Snake in my nesting box!

[isis]

I've been out of town all weekend... and of course my boyfriend didn't help collect eggs so I had a ton to get last night. My girls have a 10-nest box but usually all use just 2 boxes a day to lay in (which rotates around). Well, they'd laid in the top right 2 boxes and 1 on the bottom right... and there were LOTS of eggs. So I grabbed my bucket and went in the coop. I squatted down in front of the boxes with eggs and started grabbing them by feel out of the top left one (which had the most)... while trying to count the number in the bottom right. Keep in mind it's dusk, and my chicken coop is in a barn so there's not much light. So I note that one of the eggs in the bottom coop is VERY dirty. I'm thinking to myself that the chickens must have really rolled that one around and I'll prob jsut throw it to my dogs instead of trying to wash it. I look up to the top nesting box again to see what eggs I've missed... grab a couple more then think about that dirty egg again... So I look in the bottom nest a little closer... and realize that egg is almost black! Too black... So I stand up and shift to the right to let what little light is in the barn hit the nest and I realize there is a "tire" around the edge of the box-oh-my-gosh-that's-not-rubber-it's-a-SNAKE! And he was HUGE and swallowing eggs!

I yelled for my boyfriend who brought a lumber board (I don't know for what, neither did he XD ) and I ran in the house to get a flashlight and a box to put the snake in. I told him if he started to crawl out to use the board to hold him down until I got back... he said "Whatever it's just a snake I'll grab him with my hand". Well, "just a snake" I'm pretty sure, after he got a good look at him, must have scared him because by the time I got back he had let him crawl out and didn't stop him... I don't think he realized how BIG that snake was when he was playing the role of big, bad man not afraid of anything lol.

Well, he got away with a few eggs in his belly; what I saw as a "dirty egg" in the dim light was an egg in his belly. The snake is a black rat snake, so he's black on top and white on bottom, with the egg in his body I just saw something round and half black and half white... GOOD thing I didn't try to grab that egg! I know rat snakes bite... we had another big one in the barn 2 years ago that I relocated and he was trying to bite my muck boot he was so mad (though granted I was stepping on his body and poking him with a stick to get him to coil so I could put him in a bag XD ). SO GLAD I saw him, I normally just reach in the nests and feel around for the eggs. OMGosh...

Worse is, I have all my small, young chickens and baby chicks, a few baby ducks and 2 baby geese in a pen just outside of my barn... maybe 50 feet away from my coop inside! They'd all be far too easy for such a large snake to grab... Does anyone have any snake removal tips? I'm going to keep checking the coop at night and see if I can find him again and just catch him... or unfortunately kill him if I have to (which if he's extremely aggressive I will) but I can't have him eating my chicks! Not to mention I am afraid of going in my chicken coop, NOT seeing him and getting bit! Going to be sure I only go in there with tall muck boots, long pants and a "weapon" o.0

 

[Leahs Mom]

Just curious...do you have up hardware cloth or anything on your coop area that would keep them out or are they in a pretty open barn-type facility?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I keep a hoe in the coop for these emergencies. It works on possums too. I leave non-venomous snakes alone unless they are in the coop eating eggs or trying for baby chicks. I've had a big black snake eat the eggs out from under a broody. When I found him, it was the middle of the afternoon. They don't always come around at night.

Usually they come maybe every three or so days, not every day. It takes them a while to digest the eggs before they come back for more.

I don't have any great solutions for you. They are creatures of habit. If you know where it is entering, maybe you could block that off. It probably won't stop it, but maybe???? I also suggest collecting the eggs as often as you can, partly to not have anything for it to eat but also so maybe you can catch it in there and deal with it if you are in there often. I think I discouraged one when it went several weeks with all the eggs collected really regularly. At least it finally stopped visiting.

I keep golf balls in the nests to show them where to lay, one in each nest. Twice, about a week apart, I found a 5' black snake in the coop that had swallowed two golf balls. It could not get back out of the hole it used to enter. I cut them out and rinsed them off for reuse, so I know it was different snakes. I had fake eggs under that broody and it did not eat them, so they don't always eat fake eggs.

