Mice in the chicken house are a pain. They are nasty, dirty and (if you don’t take care) EVERYWHERE!
But one nice thing about chickens…..
They are very good mousers.
I was raking around the wood pile and the chicken house when suddenly a mouse ran right by me, followed with a very determined Lucky Hen.
She grabbed the mouse and ran over to the trash pile (will get it cleaned up soon, I promise!) making sure the other hens don’t follow or Sam the Cat.
Whereby she proceeded to ‘take care of the nasty little vermin’.
Just like I do with the mice in the mouse traps I disposed of it.
Good Hen!
(Hens do not eat mice, or at least I have never seen one do it. But I do find mice that have been very flatten with lots of peck holes in them.)
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 
Cool! We keep finding the larger rodentia vermin in the peacocks’ water bucket and on their floor. I am thinking they hunt like chickens maybe
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Good Hen is RIGHT…. I’m sure you’d love to get rid of all of the MICE out there… I’m not a fan of mice —but luckily, I’ve never seen any around here. They say that we do have field mice –but I’ve never seen evidence of any… Maybe –since we have so many other critters, they help get rid of the mice….
Hope things are settling down in your area… Still thinking about you and praying for you.
Hugs,
Betsy
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I don’t remember our chickens ever doing this but than they would have had to compete with the cat. She was an amazing mouser!
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Hi Linda, When we raised chickens(that turned out to be roosters) and had mice issues-I never saw them go after the mice. I think it’s great! My daughter wants to get chickens but already has problems with mice-so I told her to stop killing the garden snakes. This is so interesting, I wonder if it is a natural trait or you just have special hens.
Have a great day. Noreen
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I didnt know they did that! What a good chicken!
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Good chicken!! My chickens would have pulled the mouse, limb from limb and eaten it all gone.
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Good for Lucky Hen! Such a good mouser there! One mouse down, hundreds more to go! I don’t suppose Lucky Hen could teach Fuzzy and Boomer to “mouse”???? 🙂
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That is great to know. I hope my chickens are smart enough to do that. :o)
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hmmm… I never knew (and I’ve had and loved Chickens)! I know think of them as better than cats, in that Chickens (Hens) also lay eggs… Woohooo! LOL
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I am amazed. Looks like the mouse didn’t have a chance.
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I once had builders here and they saw three hens chase and corner a mouse before proceeding the fight over the carcass. The builders, young men, were ashen with horror when they told me afterwards. I always keep a rooster in with the hens for exactly this reason, the only time i have had a rat problem is when i foolishly got rid of the rooster. I got another rooster and within a week or so, no more rats. Oh and also, (don’t tell your readers tho as they will be sick) my hens get pigeons flying into their house to eat their food and if the pigeons are not careful they get the dreaded deading too! Horrible. They hate pigeons. eeeoo c
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I learn something new every time I read your post!!! We had chickens when I was little but I never saw them with a mouse. This is amazing!!
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Another argument I can use on Hubby!
“But, Honey, I NEED chickens to kill the mice…”
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Gosh, you learn something everyday.
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Good for her! I didn’t realize chickens would attack rodents.
Doc is my mouser! He has stomped at least two of them to smithereens!
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Hee hee! I had no idea hens would take on a mouse. Your ladies are tough little survivors. I’m glad you have that camera ready to catch such moments in your wild kingdom. Give the doggies a hug for me.
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Even better that a cat! wow! We had chickens growing up, but I do not remember then being mousers!
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Mine swallow them whole!
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My layers are great mousers too, and they do eat them. They also kill sparrows. A small hawk fell through the netting roof of their pen one day and they went after him, too. My peacocks ran loose and were excellent hunters. They’re so observant, they know everything that lives and moves in their territory. The female would also go after our cat, who was scared to death of her. I’m glad to see your hens are getting some outside time again.
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Doesn’t surprise me that your chicken caught the mouse. I don’t think they eat them although we did hang up fish for chickens to eat.
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The only good mouse is a dead mouse. Filthy sneaky little buggers. Go Chickens!!
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Linda, If I had not seen my girl Gladys catch and devour a mouse I would never have believed it! I still have the vision of a mouse tail hanging out of her mouth and than presto, it was gone!! Happy spring to you, it was eighty degrees here today and tomorrow even warmer, eighty-three! Do you have seeds planted yet? Your friend from Maine, Julie.
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Is there anyone who wouldn’t applaud the hen? (If so, I don’t think I want to meet that person ;>)….I liked this post!
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I don’t think I’d want to meet the person who quit reading because they liked mice. Hooray for the hen! I really enjoyed this post. Sallie (FullTime-Life)….. commenting under my word press alias, because I have to ;>)
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Who needs cats with hens like that around?
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I have yet to see any of my chickens catch a mouse, but I think I might let them loose in my garage if we start having mice again! ha!
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I never knew chickens were mousers! I will have to use that point to sell my chicken idea to hubs!!! We have plenty of the lil guys in WY.
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What a great hen!
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Now I have seen everything! Who would have ever thought chickens hate mice. I guess they thinnk the mice are competing for the food..:-)
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Lucky Hen – another great story…while I wait for Fuzzy and Boomer to get up and get typing ;-). Good news on the insurance.
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Way to go hens! 🙂
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