Can snakes steal eggs from under a broody hen?

[lorrir]

My Buff hen was setting on 5 eggs, I marked them with a sharpie, X on one side date on the other, after 5 days she only had 3 eggs left so I gave her 6 more and marked them the same date and X. Every day I collect eggs and now after 10 days she is down to 5 marked eggs.

I know I am not pulling marked eggs to eat. I have a really mean rooster can't see much getting by him. Can snakes get under a broody hen and not leave a trace?

 

[EAST TEXAROO]

Oh yea they can, If a roo cant see them he cant get em. If the hen pecks at the snake and gets him mad he will even attack or kill the hen(the snakes here in texas are mean). I had a broody duck and watched a snake in the middle of the day get under her and steal an egg(the snake had to die) and took off, not fast enough though. I had a very bad snake problem this year, I killed 13 snakes in 11 days. I went to the dollar tree store and cleared the shelve of mothballs, Stabbed the heck out of water bottles and filled them up, Threw 4 filled bottles around the coop and hung one by the nesting boxes. I have not seen a single snake since. Sorry for this reply being soo long, I just hate snakes

 

[stuckinthecity]

Ughhh, I hate snakes too! I am scared of those things also. Well at my grandfathers farm I used to always have to gather the eggs and there have been times when I wait for the hen to lay the egg and get up before I go get the eggs. Sometimes snakes would crawl right up under the hen. Im sure a broody would be way more protective of the snake and probably peck it.

 

[lorrir]

OK, this sh*t is p****ng me off. My chickens will no longer roost in the coop, the Broody hen is roosting in a tree. No more eggs . I have mothballs everywhere, Rida a snake 4" wide around the whole coop.

How in the heck do you get rid of snakes. My brother in law said to take an egg using a syrnge pull all of the egg liquid out and replace with bleach and seal with wax or something. The snake will digest it and the bleach will kill the snake.

 

[chickie_mama]

Golf balls in the nest will work too.

 

[lorrir]

Thanks, didn't think of golf balls. Darn snake. I bought 2 extra jugs of snake a way and a bag of sulpher. I also killed all of the vegetation around the pen.

I have three pens, one for chickens and two for my turkeys. Everyone freeranges so when they go in at night the chickens have jumped ship and are nesting in the turkey pens with the turkeys. Found two eggs in the turkey pen.

Glad the girls are finding an alternate home until this snake problem is resolved. When is the best time to find a snake in the coop? I know this isn't a fox or dog problem because I have 25+ 5 week old turkeys running everywhere and and haven't lost one to freeranging.

 

[stuckinthecity]

Heres how a friend of mine got rid of a rattler then kept getting in to his coop, and killed 2 big chickens, and 1 chick. He moved his chickens out of that coop and put them in a cage behind his barn. Then he got some eggs and slid needles into the eggs, so when the snake swallowed them and cracked the eggs in his stomach the needles would stab his stomach and kill him.

 

[dancingbear]

I've heard that a snake will swallow a wooden egg, then they can't digest it, and it's too big to regurgitate, and will kill them. I haven't had to try it myself though, so I don't know for sure.

 

[rufus]

Put dead light bulbs in the nest. After the hens sit on them, they smell like eggs. The snakes eat them, but for some reason cannot disgorge them. It kills them.

I recommend light bulbs because they are about the right weight and feel of eggs. And I am into recycling.

When you have a snake hiding in a wood pile or under something, squirt the co2 fire extinguisher in there. They are cold blooded, and this really flushes them out fast. Be ready cause they will not be happy when they come out.

For snakes hiding in a hole in the ground, toss a cup of gasoline into the hole. This brings them out muy pronto. Again they will not be happy, so be ready. Have a hoe and shovel ready.

And the gasoline trick will also flush out foxes, skunks, ground squirrels and owls. Be ready to run just in case.

Rufus

 

[IggiMom]

My grandfather who homesteaded in Montana always said that to keep the snakes out, have several good cats around. Since they raised eight kids and only saw a rattler in the yard once, I think he must have had something.

Of course, then the cats have to be able to go outside.

Also, I have always heard that Guineas and Peacocks will chase snakes away. I have both, and seldom see a snake, BUT perhaps there are more snakes where you are.

I need to find some used golfballs, also.

Catherine