Egg stealing snake

[melroseladi]

I came home to my guineas raising a fuss like I had never heard. I ran out to check them and found a gray rat snake in the cage that my new hen has been laying in. I could see two large lumps in the snake body and it was stretching it's mouth to eat another one. I ran and grabbed the shovel, got the pen door opened, and attempted to hit the snake, which was hard because it was inside a wire cage. The egg broke, the snake took off out the back of the cage getting part way into the pen where my other hen is sitting. She was in the door way of her dogloo raising a ruckus, her mate was running back and forth sounding the alarm. Since the snake had eaten eggs its body no longer fit through the wire of the cage so it was pretty much trapped.

My new hen, I am presuming, had managed to get 3 eggs out of the cage nest and they were laying in the dirt in the run. Once they saw me going after the snake her and her mate both took off out the pen opening. They must have thought I was a shovel wielding maniac. I may never get them back in the pen again.

My question now is what do I do in regards to her nest in the cage? Should I redo her nest back in the cage and put her eggs back in there and hope that if I can get her back in the pen she will resume laying in there or set up some other type of nest for her.

 

[CCourson05]

I wouldn't touch anything!! If you do, she will completely reject the nest... At least mind did...

 

[PeepsCA]

That's what I'd try, and hopefully it works and everybody calms down. But she may have decided that nest is not safe and will find a new place to lay. I'd also add smaller mesh wire to the cage/pen, to snake-proof it. If the Hen eventually hatches keets in there, they run the risk of being snake food too...

I am so glad I don't have snakes that big here (that eat eggs and keets), yuck!

 

[CCourson05]

I once found a snake on a guinea nest... I tried to kill it, but missed terribly.... Lol. I was almost a foot off after my hoe swing... I was ashamed...

 

[melroseladi]

The cage is small hole wire, not small enough obviously to keep out snakes, but I have it set on the ground with the door open for her to get in and out which I am sure was just an open invitation to the snake. These snakes are climbers so I would have to cover the entire run in hardware cloth, which is just not in my budget. I am thinking of getting some deer or bird netting and just cover all of the chainlink with it. I have heard snakes will get tangled in the netting.

Well Lacey and Bob went back in the pen, which is very, very strange, so they are locked in for the night. She is going in and out of the cage moving bedding and the eggs around. I guess I will wait and see if she decides to lay back in there or someplace else in the pen. I could hang the cage back up on the chainlink but I didn't know if she would use it to nest in if it was not on the ground.

I love my guineas!!!!!

 

[TarheelBirdy]

UGH.....we all know predators are part of this whole thing....but it still feels like SUCH a violation, doesn't it? Hope everyone stays back to normal.....

 

[Jchantecler]

Quote:
That is not always the case. My guineas stay true to their one nest for quite a while, even if I touch it.