]

Chickens??? As mouse catchers???

 

[Ridgerunner]

My chickens were not that good as mouse catchers. I guess the mice were too quick for them if they were anywhere near cover. If a mouse was in the open like that one was, yeah. But if I caught a mouse in a snap trap I'd toss it to them. They'd play keep-away with it for a while until one finally ate it.

I saw them eat a few small snakes, 6" long or so. They also liked frogs but they'd cut those up into bite-sized pieces with their beaks before they ate them.

@Zeedman you might consider chickens a pretty close living relative to velociraptors. Never fall down and pass out when you are with your chickens. That's just not a good thing to do.

 

[Carol Dee]

Chickens??? As mouse catchers???

OMG ... YES we have a friend that keeps her chicken feed in a garbage pail IN the girls chicken coop for that very reason. (Also handy) But, yep, chickens LOVE to EAT mice!

 

[Zeedman]

Wow!!! That may be a whole new avenue for rodent control... if they can be allowed to roam in the garden(s) without causing damage. My gardens are fully fenced, and my township is zoned for raising poultry (with some restrictions). To all of the BYC members here, is this an avenue worth exploring, or would chickens in the garden just become a larger, louder pest?

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Wow!!! That may be a whole new avenue for rodent control... if they can be allowed to roam in the garden(s) without causing damage. My gardens are fully fenced, and my township is zoned for raising poultry (with some restrictions). To all of the BYC members here, is this an avenue worth exploring, or would chickens in the garden just become a larger, louder pest?

If left in there for very long they will absolutely eat your plants especially if they don’t free range. You might be okay turning a few loose when you can keep a close eye of them. I’ll admit I let mine range in my garden but they would be hard pressed to do significant damage to 12000 square feet of plants.

 

[Zeedman]

If left in there for very long they will absolutely eat your plants especially if they don’t free range. You might be okay turning a few loose when you can keep a close eye of them. I’ll admit I let mine range in my garden but they would be hard pressed to do significant damage to 12000 square feet of plants.

The gardens where I most need rodent control are 420 square feet & 1500 square feet respectively, so I guess that wouldn't work then. They would probably peck my chard to death like overgrown goldfinches.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chickens will take one peck out of a ripe tomato and move on to the next ripe tomato. They will eat anything sprouting. The will scratch in mulch and spread it far and wide. They really like some greens. Have you noticed chickens like to scratch, they can do more damage scratching than eating. I consider them a great pest in the garden in growing season.

After you shut your garden down you can out the chickens in there to forage. The chicken density would determine how well they clean it up, the more chickens in a small space the more stuff might disappear. They will drop nuggets of nitrogen rich fertilizer all over. If you get them out a month or more before planting time that stuff should break down so it is fertilizer and not a problem.

I personally don't consider chickens good mousers. If you kill a mouse they will eat it. If it is out in the open they may try to catch it. But if it can hide they probably won't get it. However, if they find a nest of baby mice they do enjoy those.