Have you ever cleaned your chicken coop and noticed mice stealing chicken feed?You probably wouldn’t want a rodent or, worse, rodents in your coop? But what if chickens eat these mice to keep their home rodent-free?Chickens are opportunistic omnivores that can catch and eat a mouse if they are hungry. It is natural to see a chicken eating a mouse if it can catch one. The chicken will eat it and can digest it efficiently. A chicken can catch anything that it wants and eat it, such as lizards, small snakes, frogs, rats, bugs, and many other animals that are smaller than the chicken. Free-range chickens catch their food and eat it, while the ones in a coop eat their feed and any rodent they can capture and eat. Read on to learn more details about these omnivores feeding upon mice in their coops and outdoors!If you enjoyed this article, why not also read about do beavers eat fish and do carpenter ants have wings here on Kidadl?Can chickens catch and eat mice in a coop?Yes, a chicken will undoubtedly try to catch a mouse and eat it. The chicken will chase the mouse if it is spotted and starts to run away. Many different breeds of chicken will kill and eat mice. Mice have the ability to squeeze themselves through the narrowest of passages and smallest of holes. During the months close to winter, mice search for a warm, safe, and pleasant place to spend their cold months. This results in many rats and field mice choosing chicken coops as their home.Chickens can get hold of mice and devour them. Many birds do not prefer to eat mice, and many hens do not choose to eat rodents. However, eating mice is quite common among chickens. A single voracious chicken can easily send mice away from its coops.When chickens are inactive, typically when they are sleeping, mice enter the coop as it is the perfect opportunity. Chickens sleep a lot, especially at night, and most will continue sleeping even during an infestation of mice. They cannot deter mice effectively when they are sleeping. The night is also the time when mice harass hens the most in their very own coop by chewing their feet or pulling out their feathers while they sleep. The tormenting of feet and feathers may sound painful, but the chickens can withstand it easily as they are pretty strong and resilient.Chickens can also tolerate harsh cold days while eating anything their owner gives them. Their diet does need a high amount of protein to be sufficiently active. If there is a lack of protein in their diet, chickens supplement their diet by hunting, especially laying hens. However, chickens should not be eating mice as they can transmit infectious diseases to them. It is important to keep mice away because their feces and urine can also transmit diseases, including when the chickens eat them. You can keep mice away by keeping the coop clean, free from food lying around, setting traps, and sealing all holes and passages.Do chickens eat mice while free-ranging?Chickens allowed by their owners to free-range will look for bugs and worms to eat in the lush green grass. Most of the time, if the chickens catch sight of a mouse, they will chase it and try to eat it up. Chickens will eat anything and everything, including a mouse, and are hungry when they catch it.Some owners let their chickens roam around freely in the pasture or the backyard. While chickens are wandering, they will actively search for anything edible to eat. They will chase anything small that moves within their search area. Wandering in the open, chickens will come across many small-sized animals, mice, and insects.Along with critters and worms, chickens may chase many animals in their pasture or the backyard. The chance to spot them in the open is higher than the chance to spot them in their coop. Typically, all the chickens of a flock stay close to each other while they range. It is common for one of the chickens in the flock to run off in the direction of a lizard or a mouse it just spotted with the other chickens following close behind. The others of the flock will follow this chicken, hoping to get to the special treat first. Chickens usually eat weeds, seeds, earwigs, pillbugs, lizards, small snakes, and rodents. They are also known to feed upon scorpions. However, they do not feed upon rats.Is it bad for chickens to eat mice?A chicken owner needs to be aware of the risks and potential dangers that mice carry along with them. Even though chickens can tolerate harsh conditions and possess amazing survival skills, they should not be fed mice. Mice can transfer diseases to the whole flock. If the chicken eats a mice that is carrying diseases, it will get sick. These diseases can also be transmitted through the feces and urine of mice as well. Mice are also carriers for mites, fleas, and ticks. Eating a mouse with no parasites or diseases is perfectly healthy for chicken; however, chances of an encounter with a healthy mouse are rare.Mice can introduce a variety of bacteria, worms, protozoa, and viruses into the chicken population. The whole flock can get ill due to mouse feces that are on the ground. An infection may also be transmitted through the chicken and into its eggs. The owner can de-worm the chicken once in autumn every year to prevent this type of situation.Worming chickens can prevent a worm build-up in their digestive organs. If the birds are not de-wormed, they may get serious health problems. You can prevent mice from coming near the chickens and their coop by rodent-proofing the area. Doing so will be beneficial for the health of your chickens.Any junk or garbage in the coop or close to it must be cleared up as such areas are the preferred locations for mice to hide. Some of the hens may have a killer instinct and will kill any mice that come near it, while some won’t be interested enough to deal with mice.Mice usually start havoc once the chickens fall asleep. Typically, they’ll be seen near the winter as they are looking for a comfortable place with water and food access. A chicken coop is a luxurious place for mice to live in because of an abundance of food, water, bedding, and even chickens to annoy.This can be a nightmare for the hens, as mice carry infections of all sorts. Chicken can come in touch with mouse urine in their feed, water, or straw. They can get Leptospirosis from the urine, which is a bacterial infection. They can also get Salmonellosis from the feces and urine. These infections can deteriorate the health of chickens. They might get very sick, and these infections can also be fatal to the chickens.How do you keep mice away from chickens?You can only take some precautions as the keeper to keep mice away. However, if the chickens prefer to eat mice, you cannot prevent that from happening. Mice are typically going after the chicken feed in the coop. If you can clean up spilled food or any open food lying around, the familiar sight of rodents will gradually decrease.Some rodents that are small in size steal eggs and food of chickens, while large-sized rodents like rats try to eat sleeping chickens as they are easier to eat while they are inactive. However, as chickens are naturally good at hunting mice, they can protect themselves and their eggs well from getting eaten by them.Even though chicks are natural hunters, the keeper must protect the coop from a mice infestation to prevent the spread of harmful diseases. You should ensure that the chicken coop is adequately and frequently cleaned. Doing so prevents mice from choosing it as a place of shelter. Before cleaning, the chickens must be moved to some other area where they will be safe.The person cleaning must also take certain precautions like wearing gloves, glasses, and a mask to prevent dust inhalation and touching feces or urine. The area must be disinfected as well with a non-harmful disinfectant. Rodents and mice also stay away if mint trees are planted nearby.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for do chickens eat mice, then why not take a look at do bats eat mosquitoes or do bats have tails.
Have you ever cleaned your chicken coop and noticed mice stealing chicken feed?
