Rat Snake killing my half grown hens

[Indianjones]

I have the same problem with rat snakes killing my chickens. My coop is completely enclosed. I have a house and two runs on each side. I tried making it predator proof because we live in the country(La Grange Texas) and I was worried about Coyotes and Fox. The runs have hardware cloth 360 degrees around so I thought my chickens would be safe. One morning I check on them and I found one dead. It was so unusual because they showed no signs of being sick , we were very upset but just chalked it up to the heat because I couldn't come up with anything else. I installed fans in the coop just for safe measure but a month later the same thing, another chicken dead. So late one night I go check on the chickens and noticed two rat snakes in the coop. They were climbing up the wall to get to the roosting hens. I initially thought they were in there looking for mice and eggs because almost all the articles I have read say they are good to have around for mice. Anyway tonight I found the **** thing with a full size chicken in its mouth but couldn't get past the shoulders so gave up!! The snakes have entered the coop through the roof so tomorrow Im gonna fix the gap but Im so upset about this. These chickens are our babies , this isn't a business for me, they are our pets that we have raised since chicks! Im so ****** I didn't kill the **** snakes when I saw them in the coop days ago, but again everything I have ever read says not to because they are beneficial. Eff that! From now on, any snake in my coop is DEAD!!

 

[Hannah hen]

I've had chickens for years now, last year we had a big Rat Snake in the pen and was getting some eggs. He was allowed to stay until one night I went to check the girls and it was up on the perch wrapped around one of the birds.
This year we've started raising Jumbo Brown Quail and we have experienced a snake plague. I'm not sure how many birds we lost but I've disposed of five different rat snakes each with one or two Quail size lumps in them.
Last night I was a little late getting the eggs and found another one enjoying a egg dinner. This one was allowed to live this time.
The quail pen is going to be rebuilt but I'm not really sure how to snake proof everything we have

 

[carolinasculpture]

Hi! We are having a lot of snakes this summer *** well. So far non of them has eaten a hen, but I have found my poor broody kinda wet a few times like something tried. Anyway, I wouldn't feel that my chickens are safe just because they are way off the ground, snakes are excellent climbers! Also, I just started using a product called Snake Stopper, supposed to work along the same lines as the cinnamon and cat litter mentioned previously. It is supposed to be a smell they don't like and so they go another way. I was pretty skeptical, but had nothing to loose. Well, no snakes since then and I had been removing a 5' or so black snake or two every day for about a week. So, either it works or I have finally removed every black snake in the area. Good luck!

 

[Hannah hen]

That's one of the best proofs I've heard on any product to keep snakes away. Most people on here say the products don't work. so I've been reluctant to even try, but I might have to.
Just went out to close up the girls, I got the eggs earlier, and Mr, (or Mrs. I can't tell the difference) snake was in the same nest as last night. The only difference was he got a golf ball dinner tonight. I hope he enjoyed it

 

[CAjerseychick]

That's one of the best proofs I've heard on any product to keep snakes away. Most people on here say the products don't work. so I've been reluctant to even try, but I might have to.
Just went out to close up the girls, I got the eggs earlier, and Mr, (or Mrs. I can't tell the difference) snake was in the same nest as last night. The only difference was he got a golf ball dinner tonight. I hope he enjoyed it

Ha Ha that is funny (and am glad s/he got to live so far, I hate to kill anything...and me with 7 roos...)....

 

[16 paws]

I so have to agree with you on that one!

 

[Justsayin]

Thank goodness for your post! I also live in North Texas and am having a terrible time this year with black chicken snakes killing my hens. I have been on a mission the past week to get to the bottom of the killing after the loss of my favorite full grown Ameraucana. She was the 4th death in 10 days and I am beginning to freak out. I literally hear little chicken chirps everywhere I go. Tonight, my stressed senses paid out, when I heard a slight bump and then little chicken chirps. It wasn't even enough to get the dogs to stir, but I got out of bed, grabbed my heavy duty flash light and went to inspect the little chicks that I have in my backyard. When I got outside, two of my little chicks where running up and down the fence line making a fuss. They are Ameraucana, about 8 weeks old, and because they don't see well, they are always the first two of the now 9 to settle in at night. So seeing them on the ground was concerning. I entered the fence and they ran circles around my feet making it difficult to walk in further. When I sat the flash light down to pick one up, I noticed my sweet Buff Orpington laying on the ground about 3 feet away, like she had fallen out of the tree and broke her neck. I immediately grabbed the light and jumped over the two squawking chicks to check on her. I leaned down to inspect the lifeless chick and was having a hard time making out her form, when I say her body move to reveal the head of a black chicken snake. I was so worked up after days of waking up to dead chickens that I instinctively started beating the snake's head with my flash light. I was sure the chick was dead, but still could not imagine striking her. Which means I was pretty dang close to the snake and the chick to get about 4 pretty good whacks in. The snake uncurled itself and took off to hide under a near by water tote. And would you believe, my precious little chick jumped up and ran over to her sisters, which were now behind me back near the fence.

