Snake help

[gaarcherygal]

So I have heard that snakes are out and will try everything to get my eggs. I am brand new at this so need advice.

I heard there was somethign you could spread around the whole coop to keep snakes at bay. Is it Sulfur or something else. I can't remember.

Any good advice is greatly appreciated!!

Janice

 

[bigstack]

I have heard of using sulphur. My cousin would actually hollow out an egg. Slip a fish hook inside and tie the string up to a post. Then leave the egg where it could be gotten to. IF a egg snake ate it, it would be caught and he could kill it the next day. He actually caught over 50 in a year! He lives farther south of here. I have only seen 2 in 10 years. Of course I didn''t have any chickens then either. LOL I am thinking about doing the sulphur and the egg thing myself. Just in case!

Good Luck and God Bless!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Sulfer won't stop snakes
No need to waste your money

The only thing that will stop them is 1/2 inch hardware cloth over the entire pen

 

[katharinad]

First at all you need to figure out what snakes are in your area. Just google it. I'm saying this because there are plenty of good snakes that will not go for your eggs or chicks. Up here we have gopher snakes, which are actually hunting rodents. I can tell you we have tons of rodents. All I have to do at night is go out with a flash light and I can see hundreds of rodents eyes. You may want to do that yourself. Then there are smaller snakes that live off bugs etc like garter snakes. You also need to familiarize yourself with head shapes of snakes. I remember once my husband was out in the field and ran screaming rattle snake get the dogs away from that area. Rattle snakes are not very common up here so I was skeptical. I went out to look and it was a 7 foot gopher snake. You don't see them that often that large. Their markings are pretty close to rattlers and they move their tail in a way that it sounds close to one by hitting grass. Yet, they do not have a rattle nor a viper head. Their head looks more like the one of a lizzard. One that size can pose a problem to eggs, but they are not that common. Best is to have a tight coop, because in the outside run the birds can get a way. I see your worry about snakes, but then they are not more often coming around then a skunk would. I think we sometimes fear things more, just because we don't know them. Katharina

 

[Valley quail breeder]

I had a 3 foot black snake kill 3 quail today.

 

[Valley quail breeder]

I agree with you was bummed only pen I didnt have 1/2 on the walls and the snake got in and killed 3 my best breeders mexican speckles guess I learned my lesson and the pen was 4 foot off the ground too.


Quote:

 

[bugflipper]

Snakes have to have a reason to come to your place and 99 percent of the time the reason is rodents. They can not smell, see or hear long distances. They can however track rodents for long distances by following their scent trail. The best way not to get snakes is to not have rodents. Once you have them even if you get rid of the rodents chicks and eggs will sustain them. Most any snake large enough to eat a mouse will eat chicks and eggs. At my other place the rat snakes and black snakes that are said to be good loved my eggs and chicks. I killed several actually getting eggs out of a nest that had a broody hen in them. I bought a tub of rat poison and quit leaving feed out for free choice. Within a week no mice or rats. After that no more snakes.

 

[Rocky Top Chick]

I had thrown some plastic netting over my run in a hole a couple of weeks ago and forget to go back and throw it away. Monday, my DH noticed our dog digging at the plastic and when he looked 2 black snakes that were mating had gotten caught up in the netting and died. I did know that someone on here made a trap out of that type of netting and now I know it works. I have a good mind to throw more around the run to catch any unwanted snakes.