Huge Rattlesnake!!!!

[gsim]

Hardware cloth is only thing I know of that would be decent barrier to snakes. It is expensive though.

 

[Tonopah Pati]

I have hardware cloth all around my pen and I buried medal 6'' all around the inside of the pen. My problem came from a rodent that dug a tunnel under and up into the inside. The Rattle snake takes over the rodent hole, it waits for the rodent to come back to it's hole. Blammy! it is dinner. The large one was outside the hole digesting the rodent. My hens were scared of the big one. they eat the small ones.

 

[Kacey's Krazee's]

we just built our chicken coop and house for the girls. We completely encased the frame in hardware cloth, including the roof. We dug down about 6 inches and put in poultry wire to help stop the critters from digging in. Both myself and hubby are super dooper anti snake folks, and hesitated to do chickens for that reason. We thought we had made the coop snake proof, and varmit proof. We never thought about rodents digging under the coop and coming up through the poultry fence, and the snake following them in. There went my feeling of security!!!
yuck factor is running amuck!!

 

[DragonFeathers]

I have used moth balls and crystals under my pigeon loft and around chicken house, I roll the moth balls down the mole holes and toss the crystals under the loft. I have not had any snake problems after that. I was worried about the chickens eating the moth balls so I poked holes in a small plastic med. bottle and placed them around the run.

 

[skeeter9]

You know, DragonFeathers, one of my daughter's friends said that her dad uses moth balls to repel snakes, too! I thought she was crazy, but now I'm wondering. . .

kmu, don't let the varmint hole thing keep you from getting/enjoying chickens. They are sooooo worth it, we just have to find a solution to our squirrel problem, that's all!

Our coop has been predator proof for a very long time. Among other things, we have cement down 6-8 inches all the way around our coop and run. It keeps things like dogs and raccoons out, but, as we recently discovered, doesn't deter the squirrels at all. We have 2 terriers that keep them away for the most part, but the one who has created this mess was lucky enough to avoid them. Luckily the snake got him, so maybe we will be ok for a while???

 

[DragonFeathers]

Skeeter9, this is no lie I had a 4 ft.black rat snake go thru the pigeon bob mid afternoon, the girls were sitting on eggs and raising one heck of a fit, domestic other and I went to see what all the noise was about to see this snake going thru bob and into an empty nest box, we both ran for garden rake and shovel...domestic other said if the birds attract snakes they are gone, I have used moth balls for 3 years and no snakes, moles, skunks or coons bother the birds............I wish it would fix my hawk problem