- Jun 23, 2009
- 18
- 1
- 22
Yesterday morning I was up early as usual but instead of going outside and getting started with the garden and flocks I laid back down (wasn't feeling my best so tried to catch an extra hour). I was awakened by my son asking "Mom, did you put a play snake in the quail coop?" That jolted me awake and I said "No, I wouldn't put a play snake in the quail coop...is there a snake in the quail coop????" He said "Yes!". Well we all rushed outside to find a rattler had gotten into the brooder part of the pen.
It was a young rattler but a rattler nonetheless (about two months ago our neighbor lost his two dogs to rattler bites). The snake had already eaten 5 out of the 15 one-week old baby quail in the brooder
.
It was just crouched there and the remaining 10 babies were in a panic. It was tough but we coaxed them close to the door where we could pull them out one by one without being close to the snake or causing it to strike out.
My son called his father who came home from work asap and used a long handled shovel to kill it while it was still in the brooder. We had to repair the brooder afterwards.
After it didn't move anymore, hubby lifted it out with the shovel and decapitated it. He dug a hole and put the head part in then paper then the long tail part. When he doused it with lighter fluid, my children freaked out a little to see the headless body lash all around. We burned it and then buried it all.
Even though we were able to save 10 of the babies it was heartbreaking nonetheless. We double secured the brooder (had a hole too large in the back where the cord for the heat lamp was put through -that's how it got in).
The babies were easy targets I suppose because we have the four larger quail in the colony part right next to the babies and we have the chicken coop next to the quail housing.
Got some snake away to put around outside our fence line.
Wish I hadn't gone back to bed....
It was a young rattler but a rattler nonetheless (about two months ago our neighbor lost his two dogs to rattler bites). The snake had already eaten 5 out of the 15 one-week old baby quail in the brooder
It was just crouched there and the remaining 10 babies were in a panic. It was tough but we coaxed them close to the door where we could pull them out one by one without being close to the snake or causing it to strike out.
My son called his father who came home from work asap and used a long handled shovel to kill it while it was still in the brooder. We had to repair the brooder afterwards.
After it didn't move anymore, hubby lifted it out with the shovel and decapitated it. He dug a hole and put the head part in then paper then the long tail part. When he doused it with lighter fluid, my children freaked out a little to see the headless body lash all around. We burned it and then buried it all.
Even though we were able to save 10 of the babies it was heartbreaking nonetheless. We double secured the brooder (had a hole too large in the back where the cord for the heat lamp was put through -that's how it got in).
The babies were easy targets I suppose because we have the four larger quail in the colony part right next to the babies and we have the chicken coop next to the quail housing.
Got some snake away to put around outside our fence line.
Wish I hadn't gone back to bed....
!
