help! big snake in the nest box!

[chkinut]

i am so freaked out! i have had chickens for 2 years now and i've NEVER had this happen. today i went to check for eggs and there was a huge snake in the nest box eating an egg!!!! it looked like a garter snake and it was all curled up but i would guess about 5 - 6' long and about an inch and a half in diameter. i put the dog in there (american bulldog) and all he did was look surprised and then he ran off. so i went to get the cat, but then the snake was gone. i have a total of 4 nest boxes and 7 hens. only 2 hens are laying now. 2 boxes are up off the floor about a foot. the other 2 are simply big cat litter boxes with straw in them and they are on the floor of the coop. my 2 laying girls like to lay in the big box on the floor of the coop. i was ready to get rid of my girls today cuz i was so discusted. the snake left the egg it had slobbered all over and i sure don't wanna eat it now. how do i get rid of this thing? i love chickens more than any other animal in the world. and i have a pet chicken who LOVES me so much and needs human attention every day. i can't imagine giving her up. please help with any ideas. i am so afraid to even go out and check eggs anymore. i'm sure it's a harmless snake, but no matter what kind it is....i HATE snakes!!! they creep me out.

 

[MarieNC]

Do you know how the snake is getting access to the nest boxes? Snakes can get in and out of some very small holes - it would astonish you. We have every conceivable access point in our chicken run and coop covered with hardware cloth secured with screws and washers to keep snakes out. A couple of weeks ago a big rat snake was trying to find his way into the duck run and he met with a swift demise. I hated having to do it, but I knew he would keep trying to get in that run and would scare my chickens and ducks in the process.

 

[Ted n Ms]

Get a stick or garden tool like a hoe and chop off his head. Chop his head right above his shoulders.

 

[chkinut]

oh my hubby plans on chopping it's head off, if we can get to it before it slithers away. lol. my coop is very airy....it's a 3 sided coop. so i'm sure the snake had no problem finding its way in.

 

[The Big Dog]

Try chopping the head off one of our Queensland scrub pythons...........He'll eat yu.

 

[JimyCrakKorn]

It is very important you protect the pen/run completely. Do not trust chicken wire. Even the 1 inch opening can leave openings for snakes. I found a great way to stop them. Deer netting. It's black plastic that disappears when more than 5 ft away from it and if you place it like a fence, a foot or two high with maybe 6 inches laying flat on the ground the snakes will either be blocked from coming in or more than likely will try to go through it. Here's the part that catches them. They start through and when they find out they can't get through, they try to back out. They can't. Their scales stop them from backing up. The more they try to get out the more tangled they become. They will die or if they are the kind you want (just not around the coop), you can cut them out and relocate them. However, you must know what you are handling if you plan on cutting them loose as you will need a steady hand, a good set of eyes and a sharp pair of scissors. You might want a second pair of hands due to the fact that as you clip the netting, you want to start from the tail end of the snake. The other pair of hands can steady the snake and take up any slack. If it sounds like I've done this myself, it's because I have; many times. We have 6 to 8 deer that seem to enjoy my wife's hostas and if the netting gets too close to the ground we catch snakes, instead. I've only had to kill one and some have died before I found them, but it's amazing how tangled they get.

Good luck.