Mice got into my cracked corn

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WindDawg
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Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by WindDawg »

Can see mice got into my cracked corn that has been sitting for a year or more and need to know if it is okay to use for my mash? It has a grey tone at the top of an open 5 gal bucket.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by still_stirrin »

Why?

Cracked corn is cheap...just get some more...and ditch the “critter corn”.
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NZChris
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by NZChris »

At that age, it's possibly mouldy. I chuck anything slightly suspect and buy new.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by RedwoodHillBilly »

On the other hand, mouse shit is a pretty good yeast nutrient. Your call.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by StillerBoy »

RedwoodHillBilly wrote: mouse shit is a pretty good yeast nutrient.
I wouldn't be concern with the shit.. it's the urine that I would concern with.. :wtf:

Ditch it, like SS stated, and get a new bag of corn..

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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by zapata »

You gonna have some nice all grain compost in your future
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by cob »

StillerBoy wrote:
RedwoodHillBilly wrote: mouse shit is a pretty good yeast nutrient.
I wouldn't be concern with the shit.. it's the urine that I would concern with.. :wtf:

Ditch it, like SS stated, and get a new bag of corn..

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around here hantavirus is always a possibility and all excreta from a

contaminated mouse carries the virus. throw it out bucket and all.
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fizzix
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by fizzix »

Caught a tiny mouse in the act of scratching at the 56 pound corn sack.
Stopped at Home Depot for lidded buckets the next day.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by zapata »

Mice around here will sometimes chew through buckets and tubs. I store bulk grain in plastic bags inside galvanized trashcans.
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Truckinbutch
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by Truckinbutch »

Hanta virus and year old cracked corn are 2 strikes against it . Don't wait for strike 3 . Cracked corn will go rancid over a period of time . Whole corn has a much longer shelf life .
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fizzix
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by fizzix »

zapata wrote:Mice around here will sometimes chew through buckets and tubs. I store bulk grain in plastic bags inside galvanized trashcans.
Wow! Through the plastic bucket?! I'm lucky we have just those tiny shrew mice here.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by sweeps »

Yup - I've had mice chew their way into plastic storage bins. Rats will even chew through thin metal if they are sufficiently motivated.
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Jimy Dee
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by Jimy Dee »

Mice are essentially incontinent and dribble wee continuously. Get rid of it.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by zapata »

Yeah, I thankfully don't even have rats here. Just cute little field mice. But they know stored grains are like hitting the lottery and will do their best to chew through anything. Metal stops them here. Galvanised cans for storage, steel wool or scrubbies for stuffing cracks in the house. Sometimes they manage to pull the steel wool out, but its usually good for several years and I definitely find it pulled out, not chewed through.
Without any other senses, I could tell when winter arrives because every year within a week of cold arriving, I can lay in bed and hear those fuckers trying to chew through wood somewhere in the house to get in. Its cool though, a week of setting rube goldberg traps (you CAN build a better mousetrap!) and stuffing cracks and the human protects whats his.
On the subject, a diy bucket trap is a great thing to have wherever you store grains. A coat hanger axle across the top of a bucket of water, a tin can spinning freely on said axle. Smear some peanut butter on the middle of the can and you're set. Better than a snap trap because it's always set and can get multiples without resetting. Just don't forget to check it all winter, a bucket full of water and decomposing mice gets pretty rank. Trust me. Salt in the water keeps it less gross amd lowers the freeze point a bit if its in a barn or attic.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by The Baker »

In the mouse plagues my dad and his mates used bucket traps.
When the bucket was full the mice ran over the little corpses.

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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by Lawfish »

Mice around here will sometimes chew through buckets and tubs. I store bulk grain in plastic bags inside galvanized trashcans.
I tried buckets, but I have rats and they chewed right through the bucket, so I now have large galvanized cans too. But as someone else said, it goes rancid over time, so I only keep one bag of corn at a time now. Lots of organic compost for my garden.
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horseystevetoo
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by horseystevetoo »

I would ditch it too, although the mice and rat turds no doubt add to the flavour of the beer and spirits we all buy off the shelf. I worked in various malthouses over a 20 year period and I know that when the malt left the plant it contained turds that were the same size as the grain demanded by the end user. Running the barley through a centrifugal screen when it arrives at the plant removes all the dead animals picked up by the header, after the malt is kilned it is run through screens to leave the right sized grain. Grain examined for export must be clear of critters but a few turds are of no concern.
CatCrap
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by CatCrap »

Yikes...


