You have to realize that there is often a big difference in what can happen and what will happen. And some people are really good at photo shopping. They can make some things look real. I guess it’s possible that could be some type of rattler and not photo shopped, but it is not a pygmy. Good joke though.
A whole lot of different snakes can and will eat eggs and baby chickens, not just yellow rat snakes. Some snakes get big enough to eat an adult chicken, but the size chicken it can and will eat is directly related to the size of the snake. Most of us don’t have any problems with snakes eating a full-sized chicken, but most is not all.
Chickens are pretty good at eating baby snakes, even poisonous snakes. Chickens operate on the principle of “do lunch or be lunch”. If it doesn’t eat them they are likely to eat it. That includes small snakes. If a snake is around in that intermediate size, too big for them to eat but not big enough to eat them, they will often act distressed. Not always but often.
You need to learn to recognize the poisonous snakes in your area. That link above is very good. Other than a coral snake a poisonous snake will have an arrow-shaped head and is more likely to be chunky instead of long and slender. Coral snakes are a different kind of poisonous snake. They do not have the triangular head and their venom is really strong, but their teeth are short. They have trouble penetrating clothing and kind of have to chew to inject venom. The put vipers are much better at striking and injecting venom.
Before you freak out about poisonous snakes, check out how many people die or are even bitten in your state each year. You may be surprised at how few it actually is and which poisonous snakes are actually doing the biting. The last time I checked in Arkansas it was none dead, about two dozen bitten, and only one of those bites was by a rattlesnake. That’s not the kind of numbers I freak out about.
I don’t kill every snake I find, though I don’t allow them in the coop. They eat a lot of rodents and if you are lucky enough to have a resident king snake, it will eat other snakes, including poisonous ones. Poisonous snakes are not allowed to live. Any snake in the coop is in real trouble, but otherwise I don’t worry about it too much. I keep a garden hoe with a broken handle in the coop so I can grab something quick if I need it. The shorter handle allows me to swing it better than a longer handle would. I find an ax works pretty good too if I have tie to get it. With a poisonous snake, I use something with a longer handle.
What can you do to help control snakes? Control your rodents. Food sources will attract them and they really like mice.
Snakes don’t like to be out in the open. Keep the area around your coop cleared and don’t let trash, lumber, or other hiding places provide a good safe home to rodents or snakes.
I have had snakes eat golf balls in the nests if there are no eggs for them to eat and not be able to get back out of the hole they got in. Same thing happened when a snake ate a baby chick in the brooder. It could not get back out. I’ve also had snakes eat real eggs and leave golf balls behind. Nothing is guaranteed. Still that’s a good reason to leave a golf ball in a nest even when the hens learn where to lay. It will stop some but not many.
Some people have reported twisting and tangling some bird netting around where a snake is likely to approach the coop. The snake is supposed to get tangled in that and can’t get out because of its scales getting snagged. I suspect that might occasionally work but it’s probably not fool-proof.
One snake trap I’ve seen on here is where someone uses a fine mesh minnow trap and baits it with an egg. The mesh needs to be pretty fine but I can see it working sometimes. You occasionally find a snake in a minnow trap in the water.
Some people really freak out about the thought of a snake. I don’t like them much myself, especially when I’m surprised by one, poisonous or not. Like any other predator some people have more problems with them than others. I don’t like losing eggs or baby chicks to snakes or anything else and I try to manage those losses.
Don’t let this concern freak you out or control your life. It’s manageable.
