Farm living and keeping mice out? Suggestions?

We are moving to our farm house soon and I know there has been a mice problem in the past according to the old tennant. Just wondering if anyone can offer me some good suggestions to keep them out? The house is old and a haven for them (lots of places where they can get in and hiding holes and thats without our furniture in the place) The plan is to renovate the place one room at a time so I'm sure eventually that will help.
So absolutely everything I have that can be eaten or slept in will be in thick hard air tight containers.
No eating anywhere in the house except the dining room or outside to try limit any food source.
Our grain and hay has been moved a km away as appose to 100m away as thats where they tend to breed up.
Anything I am missing to keep them out?
My husband absolutely HATES cats but my daughter desperately wants one. Should I insist we get one to keep the mice down?

A cat or a snake. Mice hate both of them, something to do with the smell. I think there is something available that mimics the smell of cat pee that can be used in areas that mice frequent that deters them even if you haven't got a cat there. Without it actually stinking like cat wee all through the house.

I'd also set traps regularly especially in known hideyholes.

I live on a farm so have mice, tips I have is to use steel wool to try and plug up as many holes as possible. We have done around the dishwasher pipes, around bottom of laundry trough pipes, toilet bowl etc. Also look for small gaps between architraves and floors especially in the corners as our old has shifted and in a few stops there was a tiny hole enough for a mouse to get through. The other thing we invested in was mouse bates, we have them mainly in the laundry as this is there main point of entry behind the deep freeze and washing machine, they eat the bait and then are meant to go looking for water which takes them outside again where they die. We haven't had any dead in the middle of the floor, and its safe with the kids as they can't access them.

I also second a cat, we had one but it was unfortauntely useless at catching mice, it has passed away and I'm considering getting another one just to help keep the mice down.

We live on a farm and there are 7 cats here andwe STILL have a Mice and Rat problem. We have put bait in the roof but thats about all we can do, there are no mice holes IN the house that we can tell and really have not seen them unless our cat brings them inside but in the sheds and in a few of the trees at night you hear them and see them.

We also have a snake problem because of the mice and rats so we need to keep the yard as clear as possible.

I don't know what the solution is aside from traps and baiting in the roof etc but good luck :D

Nae x x

Meg has a lot of good tips - before you move any furniture in go over every room with a fine tooth comb and find every gap and hole that you can and plug it up. Mice only need a space of 8mm to squeeze through so even the smallest crack or hole is still an entry point for them. The only other suggestion is don't have clutter around that they can get into - have toys and everything in rubs with lids and make sure they can't get into your drawers etc.

*shudder* I knew I shouldn't have come into this thread :lol: I feel like climbing up on the dining room table now!


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Thanks for the steal wool tip. I will probably need to invest in shares of the company however as I'll be there for a month plugging all the holes.

Trillian thanks for the advice. The place is vacant now so I should get to work before moving anything in.

Naenae I haven't seen a snake yet but I guess where there are rats and mice there are bound to be snakes. Plus I have seen a snake skin :( And the old tennant showed me the front door where a rat kept trying to chew its way into the house.

So I guess its of to the shops for plastic containers, baits and steal wool.

Oh this doesn't really help the house but might help keep numbers down there is a really good mice bait, it is like a wheat that has been chemically treated, I know at our farm they put it through sheds etc it is really effective and helped reduce the numbers. I think my husband may have put some under the house too.

When you find a way to keep them out, let me know. I think they are just a part of farm life really.

Plastic tubs are a good idea. Even things like paperwork and teatowels need to be locked away. I found mice nesting in my bills drawer and some had eaten holes in a few tea towels.

We have cats. When we first moved in, we would have mice climbing the curtains and running across the kitchen, now we only see them in the house if a cat brings them in. Chances are there might be a some feral cats hanging around, so you may not have to get one yourself.

They dislike peppermint, and I think oil of cloves, so wiping down the inside of cupboards, drawers etc is a good way of deterring them as well.

What about getting in an expert to check the house before you move in to look for problem areas where the mice are nesting and gaining entry to the interior of the house? It might be an expensive upfront cost, but at least you will know how bad the problem is. You can get them to remove as many of the mice that are already living there as they can. Being a farm though, its going to be an ongoing issue and the process of renovating might even bring more in.

As the others have said, in the meantime and at the very least you need to stop them getting in, so sealing around doors is essential, blocking every single hole you can find even if its small and then once you've blocked their entry to the house you can set multiple traps everywhere throughout the house to reduce the ones you have. You also need to set traps in the roof cavity because they like to chew on wooden beams which can be costly to replace if they do too much damage.

we use steel wool to plug up the holes too, you can get it from the hardware shop (without soap on them!). We also have a cat and two dogs and we encourage the bobtails to hang around too. I also vacuum daily and use mothballs as well.