Black snake eating eggs 1 hen?

[Mimi13]

That smell tends to be more on where they live, not just where they've been lately. Or on the snake itself, if you're willing to pick up and smell one. They smell like warm scales if you're smelling the actual snake. Which I realize isn't a very helpful description when you don't know what scales smell like.

Nope! I can certainly say I don’t!

 

[cmom]

I don't want snakes in my coops and nest boxes. So far I haven't had any snakes in my nest boxes. Once I had a rat snake wrapped around the outside of a milk crate that I was using as a nest box, I did get it out but for days afterwards I would look to see if it came back. Once I had a couple of coachwhips that got on my fence and crossed the electric wire. They got electrocuted because their tails were on the ground so the current went through them. It really surprised me but because they weigh so little compared to a predator or person they were electrocuted by the wire. When I went out one day to collect the eggs I found them in the fence next to a coop.

 

[FeatherstoneFrm]

Well, I haven't seen the snake for a few days now but still no eggs from Hazel. They free range for a couple of hours everyday and two of the others have favorite nesting spots outside the run. Hazel has never done this before, usually going back to the coop to lay, but maybe that's why im not getting any eggs from her. I may find a large stash outside one day.

 

[DuckWhisperer06]

Well, I haven't seen the snake for a few days now but still no eggs from Hazel. They free range for a couple of hours everyday and two of the others have favorite nesting spots outside the run. Hazel has never done this before, usually going back to the coop to lay, but maybe that's why im not getting any eggs from her. I may find a large stash outside one day.

You could probably separate her in a dog crate (or something similar), for a day or two. This might help you figure out if she’s laying, since she can’t lay anywhere else. Make sure she has food and water.

 

[cmom]

Maybe the snake startled her and she quit laying for awhile. I moved a couple of birds from another coop to a coop and pen I use for some birds that need some TLC a couple of months ago. Before I moved them they were laying daily, since I have only gotten a couple of eggs.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

... I don't kill black snakes because they kill the copperheads so I left him alone.

Don’t kill it, just catch it and relocate it... I just relocated a 4-5 ft one to my neighbor’s place this week ...

... he thinks they kill copperheads too and likes them for mouse control... so I give him any large black rat snake I find around the coop...

... black rat snakes are known to communally nest in winter dens with other snakes including copperheads, so the idea that they kill copperheads or at least ALL copperheads is false... but they do sometimes eat smaller snakes so I’m sure they kill a copperhead occasionally...

I could use help killing mice... but I don’t allow a large black rat snake around my coop... so I just relocate them.

To catch it grab a bucket with a lid and a rake or something and rather gently pin it’s head down and then with the other hand pick it up by the tail and lift it into the bucket... keeping the head away from your legs... and then put a lid on the bucket...

One of the best ways to rid copperheads is simply to hunt for them... go out after dark with a good flashlight and a snake killing implement of your choice on days when it’s hot and the nights are cool and look for them laying on roads, driveways, etc.

Of course keeping mice and vole numbers low keeps snakes away too...

Hope that helps if it comes back and you want to relocate it.