lost two chicks tonight

[allilind]

I'm so bummed. We had four chicks in an outside enclosed run. I thought to bring them in before dark, but I ran a quick errand. When I went out to bring them in for the night, two were being very loud, which is strange for them at night. I couldn't hear or see the other two. I went to get a flashlight and found them dead.

We're leaning toward a snake. One of them had a bloody spot on her belly and both wings (at the body), and there was blood coming out of her head. We thought rat at first, but now we're thinking she was constricted.

The second baby was only bloody on her belly. The weird thing is ...they were in the same spot, in the middle of their little coop. I guess we'll never know.

We have two hens and have never had predator issues. Now I'm worried about them, too. I have no idea how big the would be snake is. Their coop is covered in 1/2" mesh. I'm thinking any snake in that range could kill an adult hen.

My saving grace with them, I suppose, is that the silly girls lay their eggs in the chiminea by our back door and not their nesting box. So, there aren't any eggs laying around.

I guess I'm wondering if this sounds like a rat snake. And also, is it weird that they were left together like that? There was zero access/entry evidence left.

I suppose I'll be lining their little run with tiny hardware cloth??

Is there anything I can do to repel them?

 

[allilind]

I should note that we are very much in the city and don't have a huge yard. And now we're a bit concerned about what kind of snake it could be, since we have small kids and a dog, as well.