Slacker chickens...or so I thought.

[mrjoemomma]

I moved my coop the other day to a location nearer to the wood line. All was well for a week or so. The last few days I found ZERO eggs. I thought the move may have been effecting them, but then that did not make sense because they had lay the whole week prior in the new location.

Well, up further investigation I found this fella. Well over 6 feet. As I pulled him out of the coop, egg white oozed from his mouth. The chickens were totally cool, I was a little more upset by the whole deal. An thoughts on preventing this from happening again? I know black snakes love eggs and I get that. Any chance a copperhead would try the same trick?

 

[browning6]

i have an idea. Kill it and hope nothing else comes back

 

[Blackoutcat]

Rather disappointing that others in this community would be so quick to condemn an animal to death because it found a sneaky way to eat without working hard. Animals do that it's nature, even we find ways to make things easier it's just a snake version of a tv dinner.

Find a far away location and drop the snake off there. If done right it shouldn't be able to find it's way back to the coop.

As for prevention, perhaps you should post pictures of your coop so we could see potential security gaps that future snakes could get through. No hole is too small for scrutiny. My grandfather had a coop with a gap the size of a quarter that had been letting a predator in, we only found the hole after the flock had been decimated completely. We're still not sure what the culprit was but he had to plug the hole and elevate the coop before he got new birds.

Either way take a look through your building and keep an eye out for signs of damage or even things like wood knots popped out of boards. If the coop has no floor and sits directly on the ground, consider digging a shallow trench around the coop and lining the bottom and side leading against the coop with wire to prevent digging animals from finding their way in. If there is ventilation in the form of wire screen make sure the holes aren't big enough for predators to slip through. If ventilation is through open windows or a similar device screen the opening off so nothing can get past. Also if you free range your birds or let them have access to a fenced yard do a walk through of the coop before you lock them up for the night, snakes are sneaky and often unnoticed when they slip into a warm place for the night.

Good luck with the security and try to get photos up those would really help get more answers!

 

[Mtn Laurel]

YIKES! After seeing repeated pics of snakes in nesting boxes, I opted for as many windows and as much light as I could get in my coop. I've always been afraid I'd stick my hand in that box and not see the snake until too late.

Any snake will do the same thing, copperheads included. They'll also kill chicks and pullets.

While I know that snakes keep away rodents, my cat does the same thing and doesn't eat eggs. I prefer to relocate the non-venomous ones FAR away. I've heard that they'll find their way back to their home area but don't know how true that is. The copperheads - they get the axe. I have grandchildren and pets and am not willing to take the chance.

 

[mrjoemomma]

All excellent advice. The Black Snake was relocated. I did some major remodeling with the coop and hope to have closed all the openings large enough for a snake to get into. Who would have thought keeping chickens would have been such an ordeal?