Just saw a snake on my back porch. OMG... That's where the chickies are. That's what I figure he was after, because I have lived here for a year and never saw a snake on the porch. Last summer, I saw a snake skin by the ditch going under the sidewalk. That was by the road and it didn't bother me knowing it was there. But now, I have the chickies, So I figure that's what it was after. I moved them in the house now. They are only 2 weeks old, not old enough to stay outside yet. Now, I need to go clean off the rest of the porch to make sure it doesn't have anywhere to live.
it was dark black with bright white in between the scales. The older chickens are outside, but the 2 week old chicks were on the back porch. That's why I moved them inside.
Is this it? If so it is a king snake. In honesty if a snake is big enough it will eat your chicks but most likely it was looking for a place to sun. Your chickens will be a little too large after 2-3 months or so then the snake may find himself on the menu. On a high note: This in not poisonous. There was a post several months ago where someone used a minnow trap to trap snakes. That may be an option.
That's the one. It was definitely looking for lunch. my porch is enclosed. not just a sun room or anything. It has real walls and windows.
It may eat your chicks depending on how big the snake is but that is a great snake to have around , they eat other snakes , even venomous ones.
To me, there are two kinds of snakes. 1. Rattlesnakes 2.. Cobras. If it dont rattle its a cobra. I dont care how beneficial king snakes or rat snakes are, they die when I see them. Years ago, I had an old chest freezer in the barn that I stored the horse feed in. One day I opened the lid and grabbed the feed scoop was bitten by a king snake that was in the feed. The bite hurt like hell! I slammed the lid down, got my shotgun and then blasted that sucker. I got barn cats that take care of the rats and mice. Dont need any beneficial snakes
He might be going after those eggs too. We had a snake in the barn eating the eggs, we put a golf ball in the nest, he ate it and got stuck on his way out the crack in the boards. Wacked his head off.
Just an idea for future consideration: I've heard from a lot of people that guineas will chase off snakes, even rattlers. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a few "watchdog" guineas around the chicks?
