Black snake killed 3 of my 6 week old chicks.

[McChooky]

Not to worry.I'll just get meaner and meaner till it leaves here lol

 

[Barnette]

Yes I know. I own one.View attachment 3859992

Pretty snake! What breed?

 

[Logar]

I'm not chancing getting bit by this snake trying to rescue it. I've tried to run off several times.My dog was bit on the neck by one this size and it cost a couple hundred dollars in vet bills to get rid of the infection. Their mouth is only as clean as what they eat(rats)

Use 2 sticks and pick it up. Once it realizes it isn’t in danger (usually takes around 30 seconds to 2 minutes) it will calm down and you can put it into a container with a lid or a pillowcase that you zip tie shut.

 

[Logar]

Pretty snake! What breed?

He is a Texas rat snake with the scaleless morph. It results in a a big reduction of the amount of scales giving they have giving them a weird look. But he is so cool to hold as his skin feels like velvet!

 

[Barnette]

He is a Texas rat snake with the scaleless morph. It results in a a big reduction of the amount of scales giving they have giving them a weird look. But he is so cool to hold as his skin feels like velvet!

Cool!! I love snakes, but we don't have the time and space to get one. If we did, I would probably also have rabbits and turtles and fish and cats and cockroaches...

 

[SilverBirds]

The only humane way to euthanize a snake without vet equipment is by smashing the skull.

Which is how we do it around here. I do love snakes and I'm fine having them around on the property. It's when they get into the coop we have a problem. We've only dispatched 4 or 5 rat snakes over the course of 10 years having chickens. They were all caught eating eggs or chicks in the coop.

 

[McChooky]

If you have a problem with snakes eating your baby chicks maybe you need a predator proof chicken tractor ?

 

[Barnette]

If you have a problem with snakes eating your baby chicks maybe you need a predator proof chicken tractor ?

Snakes are like stinkbugs and mice. They can get into the smallest spaces

 

[McChooky]

Snakes are like stinkbugs and mice. They can get into the smallest spaces

I made a 4 x 6 ft chicken tractor and covered it with 1/2" hw cloth. Park it on a concrete slab to keep predators out

 

[ducklover128]

When I first saw a snake in the duck nest, I said well, if it (rat snake) keeps mice and copperheads away, I'm cool if it gets an egg or so (I was a newby and only had ducks and chickens for a couple months at the time). Fast forward to 3 weeks later, and a full grown muscovy hen was found dead on her nest. Her head and neck was wet, so it was obvious that a snake had tried to swallow her and couldn't . Since that day, 2 years ago, I've come to the shocking reality that 1) a snake will not keep other snakes away. They may not be friends and hang out on the daily, but they are not exactly enemies either. They may kill and eat a smaller snake, but that's not exactly keeping others away. 2) snakes are not happy just eating mice and eggs. We lost our hen to a snake 2 years ago, and have since lost a baby duck to a snake just a couple weeks ago (also lost a 7 ft black snake that day as well). 3) We have bunches of mice, that we are currently trying to find a solution for, and it seems to me that the snakes are not interested in them. 4) Snakes are apparently not bothered by killing something that's way to big to swallow, as I never wouldve thought one would try to swallow a full grown duck.
While my husband was unfortunately out of town, I found a 4 foot long black snake in the coop, sleeping under a wooden pallet(which has been removed). I begged the snake to leave fast. Told it that I had to go find something to get rid of him with, and to please just hurry up and slither off so I didn't have to hurt it because i dont like doing that, but when it comes down it, it's us or them (and yes, us, meaning im a flock member too) and ill do what i have to do to protect the flock. When I got back with the shotgun and did what I had to do, I realized after much confusion that there was not one, not 2, but THREE freaking snakes in the coop that day. . I knew the first one was no longer with us, but there it was on the outside of the back wall....slithering in between the boards and the fence.... Had to check on the first snake, inside the coop, to make sure I wasn't tripping, and there it was...still in the same spot it was in a few minutes before with its muscles still contracting.... So, I'm crying like crazy, walking from the inside of the coop to the outside of the coop, back to the inside to triple check and back to the outside, confused because they all look the same , trying to come to terms with the triple homicide im in the middle of, instead of the single murder that i had come to terms with already(sort of), and I don't wanna hurt 1 soul, let alone 3, but feel forced to do so because the snake didn't leave when I told it to. We ended up taking care of at least 9 rat snakes. Found several black racers as well. Smallest was probably 3 ft long. We have so many mice, I wouldve thought any snake would be happy and full, but nope. Not at all. They run around like 13 year old boys dumping the refrigerator in their mouth, swallowing anything that gets too close, except mice of course. I firmly believe we were all put here to live together, but if it comes down to my flock or the predator, regardless of species, I'll choose the flock. Every. Single. Time. With no regrets. I feel it's my responsibility to keep them from harm.
Moral of this long drawn out story, snakes cannot be trusted around the flock, and that it doesn't matter how much I love nature or how beautiful it can be, it's still nature and it's brutal. For the hunter and the hunted.