I've heard that if they eat a fake egg, they cannot digest it, get plugged up, and eventually die of starvation. I'm not sure I believe that since you often read about them regurgitating baby chicks.

 

[isis]

Just curious...do you have up hardware cloth or anything on your coop area that would keep them out or are they in a pretty open barn-type facility?

They actually have a 12x12 stall in a large horse barn. There are about 1' boards buried around the 3 sides that aren't exposed to the aisleway (4 dogs patroling there... he wouldn't stand a chance). I *THINK* he's only been around for the last week... there is a horse on one side of the stall and the other area was open (2 weeks ago) but is being used for storage of random things now... And my dogs have been climbing through there going CRAZY! They must be after him...

I keep a hoe in the coop for these emergencies. It works on possums too. I leave non-venomous snakes alone unless they are in the coop eating eggs or trying for baby chicks. I've had a big black snake eat the eggs out from under a broody. When I found him, it was the middle of the afternoon. They don't always come around at night.
Usually they come maybe every three or so days, not every day. It takes them a while to digest the eggs before they come back for more.
I don't have any great solutions for you. They are creatures of habit. If you know where it is entering, maybe you could block that off. It probably won't stop it, but maybe???? I also suggest collecting the eggs as often as you can, partly to not have anything for it to eat but also so maybe you can catch it in there and deal with it if you are in there often. I think I discouraged one when it went several weeks with all the eggs collected really regularly. At least it finally stopped visiting.
I keep golf balls in the nests to show them where to lay, one in each nest. Twice, about a week apart, I found a 5' black snake in the coop that had swallowed two golf balls. It could not get back out of the hole it used to enter. I cut them out and rinsed them off for reuse, so I know it was different snakes. I had fake eggs under that broody and it did not eat them, so they don't always eat fake eggs.
I've heard that if they eat a fake egg, they cannot digest it, get plugged up, and eventually die of starvation. I'm not sure I believe that since you often read about them regurgitating baby chicks.

I have lots of golf balls, I will roll some under the box (tiny space there; it was also his escape route and is on the back wall of the stall) and put some in the nest as well- I hope that works! My mom told me that she had geese that ate snakes, so I would hope that my big male goose would take care of him if he went after a chicken... but it's such a large snake I don't know that the goose could kill him if he tried. :-/

I left the board in there and a long broken pitchfork handle... I guess he can get wacked or poked XD I also have a box outside the stall if I can catch him... I always collect my eggs in the morning and early afternoon because it's so hot here... and my barn tends to be busy during the day so I think he would be less likely to come out with all the activity. Very quiet at night though... I dunno, I'm just going to keep checking in and hope I spot him.




Honestly if he just wanted some eggs I wouldn't mind... I can share haha. but he's so large I'd rather not get bit and like I said earlier I will not let him eat my baby chicks! I've already read several forum posts from people who said that they kept large snakes around that ate eggs for weeks only to find dead, strangled chicks later...

I'm going to get my boyfriend to help me take the nesting box off the wall today, I doubt he just lives "under" it... I'm sure there's a hole to outside the barn... but maybe I'll just take the box out and lay some feed pans for the chickens to lay in so it's harder for him to surprise me. I was planning to move the chickens outside next to my chicks anyway... They are in stalls out there as well, but nothing buried around the edges. I think I'll put a layer of large gravel down (it tends to flood with rain anyway, I've been bedding with straw to keep them dry)... and hurry up and get some sort of roof on my 2nd stall!

 

[Renegade Rescue]

Here is how we stop snakes on our farm: We have lined all of our coops on the outside every ten feet with small water bottles with a small hole drilled in the bottom each spring we fill each with mothballs the snakes do not care for the mothball scent and stray away from our coops, In case of rattle snake issues in our area I have a slightly modified varmint riffle once we clear the snake from any other animal they can harm we only use the varmint gun on any harmful snakes such has rattlers and water moccasins however with the use of mothballs at the most the varmint gun has not had to be used other than target practice.