Rattlesnake in nesting box

[bigspringshatchery]

I just got a call from my mom and said there was a rattlesnake in one of my nesting boxes with the eggs. It's a roll away box I built and you lift a lid to get to eggs an I never look when I collect. I just reach in and grab, so it seems like I've been lucky. Is there anything I can put out or do to keep them away? I would hate for me to be out of town an my 78 year old grandfather collects eggs and him get bit by a snake.

 

[hennyannie]

My friend that scares me so bad that if that were my coop/nest I would have it shrink wrapped in the smallest hardware clothe available. I am unsure what would keep them away, maybe lime aroud the perimeter of the coop?

 

[chickengrl]

Holy smokes. Not sure how to keep them out, but I really hope you are successful.

 

[jason_mazzy]

There are some comercial snake repellants that have decent success rates

 

[WriterofWords]

Last year after I got struck and bruised by a rattlesnake I put bird netting all around the bottom of the fence, never had another snake in there. I was hoping to catch them but I guess NM rattlers are smart!

 

[bigspringshatchery]

Would mothballs work? I've heard of a lot of ppl using them.

 

[wawasmama]

I live in the Texas Hill Country - AKA, snake heaven. The day I bought my chickens, I also bought 3 guineas. My grandmother always had guineas with her chickens - and she always warned me against blindly gathering eggs too. My guineas have been great and they're awesome watch dogs! They kill snakes (and I've never seen one), mosquitoes, grasshoppers, weed seeds and they alert all of the other birds when there's a hawk in the area. I've lost two hens to fox, but they can't fight anything that big! Downside: they're noisy and don't like change. Have you thought about guineas? They're a necessity around our flock! Best of luck!

 

[bigspringshatchery]

Quote:
Yes. I have one. I had 3 but when I let them out something always kills them. I live in the country and all my neighbors which pretty mich are family has dogs that run loose. So I've been trying my best to let my one out and lock her back up at night. I would love to be able to leave her out all the time but she won't roost at night for some reason. Wants to sleep by the chickens.

 

[wawasmama]

That's a shame, my guineas live with my chickens and go to bed in their enclosure at night with them. When I let my chickens out in the morning, they go out too - theyre just part of the flock. Maybe introducing guineas with new chickens is the way to go. Hope you can take care of the rattler problem - that's super scary!

 

[littlefork]

We had black snakes coming into our basement, and our wildlife guy said to use 1/4" hardware cloth to block off the areas where they were getting in. We capped off the top of the blocks and it worked. We also strung netting around the outside of the house, just spiral it slightly and they can't back up so they get stuck in it.