6 week old poults kiiled by a snake.

[dabb]

I put my four poults outside yesterday for the first time in a predator proof enclosure. I went to check on them two hours later and two were dead. One obviously from a snake. The other two were shaken but fine. I moved them back to the basement and now I'm afraid to put them back outside. Hardware cloth is expensive right now and frankly we can't afford it. What else can I do to protect them? We have a minnow trap with chicken eggs set in the turkey enclosure,but haven't caught the snake yet. I feel terrible. All my years raising turkeys and chickens I have never lost any to a snake.

 

[iwltfum]

How do you know it was a snake? Visible snake bite? Was one of them soaking wet all over? Oftentimes snakes eat a bird whole and have trouble leaving the enclosure because the bird inside them is too big to get out of the enclosure until its fully digested. But sometimes a snake will regurgitate a meal if it's trapped and feels like it needs to urgently leave the area.

 

[dabb]

It was wet to the base of the neck.

How do you know it was a snake? Visible snake bite? Was one of them soaking wet all over? Oftentimes snakes eat a bird whole and have trouble leaving the enclosure because the bird inside them is too big to get out of the enclosure until its fully digested. But sometimes a snake will regurgitate a meal if it's trapped and feels like it needs to urgently leave the area.

 

[iwltfum]

It was wet to the base of the neck.

Curious. I think you have a hardware cloth purchase in your future if you want to control snakes. It really is the only option. That or solid walls. Maybe try finding some old rolls or repurposed hardware cloth. Might have to patch it up but if it's free or cheap...