chicks killed a poisonous SNAKE!! *PICS*!!!

[SpottedCrow]

I think I woulda needed new undies...
Hoping fervently that noone got bitten.

 

[ChickenTender63]

We are just about 10 miles south of Burlington NC

 

[willkatdawson]

Does anyone know how small Copper heads are when they are born-hatched? This one was about 8/10". I'm wondering if there is a good chance that I will see more. I don't usually worry about things like that but the children are down there with the chickens everyday.

 

[SpottedCrow]

hearya go...
Copperheads are viviparous – their embryos develop inside the female body and she gives live birth to 3-10 young snakes during late summer or early fall. Young snakes measure 8-10 inches (20-26 cm). Young copperhead snakes resemble adults except for a more grayish coloration and a yellowish tip on their tails.

 

[willkatdawson]

Quote:
OK so they were "newborn". Great that means there are more in the coop area. My ten yr old son said the snake had a very bright yellow tail. I wonder how long after birth the tail turns the adult color.YUCK! No more shorts down to see the chickens and tall wellies. What the snakes don't know is there's 8 little dinosaurs on the hunt for them. Just another excuse to say "chickens rule."

 

[prittybitty]

can anyone tell me if a chicken snake or rat snake can or will take down a grown chicken? i live in central mississippi and there are alot of chicken houses. cant say i ever heard anyone talk of it. but it might just be common and they dont talk of it.

 

[the1much]

the snakes mouth would have to be big enough to fit a chicken in,,,, thats a big snake.

 

[nicktide]

Looks like a Southern Copperhead (as apposed to the common variety). My only run in with a southern phase was in NC and it was a young one that was very aggressive. He was in the road when I found him and I tried to remove him but he was too aggressive. When I was returning from my walk, he was splattered... apparently he thought he could take on a car tire.
As for rat snakes killing chickens... Only if he thinks he can eat it. They are constrictors so they could kill it not realizing that it's too big to swallow, but it's not likely. I think even a very large rat snake would have a hard time taking down an adult chicken but I did have a king snake (about the same size) try to eat my brother in law. Never bit him but it opened its mouth and tried to eat the back of his neck.
Oh yeah, keep in mind, a decapitated snake can still bite and inject venom (I think old yeller died that way) so always burry the head.

 

[jonbanks]

i live in south ga around pine mountain in harris county. not far from columbus and i think there are copperheads all over ga i mean all over ga. keep dogs on the yard farm cats out door cats and allow the rat snaks and the other non poisoness snakes to stay alive they will ward off the others even eath them.

 

[chilling in muscadine]

I have hatched coppeheads at my house before and 10" is rather large for a newborn but they hatch out in august so the one your birds killed was a couple of months old. The bright yellow on the tip of the tail will stay there about a year and its used to attract food. It called coudlelour,[sp] and this will attract lizards and frogs.

A rat snake and a chicken snake is the same thing. A rat snake can kill a full grown chicken but its not likely. They usually will not kill anything they can not eat. They can eat things about three times the biggest part of there body. A rat snake might be able to eat a bantam.

The bite from a cooperhead is not deadly but will start the digestion process so your flesh will start to rot. They usually will not bite unless they feel threatned. My old man has been bit by 9 copperheads and only one of those bites was bad.
Rat snakes are egg eaters.

Edited to say I hatched some rat snakes not copperheads, they have there young live. They come out in sacs and have to struggle to get out. Its hard watching them struggle and sometimes I will break a hole in the sac to help them out.