Mice
Canberra is prone to mice plagues and chicken owners will find they are especially susceptible. Tell-tale signs that a family of mice have moved into your coop are mice tunnels and mice poo. Minimizing the amount of spilt feed and ensuring that food is stored in mice-proof containers can help avoid mice moving in. Once you have mice, trapping is the only option – don’t poison as chickens will happily eat mice and you don’t want to have them eating a poisoned mouse.
Flies
Keeping the litter clean can help to minimize flies, but there will always be some around, especially in summer. Hanging fly traps can help keep numbers under control, just make sure they are out of reach of the chickens.
Wild birds
Keeping wild birds out of your pen is a good idea – not only will they increase your food bill, they can also carry in diseases. Of course, the only way to do this is to have a fully enclosed run, but keeping food inside the chicken house may help.
Canberra Backyard Poultry 