I made a half effort to chase the snake, but only armed with a flash light, decided to devote my attention to the chicks. I inspected the Buff and thankfully she appeared to be fine, so I sat her on a nearby perch and went to put one of the Ameraucana's back in the tree that all 9 hens started roosting in when the first chicken was killed. And let me say, she was having none of it. She let out a screech and flew back down to the ground by the fence. Usually, I can put them in the tree when they are jockeying for perch position at sunset. So instead of upsetting her again, I grabbed up all three of the little ones and brought them inside for the night. The remaining chicks, 2 - 8 week olds and 4 - 10 week olds are still in the tree. My question is, did the snake climb the tree to get the chicks? I know that may sound crazy, but one of the other chicks was killed when it "fell" out of the tree, after I had made sure they were all settled in for the night. I would have said it was a cat that got the chick, except whatever killed her, left her. And I have seen the chicken snakes in the hen house go up a 4 foot wall to escape in nothing flat. I believe the snake is getting the chicks by knocking them out of the tree. Has anyone ever heard of that?

 

[carlf]

Wow, this thread is an eye opener. Most snakes will not try to kill something too big to eat. But obviously this is what's happening to some of your birds. So I stand corrected.

 

[PaolaH1234]

Yes, this is news to me too! I've found a smallish black rat snake in the coop trying to eat an egg. After I bothered it enough that it spit the egg out, I haven't seen it since. However, 2 nights ago I went in to put the girls to bed and found a SIX FOOT black rat snake up in the roost bars and draped over one of my girls!!!! Thank goodness I saw it when I did and managed to get it out (after much jumping, knee shaking and more than a few obscenities!) or I hate to imagine what it would have done. All of my girls are full grown and I have a mean, mean MEAN rooster.... and they all were just sitting there, like nothing was going on, including the girl with snake "boa" across her back! Unbelievable. Needless to say I am now completely paranoid that the snake will come back when I'm not around. I lock the girls up at night in a fortress of a coop, surrounded with hardware cloth on every surface... but, the coop does stay open during the day as the girls are free-range. If I'm away from home until after dark I worry something will get in there before I can close up.
Does anyone have any strategies for keeping the slithery chicken killers out??? I have a couple of mothballs in the walls, but I hate how fumy they are and don't want the girls inhaling that all night. I'm thinking I will take a length of PVC pipe, drill a few holes in it, stuff it with mothballs and affix it to the door frame on the outside at the bottom of the door threshold. Therefore, if a snake tries to go in (the only entrance to the coop), they'll have to climb over the stinky PVC pipe and hopefully that will deter them. Any thoughts on if that may work?
Ugh, snakes...

 

[brlaake]

We have lived somewhat peacefully with our rat snakes for years. As long as we grab up the eggs  before they do and as long as we have kept our chicks closed  in until they are big enough to fly up high to roost at night, we haven't had any problems. Until now. This batch of chicks we bought from a feed store. Usually they are hatched by a mama hen and then when they are big enough to fly up high, mama hens takes them way up into the rafters (we keep them closed at night in a pen until they are big enough).  Since this batch didn't have anyone to teach them to fly up high, they were roosting up off the ground but not up in the rafters. They were certainly big enough to let out of the closed coop as they are almost as big as a full grown hen... maybe more than half way. But a snake  killed two of them.... swallowed up their heads and got to their shoulder and said 'oops, just can't fit' or whatever... I mean serious???  And their is no way the hens attacked them first because we made sure they were safe and sound and tucked away on their little perch that wasn't very high off the ground but still off the ground...all 6 were asleep and within hours of darkness they were swallowed up and regurgitated ( because I went out to check later).... it was awful.  It was a big black rat snake.  Its not like we don't have tons and tons of things for them to eat...we live on the lake  in the woods with oodles of rabbits and mice...


So since then we keep putting them in a coop at night and closing them in tight... and if we are going to be gone late at night we can't let them out because we have always had free roaming chickens...... they come in at night and usually they are safe.  Never had big snakes kill big chickens...not full grown but still...  I need to know if the snakes are going to keep killing them as long as they aren't roosting way up high... will they killl them as long as they are not in the rafters or locked up?