is there anything you can spray or use to keep snakes out of your yard

[chickon baby]

the cat has brought me a a baby gardner snake on 3 different days.where there are babies there is a mama..So yesterday the mama was sun bathing on the wood pile,about 5 feet from the coop/run area.Hubby said leave it be,I worried about the babies n eggs???Also the other day on the opposite side of our property,a snake came up n hissed at my son.He got the gun and took care of it and Im glad he did because it was a baby copperhead.Like I said if there is the baby snake,there is a mama!! So is there anything we can do? My babies just turned 1 on April 1st,they are wyondottes..In all the years this is the most amount of snakes we have seen,do they smell the chicks/eggs?? Now I know what happened to all the moles/voles,here I thought the cat was having a feast..lol..What can I do? Is there anything you can use/spray? Do I leave them alone or get rid of them,they are my least favorite..Can they hurt the chicks?

 

[sonarjay]

moth balls will keep snakes away.

 

[flyawayfarms]

The copperhead would have concerned me greatly but I like the garders in my yard, unfortunately my Jack Russels don't. No snakes, no frogs, no moles, actually if it moves and they can catch it, it is history. But I keep them contained in my back yard because they like my chickens too!!! hahahha

 

[Southernbelle]

I've heard lime (lyme?) will keep them away. The powdered stuff you get at the garden center that decreases the pH of soil. My neighbor told me to spread it around woodpiles and it will keep them away. It gets between their scales and irritates them and they don't like it. I haven't tried it, just sharing an idea.

 

[jenjscott]

You can buy some fancy snake powder, but all it is is powdered sulfer which you can buy for about half the cost. I got mine at a feed and seed store. You have to repeat treat occasionally, especially after it rains, but it works for me.

 

[pierson12]

get some guineas..They really manage the snake problems..

 

[kisses10]

is mothballs safe to have around chickens and ducks??

 

[cappy]

If you live in the country, snakes are a fact of life. There are "repellents" sold, but only work in dry arid locations. Humidity and rain makes frequent applications necessary (and it gets expensive). Any powder will have the same results. When I built my feed shed I put 3 boxes of mothballs under the floor. You could smell them 50' away and in the shed the smell was overpowering. I put a 12" barrier of Snake Away inside the door. The 2nd week I found a 5' chicken snake in there. The following week I found a rat snake even thought the mothballs were still going strong. I have found numerous snakes in there so figured the moth balls and snake repellent aren't very effective. I have guineas and goats and have not found a snake in the pasture or the chicken runs. Is that because the guineas keep them away? I doubt it but you never know. There are steps you can take to reduce the chance of having snake problems. Keep the area around the chicken coop cleared of junk, wood piles, grass and weeds. Keep your grass mowed short and clear under shrubs. Snakes don't like being in the open where they are easy targets for predators. I have a thick layer of straw in my nest boxes and check under the straw daily. I have found several chicken snakes had burrowed under the straw and were impossible to see and did not bother the chickens, but ate the eggs.

Ken