Man vs. Mouse

[Marigold]

Are they hoping for a Rodents Vote?

 

[rick]

Ive been counting their votes every morning in the feeder (which I have been cleaning and refreshing of course.) They were hiding under the nest boxes this evening when I got home but it will be interesting if they are still in the run in the morning as they didn't dig in through the dust bath today and they may not be able to get out through whatever gap in the mesh that let them in (sharp edges etc.)
The hens are not laying at the moment so I could remove the nest boxes and then they would be so easy to catch as any container in there would be the only refuge - slap the lid on and out they go.
Hesitantly confident this this weekend might evict them.

As for the other, who knows, its all so divisive and dangerously dividing we just need it to be done, dusted and consigned to history asap. (Black cloud emoticon needed!)

 

[Marigold]

Is it possible to remove the feeder overnight?

 

[rick]

I never seem to be doing the obvious and sensible thing do I?
Thing is, at this time of year and when I am working in Birmingham, the mice have at least 3 hours after roost time to run riot before I get home. I'm just putting one day's worth of feed in there (plus a bit) and I know that the mice will visit the feeder so it a good place to point the camera.
Trying to make the run a mouse no go area is often not possible due to the many variations of run or free range arrangements that work perfectly well with benefit that outweigh the odd mouse visit (especially a secure coop overnight and a local cat with otherwise free access.)
My situation is that the run is effectively a very large coop. It should be possible to mouse proof and I'll know when that has happened by none showing up on camera. Hopefully that will be very soon.
The mice had left the run this morning - through the dust bath again! Rendering the inside of that is top of the list.

 

[chrismahon]

As you are not there to remove the feeder Rick, could you connect it to an auto door closer somehow (counterbalance weight needed) and lift it out of the way at dusk?

 

[rick]

Thats a good idea Chris. If I had a light sensitive door mechanism it would defiantly do the trick.
I do have a 1 RPM motor (would drive a large model carousel) but, unfortunately, you cant be sure which way it will start turning when its turned on.
Attaching images seems to be working a bit odd lately - images no longer available when there is more than one
Here is the 'before'

 

[rick]

And here is the after. It should be going off firm before nightfall

And with the rim on (if it posts...)

 

[rick]

The base of the dustbath is a concrete slab which was the old garden footpath from somewhere around the 50's I think. Its 8 inches below the existing ground level in the garden which I find interesting - how soil just accumulates over the years!

And this is a good idea because...?

 

[rick]

The mice are now climbing the mesh and going under the smooth DPC to find large enough holes in the hex mesh at the very top where I ran out of 1/2 inch weld mesh. Its good to know that the DPC stops them climbing over but will have to finish the weld mesh right to the top.

 

[chrismahon]

Can you use a piece of angled aluminium to close the gap Rick? You can buy that at all the DIY stores here and I think I saw it last visit in B&Q, but I know in England it was always far cheaper bought from a trade metal supplier.

We've had a final rush of house mice trying to set up for Winter in our outbuildings. But now it's turned colder they have stopped coming- good job as we have nearly run out of Nutella.

 

[rick]

Yes, some angle aluminum or steel at a reasonable price would do the trick to pin down the wire to the frame Its only in some places - most have battens to do the same. I'm amazed by the way they just walk through 1/2" hex like mouse ghosts! - but square is too small. I think its because they need just that tiny bit of extra width to get their shoulders through.

 

[rick]

If they keep this up I,ll open the back door one morning to find that the whole run, chickens and all, has disappeared down a big hole!

 

[chrismahon]

Bit worrying that Rick. Not only could a chicken get its foot stuck, but perhaps the whole floor is undermined with tunnels and is becoming unstable? The short-tailed field voles here can dig at an alarming rate- perhaps a metre per night, beaten only by our mole (which so far has avoided the traps) which can dig several metres in a night.

I've read that onions put mice off- complete rubbish! In one pig stye we have hung our crop of onions and that's the trap that catches the most. I can also say that the smell of petrol, diesel, paraffin and creosote have no effect either as the trap in that stye has caught plenty. Perhaps pour a sharp sand/ cement slurry down that hole?

 

[rick]

I'm hoping I don't have to render the whole floor Chris! The blocks in the middle of the garden (where the run is) were laid pretty tight. I think what they are doing is getting in and then checking out every promising crevice from above and starting a new tunnel in/out from there. If they found that gap from below then the scale of their mining and spoil disposal operation will be hard to counter!
Their energy is remarkable - I think I might go in for some pellets for breakfast!

 

[rick]

No sign of mice now for the past few days. No doubt they will find a chink in the defenses sometime but for the moment...

 

[chrismahon]

We had a week here with no mice either Rick- must have been too cold. But they have started moving again with one or two each morning. Guess we'll never get completely rid of them?

It occurred to me that if they can't get food from you they will move to your neighbours. That might cause some upset, so perhaps you should consider the trap option?

 

[Marigold]

As your neighbours already feed the birds, Rick, I expect they already have mice- under their shed, maybe. Not so likely to be a problem if they don't keep chickens, so long as they can't get indoors. Anyway, if there is a problem next door, it's not yours-and not as bad as rats.

 

[rick]

I do feel some responsibility for providing mouse Shangri la for several years. With the door now closed (or at least very challenging for even the youngsters) then the population should get a hard knock this winter. They have always been visitors rather than residents of the run, even when they had the backs of the nest box (never any nests of their own.) Under the shed is undoubtedly mouse HQ. My neighbor on the other side has been keeping the bird seed mostly contained to the hanging feeders lately and the floor under there is the cat's favorite haunt.
The only real concern has been from my neighbor at the back who owns the cat because the number of offering have risen steeply this year. That, along with a worry of mine that the mice could be a health hazard for my hens, is what prompted the project.
For this situation here, I think, there would now be a point to setting a trap in the run - to take out the most resourceful and determined mice that do manage to get in (and out again.)

 

[Marigold]

I don't know if it's true, but have read that, where there are mice, you won't get rats. If so, maybe the mice are not so bad?

 

[rick]

Thanks Marigold! With all the gardens and bird feeders down the street (the narrow corridor of greenery and trees along the backs that the sparrows use as a motorway) I doubt that the mice will be completely destitute from my efforts. We do have the occasional rat pass through, including one that got stuck in our cellar once, but they are very infrequent and mostly down by the river where folks throw bread for the ducks and gulls.