Chicken Snake

[Gagardengirl]

Last week we caught a chicken snake in our coup and killed it. I keep a golf ball in a few holes to help the chickens find a good spot. Well as of today we have had 4 golf balls gone missing. Will a chicken snake eat a golf ball ? Will it kill him or can he throw it back up?
There are certain days when our eggs are short so I know something is getting to them but I can't watch them all day long. Is there anyway to catch or kill the snake/snakes without harming my chickens ? Any help is appreciated.

Kristi

 

[silkiechicken]

If the snake ate the golf ball, it would probally die from it. As for ridding of snakes, I don't know about because we only have garter snakes here and they keep down the mice and pest populations...

A short story..

There is a chunk of ply wood lying on the ground near my chicken cage and well, every once in a while I pick it up when I am home on weekends.

One day I pick it up and a medium sized rat flies out of it...
The following weekend, I pick it up and two rats fly out!!!
Weekend after that I check and see there are nests and no mice....
Check back another week later and what do I find! One garter snake...
Another week goes by and I catch 2 garter snakes under the board
and we know how this ends...

Another week later I pick up board and find about 30 baby snakes!!!

Let's say that took care of the mouse problem I had... don't know where the snakes are anymore though as I've moved the board.

 

[Gagardengirl]

Well I thought that as well, but with 4 golf balls gone either the snake is throwing it up and coming back or we have a real snake problem with at least 4 dead snakes we will keep replacing the balls until they stop missing or we find a pile of them in the woods one day.

Anyone else have suggestions ?

Thanks

 

[prariechiken]

Have you seen any rats? Pack rats will carry stuff off, and the presence of rodents usually brings in snakes...To my knowledge, snakes won't eat the golf balls, they can "smell" that they are not eggs....

 

[Gagardengirl]

No I have not seen any rats or rat droppings. Whatever it is can move the golf ball from a nesting box across the pen floor, and out the door of my coup ( I leave the door open during the day and close all chickens up at night) I have a hog wire pen with 1 inch mesh all the way around the coup up to 3 ft high then 2 inch mesh up to 10 ft high so whatever it is is very skillful.

 

[keljonma]

Gagardengirl,

Whatever it is can move the golf ball from a nesting box across the pen floor, and out the door of my coup

The area where your birds nest and sleep is the house. The fenced playground area is the run. Together they are called the coop.

As far as what can move a golf ball that far - your chickens can. Before our flock started laying, I had golf balls in the nest boxes so the girls would know to lay their eggs there. I have seen my one of my pullets push a golf ball out of the nest and across 20 feet to the door of the hen house. I'm sure if she could have found a way to get the golf ball up to the door, she would have taken it outside with her.

I have a hog wire pen with 1 inch mesh all the way around the coup up to 3 ft high then 2 inch mesh up to 10 ft high so whatever it is is very skillful.

1 inch mesh will not keep out snakes or rodents. If you add 1/2 inch hardware cloth, you may end the problem.

regards,
keljonma

if edited, probably for typos...​