Ratsnake got one of my chicks

[Whisper]

I came downstairs and glanced out the back window this afternoon, just in time to see a four foot long ratsnake exiting my chick and duckling playpen. It had a noticeable bulge that spelled "dead baby chicken" in its midsection. Since I knew it would be back for seconds and thirds and fourteenths, my hubby dispatched the offending snake with a hoe. Unfortunately the stupid snake had not eaten one of the four annoying bantam roosters that I'll have to rehome soon, oh no! It ate my lemon and blue Madagascar game pullet.

I had forgotten/ignored the fact that chickens in the backyard can draw snakes. Sigh. Now I'll have to be doubly careful about letting the kids out to play without checking the grounds over. I can't make the pen snake-proof without covering everything in a layer of hardware cloth, and the reality is that I simply can't afford that. Not and feed my kids, too.

Ah well. Are there any other ways to deter snakes? Maybe a layer of something around the edge of the fence? Any *inexpensive* ways? I have six kids and four of them are teens/young adults, my grocery bill is my constant obsession lol.

Poor chickie! My favorite one, too!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Oh, I'm sorry. Can you afford some type of cheap plastic netting? I don't think a snake is as destructive as a raccoon or dog.

Do you have anything around the house that is solid, that you can put around the sides? That might help a little, although I know snakes can climb. Grates or wire shelving can help. If you can't even afford plastic netting, I would go on Freecycle and Craigslist and pick up any type of cage, junk, item or supply that I could cobble together, to protect them. I'd also ask my family, friends and neighbors if they have any junk that might be recycled into an enclosure. Just say you don't want to invest money in a temporary enclosure. Most people would understand that. Or, you can make some of your kids sit out there with them in shifts. My parents used to make us weed the garden.

Maybe others will have some better ideas for you.

 

[Whisper]

Well we did two things today to try to help. The neighbor's house is abandoned and their yard was waist-high in weeds, so my oldest and hubby went over and mowed it all down. Ought to provide less habitat anyway! We also relocated the chick pen to the opposite side of the yard, just in case there is any "scent trail" or anything for other snakes to follow. Their nighttime pen is secure, a dog pen all covered in small wire, it's just their daytime digs that aren't snakeproof. We'll keep working on it-- I sure don't want to lose any more of my pullets. Although those five little roosters . . . lol. It's going to be such a pain, finding homes for them.

Thanks for the advice, I'll check Craigslist. . . no family around to help, alas.

 

[dawg53]

I know what you're going through. I've had red and yellow rat snakes get my chicks. They yellow rat snake gobbled down 4 of 6 chicks that were in a cage in my garage. It was bulging so much it couldnt escape out of the cage. I also had a 5' long chicken snake drag my full grown buff orpington hen off her roost and out into the pen trying to constrict her in the middle of the night. Fortunately my buff is a screamer and needless to say the snake got the shovel. I've put mothballs around the perimeter of the pen which seemed to help somewhat. They dissolve over time though and you have to go buy several more boxes. I tried snake repellant at the feed store,it has sulfer in it but it's too expensive to keep using it. After putting it down, I observed a black snake sunning itself on a pile of rocks in the backyard, ugh! The good thing is that I havnt had to deal with any poisonous snakes yet. The bad thing about snakes is that no matter what you do, they'll sneak in somehow.

 

[TwistedSerpent]

Now remember having Snakes on the property is one of the best natural rodent controllers. The best way to Jeep them from chicks is to prevent them from getting near them. I always advocate don't kill unless there's no other choice, especially with snakes as they are actually quite benefitial to the environment whereas other predators are often pests. I also strongly recommend learning to id. At least the common and venomous species, and teach kids not to touch any. Snakes do not leave scent trails, but have an extremely strong sense of smell so moving the chicks wont stop them they will still be able to find them. To prevent it the best ways other then snakeproofing enclosures are to make sure there are as little of hiding places as possible, snakes hate being out in the open. Also they follow fence and wall lines. When given the option they will follow a fence or side of a building instead of going straight across, again its the out in the open thing. Unfortunately snakes are just one of those things you have to live with, cannot be prevented 100%. Please take the time though to learn about them before automatically reaching for a shovel if its not causing a problem, they help out more then most realise.

 

[southernsibe]

I've inadvertently killed more snakes than on purpose, which, is sort of sad actually. I am glad they are here doing their job. I know it's hard to lose any of our birds, I am dealing with some sort of unknown predator right now, and just today lost my grandest most amazing rooster ever, full grown, awesome bird, and it may have been to a snake.

Having said that, If you can get bird netting that is used cover vegetables and use it around your area, it does a great job of deterring and catching snakes. they get tangled in it and have a hard time getting out, if they can. I've lined the entire bottom of my coop with it, than put the shavings I use on top of it.

Rachel

 

[dawg53]

I am an amateur herpatologist and I know snakes, especially here in southeast Georgia. I have milked canebrake rattlers and one pygmy rattler. This place is near the Okefenokee Swamp and it crawls with snakes. My chickens are my pets. Most pet owners I know give their pets the utmost care and that includes protection, I am no exception.

 

[TwistedSerpent]

The issue with netting is that a snake wont just hang out waiting to be let free, most will twist and writhe until they are either free or dead, the netting having cut into them or get so tight they cant breath or blood flow gets cut off. The best way to live trap a snake is to either dig a hole in the ground pretty deeply at the end of a fence or wall or something, the idea being the snake follows the wall and falls into the pit which supposedly will be too deep for it to get out, but beware it also catches other things too and could be dangerous with chickens around. The other trick is to take a 2 liter bottle, cut the top half off where it starts to narrow, then put it back on only backwards so the opening is on the inside (cap off of course). Works just like a minnow trap, very easy to get in but very hard for anything to find the way out again. Again place it along a wall or fence or something. Also sticky traps work, snake gets totally stuck and isnt able to hurt itself trying to get free. A bit of vegetable oil and it will come off from the trap, but that trap needs to be checked multiple times a day as other things will get caught in it too and tend to dehydrate and stress extremely.

Of course sometimes you have no other options, especially with venomous, but with a totally too often misunderstood creature that is extremely benefitial rather then a destructive nuisance I always try to encourage and support education and learning to live with them instead of trying to fight with them.

 

[Whisper]

I hate to kill a good snake, but even a ratsnake is something I don't want in my yard as a frequent visitor with my 12 month old and 3 year old around. They're just too little to tell the difference between a nice reddish ratsnake and, say, a copperhead. Unfortunately we live backed up to a huge cow pasture with 3 ponds in it. There's coyotes, snakes of all sorts, possums, coons, skunks, you name it. This is the first sizeable snake we've seen in three years, mostly it's the little tiny grass snakes, which we just toss back over the fence.

I didn't know that about them following fence lines, thanks. And digging a pit is certainly out! My youngest is maybe two feet tall! lol