Poisonous snakes

[mossyoakpro]

While cleaning my run today I came across a juvenile copperhead...I have no idea where he came from or how he got in but he did. My birds were out free ranging at the time but had they been in they would have encountered him for sure and he was only about 10 inches long so not too intimidating to them I'm sure. Question is: Can they eat a poisonous snake and not fall ill? Can the snake strike them and harm them or are the feathers too thick to get them?? On a side note...I almost wet myself when I saw him. LOL

Thanks

 

[TwoCrows]

Good grief, too scary! We have Prairie Rattlers out here, fortunately my birds have never encountered one. I would imagine chickens can be bitten and unless it's a dry bite, would most likely die. My birds have gone after Garders and small Gopher snakes, only chased them though. I am sure they would definitely eat a small snake.

Stay safe out there and keep the Copperheads out of your run!

 

[Ridgeback825]

I'd imagine that eating it wouldn't hurt them but serving dinner without a bite might be difficult. Feathers wouldn't offer much protection. Scary!

 

[Captain13]

Dang, Bro, Be glad you saw that one. Copperheads are so aggressive when challenged so I doubt the chickens would have much of a chance.

 

[mossyoakpro]

Dang, Bro, Be glad you saw that one. Copperheads are so aggressive when challenged so I doubt the chickens would have much of a chance.

Yeah....it startled me, I'm not going to lie since I was leaning over scooping poop. I think he must have come in during the night under the door or something. That's the only thing I can think of...I had left a milk crate in the run and he was coming out from under it so maybe that's why the birds didn't get to him.

 

[MortyschickenShack]

Yeah....it startled me, I'm not going to lie since I was leaning over scooping poop. I think he must have come in during the night under the door or something. That's the only thing I can think of...I had left a milk crate in the run and he was coming out from under it so maybe that's why the birds didn't get to him.

Have been getting some good pointers from these posts. In order for my birds to have the most visibility for predators, I have removed everything from the coop that could hide a potential predator. Don’t want anybody to get ambushed. We live we learn. Keep the posts coming.

 

[Penpal]

Chickens peck at snakes. In India they fight cobras. Your snake was probably after an egg. Egads!

There are snake traps you could use.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Cottonmouths are close cousins to copperheads. I’ve found 5-6 cottonmouths in or trying to enter my coops over the past 2-3 years. In terms of frequency, they’re the number 2 species of snake that raids my coops. Number 1 is the grey rat snake, for which I’ve killed dozens eating chicks or eggs. There is no number 3. Although I have something around 9 species of snakes that frequent my farmyard, only the grey rat snakes and cottonmouths cause issues. Cotttonmouths must be frequent bird nest raiders in the wild. Maybe they seek out duck nests. All of my coops are within 50 yards of large water sources.

I’ve lost entire clutches of bitties to cottonmouths and some dead sub adults that I suspect had been bit. I also lost the brood cock in my profile pic to what may have been a venomous snake bite, but it also could have been a jab from an dirty raptor talon.

They are a real threat to you and your livestock. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Most recently one of my bulldogs got bit again.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

BTW, the bulldog is ok now.

 

[Captain13]

You may want to build yourself a snake trap. I’ve seen a couple on YouTube. Are you near a pond or something? Flint River maybe? I was bit by one when I was young and it hurt like nothing I’ve experienced since so be careful.