Best answer... Cracked corn Is DIRT cheap. 50# bag for like 10$.... why bother?
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jog666
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by jog666 »

zapata wrote:Mice around here will sometimes chew through buckets and tubs. I store bulk grain in plastic bags inside galvanized trashcans.
Same here, all of my feed is in steel barrels, tight lids & locks. All sitting on a raised floor.

A sack or two of corn is cheap & easy to get. My 700# mix of game bird feed isnt. Throw it out & get new.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by thecroweater »

Tossing is probably the best advise but if ya didn't then boil it will be just fine. As said 5 gal ain't much loss, I'm sure the result if ya used it would be safe but not necessarily good.
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cede
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by cede »

Mice.... I had a family in my vintage car in the garage years ago because I forgot one pound on the bench.
I store all the grains in air tight pails, some speciality grains in rubber maid 1, 2 or more Qts kitchen container, also air tight and everything goes is big steel trunks like those.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by Reverend Newer »

Run it!


Mice get into the corn in every part of the process from seed to sale. Your experience is common.
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cede
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by cede »

Reverend Newer wrote:Run it!
Mice get into the corn in every part of the process from seed to sale. Your experience is common.
I like this point of view Reverend !
You're right when corn is stored like this :D
It might contain some mice.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by Honest_Liberty »

If it is worth anything, my adjacent response is:

1. rinse it off and if you don't smell urine then that should be fine? I dunno, I just scooped out the surrounding handful when one got into my corn sack, which led to #2
2. I bought a RIGID metal gangbox for work as a glazier. I've since gotten back into lending (thank god! no more freezing and sweating with the seasons), BUT...

I kept the 5ft x 2ft gang box for grain storage. Ain't nothin gettin in there. $400 bucks was worth every penny. Then again, I just pay for what I want instead of trying to go cheap. In fact I'm about to buy the 1/2 BBL conical stainless steel fermenter from SSBrewtech with heating and cooling. I know a lot of people are against just spending the money to do it turnkey from the beginning, but I'm done with trying to put things together piecemeal.

It is worth even just the 4x2 for $300 or find one on craigslist for about $150. then you will never have to worry about mice again :)
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by acfixer69 »

Honest_Liberty wrote:If it is worth anything, my adjacent response is:

1. rinse it off and if you don't smell urine then that should be fine? I dunno, I just scooped out the surrounding handful when one got into my corn sack, which led to #2
2. I bought a RIGID metal gangbox for work as a glazier. I've since gotten back into lending (thank god! no more freezing and sweating with the seasons), BUT...

I kept the 5ft x 2ft gang box for grain storage. Ain't nothin gettin in there. $400 bucks was worth every penny. Then again, I just pay for what I want instead of trying to go cheap. In fact I'm about to buy the 1/2 BBL conical stainless steel fermenter from SSBrewtech with heating and cooling. I know a lot of people are against just spending the money to do it turnkey from the beginning, but I'm done with trying to put things together piecemeal.

It is worth even just the 4x2 for $300 or find one on craigslist for about $150. then you will never have to worry about mice again :)
If mice get in mine it's bird food or compost. Them bo weavels amd mold spores got no challenge there in the box.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by Appalachian spirits »

Throw out corn. Get a hungry cat.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by Bushman »

I use 2 of those plastic mouse traps, easy to set and a lot safer. I saw signs in my out building set the traps with peanut butter. Never had to re-bait and got 6 mice in a week and haven't had one for several weeks now.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by Kareltje »

I did make some beer a long time ago. One of the recipes was chicken beer: boil the leftovers of a consumed chicken and make a normal beer mash with it. People liked the resulting beer very much, until I told the recipe.

I doubt if a virus will survive distillation and will get into the distillate.
Urine and faeces are a source of nutrients.
The tales that are told about thunder are also not very tasty, but the results are great, according to the stories.
Did you try it? And what were the results?

But of course it is a loss: the eaten starch can not be converted to sugar and then to alcohol.
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by CatCrap »

Bushman wrote: got 6 mice in a week

Almost enough for a meal
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Re: Mice got into my cracked corn

Post by bilgriss »

I made a very nice English Brown Ale once, after finding that a mouse had been feasting on my ten pound bag of Maris Otter. Lost about a pound, and there was definitely a dropping or two in there. I added the difference in American 2-Row and moved on. Unless they urinate on the grain and leave an aroma, I don't think it would be noticeable. There's mice in silos storing grain, and an allowable ppm for mice in bread flour. I think it's okay.
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