Snake Question

[stilldeb]

Yeah I would make sure all your openings are secure with hardware cloth and then do the bird netting thing. I have heard some great results with that and in fact am doing that with my coops today, and even putting some in my gardens rolled up against the house, too. I HATE SNAKES and would fall over and die if one of my kids ever decided it would be fun to catch one. My son found a snake skin and put it on my car once as a joke. NOT FUNNY.

My husband shot a snake with a high powered pellet gun that had shimmied up a pole to one of our martin houses last year. (We love our martins - have three houses - they keep our yard mosquito-free) Threw it out in the field and some turkey buzzards ate it...RECYCLING!

deb g

 

[flnatv]

Quote:
One BIG problem is there is no way I am going to be able to bury it... the ground is as hard as a rock!!! I can put the board on and then tack hardware cloth or netting to it and run it along the ground... like I did with the rest of the stall. I closed the top up with some old aluminum screen I had. The walls go almost to the top and I double walled the coop itself (not the horses because the need the air flow). I have a 1inch square welded wire on one wall from about 3 1/2 feet up.

 

[flnatv]

Quote:
LOL... my son is NOT afraid of anything... Maybe because he is 16yo and 6foot 4 with a 16W shoe.... I don't mind snakes, just don't want them around the chickens... now ROACHES... ICK... They creep me out!!!!

 

[GLBRWyans]

Does it matter what size mesh it is , because I have a new roll of 1/4 inch . Up until now I had never heard of using it for this purpose .



Buy U.S.A. and keep our jobs at home .

 

[GLBRWyans]

From what I've learned about the netting also , I would probably run it over the 1 inch mesh and secure any cracks up above if there is a loft floor as a ceiling . You could pound some 16 penny nails into that 2x4 and maybe that would help secure it to the ground . This may seem like overkill , but like I said way back , I get aggressive with warding them off . I ain't skeert of em but know they can wipe eggs asap .

Buy U.S.A and keep our jobs at home .

 

[bryan99705]

Look into guineas, they can destroy a snake quick and they enjoy it!

 

[flnatv]

Quote:
good idea... don't know anything about guineas though... My kids have been asking for them for about 5 years... I always gave a stern NO... mostly because I don't know anything about them.
I will research that and if I don't have to build something new for them to live in... I may try it...

 

[GLBRWyans]

Badgers are good too .

 

[Chickmate]

Quote:
I have read several times on this site that mothballs are toxic to chickens. I wouldn't take the chance with them.

 

[GLBRWyans]

Quote:
I have read several times on this site that mothballs are toxic to chickens. I wouldn't take the chance with them.

To: Chickmate
You are correct and I should have said how I use them . I live in a small community and do not let my chickens wander about my property . They have an ample amount of closed space to roam about . I put the mothballs at least 10' -15' away from my enclosure . If one has birds free ranging in their backyard I would not put them out . Lime is really good because it burns
the snake as it crawls across it . Those are the only two chemical methods that I am aware of . Being that I raise fancy show pigeons and my ladies , I am very aggressive against snakes . It has been stated over and over , loose feed =mice and mice and eggs = snakes , that should be the first line of defense along with a super tight constructed coop with 1/4 " hardware cloth . Thank you for bringing that up . Addendum : I use copious amounts of lime and I pour it around the lofts and coops like they do a baseball field .

Buy U.S.A. and keep our jobs at home .