Help! Snakes!

[HeyHey]

I need advice, please
We have bought property in the country...my dream...But this is turning into a nightmare because of the snakes.
We have cottonmouth and copper heads.
How do I keep them away from my chickens?
I know to not leave thing laying around and we have a mowing service that keeps the yard cut but they are still there.

 

[WingItRanch]

Welcome to the country! They will be around until you start making a ton of noise and keep the grass short. Even then, you'll see less but you'll still have them.

Some good news for you... chickens attract good snakes usually. Venomous snakes typically hide and hunt smaller prey. The good snakes will start showing up looking for eggs (make sure your coop/run is predator proof) but some of those good snakes also kill and eat the venomous snakes!

 

[WingItRanch]

Another tip... snakes of all kinds are excellent climbers and not to be underestimated so when you do predator proof, make sure to put hardware cloth all the way to the roofing. Here's an example of their climbing skills....

 

[Backroadlogic]

Get a yard pig like a guinea hog, the settlers going through the Appalachias into the ozarks would keep them in there yards to keep snakes away.

 

[RcoM]

I need advice, please
We have bought property in the country...my dream...But this is turning into a nightmare because of the snakes.
We have cottonmouth and copper heads.
How do I keep them away from my chickens?
I know to not leave thing laying around and we have a mowing service that keeps the yard cut but they are still there.

Sometimes chickens kill snakes and they will always alert you to the whereabouts. Below we have an Australian Eastern Bandy Bandy near my husbands boot- killed by "Hero"-our rooster.

 

[May Wine]

Encourage king snakes and rat snakes. When I used to have chickens, I had a black rat snake that hung around. I'd rather have snakes than rats and mice so I encouraged him to stick around.

Occasionally, I would find him in the house and once, feeling under a hen for eggs, I found him curled up, snug and warm. Yes, they eat eggs but very very few. I believe that an egg every now and then is a fair price for keeping rats out of the hen house.

 

[Bird2break]

I need advice, please
We have bought property in the country...my dream...But this is turning into a nightmare because of the snakes.
We have cottonmouth and copper heads.
How do I keep them away from my chickens?
I know to not leave thing laying around and we have a mowing service that keeps the yard cut but they are still there.

Another tip... snakes of all kinds are excellent climbers and not to be underestimated so when you do predator proof, make sure to put hardware cloth all the way to the roofing. Here's an example of their climbing skills....
View attachment 4147165

It may sound cruel, but I’ve had great success with putting a golf ball in each of my nest boxes and invariably the snake eats it. The snake can’t pass the ball and goes off somewhere to die. We eliminated 7 snakes from our coop in the past 3 months! Also, this method allows you to see if a snake has been there if the golf ball is missing from the nest box.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Another tip... snakes of all kinds are excellent climbers and not to be underestimated so when you do predator proof, make sure to put hardware cloth all the way to the roofing. Here's an example of their climbing skills....
View attachment 4147165

Yikes, that’s a big one!

- I love your little R2-D2 feeder! It looks like it’s trying to strike an acquaintance with your waterer.