Odd deaths - Graphic Photo

[Isadora]

@Coops Dad
Do these look like your chickens that got killed by a snake?

 

[Coops Dad]

Yes, looks very similar; the snake constricted the chickens then tried to swallow them headfirst. It left the carcasses with the head and neck feathers mussed up with saliva.

 

[cmom]

I would guess a snake. I would put up some wire (hardware cloth) that a snake can't get through. I have electric wires around my coops and pens. Only once did I find a snake in one of the coops. Snakes will take eggs too. A couple of snakes, about a week apart attempted to go through my fence but came in contact with the electric wires and were electrocuted. Any other predator would get a good shock. If you do have a snake there may be after rats or mice that are drawing them in. Just a guess. Good luck...

 

[tsperry88]

I have 3 strands of electric wire around the run, but the first strand is about 5" off the ground. A snake would go right under. I don't have hardware cloth around the run. The coop has 1" hardware cloth outside the windows and 1/2" inside. Anywhere they roost near a window, I have a 3rd layer of 1/4" hardware cloth to keep coon hands out. The pop door is automatic, but obviously open during the day.

 

[cmom]

I have electric wires around my coops and pens and a couple of times I have had a snake go through the wires and touch the electric wires and get electrocuted. Good luck...

 

[McChooky]

That's even stranger.

It's entirely possible that this is the work of a desperate snake. Are there any puncture holes around the face of the hens? Venomous snakes use their fangs to push prey down their throats, so there should be small punctures along the head/neck where the fangs dug in to help swallow. The only venomous snake in Virginia large enough to attempt this would likely be a timber rattlesnake.

Personally, I think it's likely the work of a Northern pinesnake or an Eastern ratsnake. Ratsnake is much more likely considering how big they get.

"Chicken snakes" (rat snakes) will chase a chicken, coil around its body and hold it long enough to swallow it alive starting with the head .If it can't swallow the chickens body past the neck it will regurgitate the chickens head out. If you find a dead chicken with a wet head and neck the culprits more than likely a snake. I know of no other predator that swallows one then vomits it back out(not really a vomotting action really just saying)

 

[ColtHandorf]

Yes, that definitely looks like a snake.

 

[bill3607]

Yes, it was a snake. I had 3 killed with 2 of them swallowed but they were a little over 2 weeks old. This was by what is commonly referred to as a chicken snake in the south. They get very large. They are nasty, really smelly snakes I have also seen other peoples grown hens get killed exactly like yours by a snake.. They do try to swallow it head first.

The rooster wasn't "chicken" Heck, he was just smart.