got my chicks today.. and now they are dead.. GRAPHIC PICTURES

[CathyB]

So sorry for your loss. I am such an animal lover but that snake would have had to go!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

 

[yotetrapper]

Hardware cloth is the way to go for snakes. You can buy it at any hardware store (lowes, home depot) pretty reasonably. No snake will get through 1/4" hardware cloth.

Glad ya killed the bloodthirsty thing.

 

[newbiecaroline]

I'm so sorry - $&^& snakes!
I'm scared of snakes...just wondering how you killed it and good job!!!

 

[horsejody]

I hate snakes. When I see one in the yard, I tell DH it's time to mow.

 

[thechickenchick]

How awful! I am sorry this happened to you. I am glad you got the SOB! Now I am worried about snakes too. I never thought about it before. Coons were my big worry. Our weather hasn't been warm enough for snakes yet.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Holy cow! That is terrible.

I see you took care of the problem though.

Sorry for you losses. :aww

 

[dacjohns]

Wow. I shouldn't be surprised at the amount of emotion shown in this thread but I was.

First of all I can sympathize with the loss but in a pastime such as ours (fulltime for some of us) a certain amount of loss is to be expected. Snakes do what snakes do just as cats do what cats do and raptors to what raptors and so on. In life there are predators and prey. Chickens prey on insects and other critters smaller than themselves. Other animals prey on chickens of different sizes.

Snakes are a part of a functioning ecosystem and when we insert ourselves and our animals into that ecosystem we become part of it. Snakes are no more evil than cats, dog, or chickens. When you call a snake evil you are assigning a human trait to an animal. This might be hard to accept because we assign human traits to our warm fuzzy animals whereas reptiles are cold and smooth.

I have chickens and I have snakes where I live. Snakes help keep the mice down. My cat isn't doing that good of a job that I know of. Snakes will be drawn to chicken coops because the spilled food attracts mice. There will be losses but as others have already said, do what you can to predator proof your chickens' living quarters.

Hardware cloth sounds like a good idea. I watched a snake go through the holes in the chicken wire like it wasn't there. There skeletons are very flexible and they can fit through very small places. They can also climb.

Don't kill snakes just because they are snakes. Don't kill them because they got your chickens. Do what you can to live in harmony with your surroundings.

 

[Pine Grove]

http://www.kens-fishfarm.com/snake_guard.asp

 

[Alaska animal lover]

Eew, I am so glad Alaska dosen't have snakes.
I'm sorry about your chicks, I would have done the same thing as you, cut it open to see if any could be saved.