Heavy Hearted

[4Chicks2]

I write this post this morning with a heavy heart. We lost our first chicken yesterday evening. I never thought I would get so attached to a chicken. It was a little bantam cochin. She was killed by a rat snake. What is worse is the snake couldnt even eat her, so she was basically killed for no reason. This was my daughters favorite chicken and the worse part of this ordeal was having to explain to my 5 year old that sometimes animals eat other animals, even though they are somebodys pet. I did not kill the snake, it was just being a snake. I did take a picture at the time though because I wasn't sure what kind of snake it was. I really didnt think I had to worry about snakes eating my chickens (moreso than the eggs). Here is a picture of my fallen banty. She will be missed.

 

[Kernel Cluck]

Boy that is tough. How do you protect your flock from snakes... I am very sorry for your loss.

 

[chickensioux]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[4Chicks2]

I dont know how I can, they free range during the day. Any suggestions would be great. I plan on building a run for them, but I will still let them out and I dont think a run is going to help against a snake anyway, unless I make it out of patio screen or something like that...

 

[aart]

Bummer! Use 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth fastened with screws and washers for your run mesh.
One good thing, rat snake will keep other snakes away as well as rodents.
I would assume that you might have venomous snakes in Florida?

 

[HeatherEmme]

1/2" or 1/4" hardware cloth... It's worth the expense in my opinion. Personally, I would have killed the snake. It will most likely be back. Sorry for your loss

 

[4Chicks2]

aart - yes we have eastern diamondbacks and also water moccasins are the main venomous snakes in my area.

heather - I thought about killing it, but I believe another one would just take its place. That being said, if it happens again I think the snake will be no more. It was really hard to hear my daughter say how much she liked holding that one and it was the one that liked her the most.

 

[dawg53]

Most likely it was a Yellow Rat snake aka chicken snake. It'll be back and will kill again. I've lost quite a few chicks, pullets, and cockerals to them:

 

[Haunted55]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your little girl. That's just awful! Can you fill any holes with steel wool to keep them out? Don't know if that would work or not, I know rodents don't much care for it.

 

[4Chicks2]

Dawg - It was a yellow rat snake. It didnt take very much research to figure it out. This is the picture I took.