Serpentguard?

[GretchenM]

Well, we have solved the mystery of reduced production in the spring time and magically disappearing eggs: chicken snakes. I've read all the back and forth about sulfur, garlic, and moth balls. I've read about Snake-away. But I haven't found any commentary on Serpentguard. Has anyone used this? If I decide to go the route of a commercial product, this one sounds preferrable to Snake-away b/c it purports to be harmless to the chickens. Thank you for any input!

P.S. I'm sure we'll try the home remedies first.

 

[mulewagon]

What I've found with powder is, if you put it down inside the coop, the chickens scratch it under, and if you put it down outside, it's quickly washed/scratched/blown away. Anyway, I didn't get any protection from the commercial snake repellant I tried.

Some folks have caught a lot of snakes with minnow traps, but the ones that were eating my eggs/chicks were too big to get inside.

What worked for me was keeping the broody hen and chicks inside a snake-proof cage at night. (You can snake-proof the coop with hardware cloth, but I've heard of them getting in and hiding in the daytime.)

The other big success seems to be deer netting draped over the fence, so the snakes get tangled up as they try to climb over or under.

 

[DelDels]

I've caught 4 snakes in the fruit tree netting that you can buy cheaply at places like Lowes. Once they go into it they can't get out and can't move much at all. You have to cut them out. Preferably after killing them.

The best way I have found to deploy it is to roll it loosely around the outside bottom of the pen fence, making a barrier of sorts. I did catch one who tried to crawl through it when it was stretched over the top of the pen as well. It works great and the snakes don't try to avoid sliding through it at all, then their caught.

 

[guppy85]

Try putting some golf balls in the nest box, the snake will eat the golf ball and get stuck trying to get back through the crack he came in from. Then you just cut his head off.

 

[GingerM]

Gretchen,
Did you ever try the SerpentGuard? We're fixing to put up a new chicken house after years of not having chickens, and thought we might try the SerpentGuard.

Thanks,
Ginger M