snakes in the chicken coop or chicken yard

[Ace_king_brahma]

Quote:
Lol! I work for Home Depot! And the product is Snake-away. And we sale alot of it! And I have customers swear that it works and they would use nothing else. I have seen sugguestions for sulphur and lime to keep snakes out and these do work well. However, as they get under the snakes scales and irritate their skin it aides in deterring them but at the same time since they are in pain it riles them up. And any wounded animal is more likely to attack.

I always sugguest Snake-away. Though personally I kept guineas and saw maybe three snakes, all dead and being devoured by my guineas in the nine years I kept them.

Also lime does not work on fleas, ticks and mites as I often hear people come into the store and ask about this. It'll damage your lawn and stir up the pests but, won't kill them as far as I've seen.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Momto3Redheads, first, let me say I'm sorry for that experience you had at age 5 which started this phobia. I'm sure your fearful feelings are real & unpleasant. That being said, have you ever sought professional or clerical help to overcome them?

I say this because perhaps you would enjoy living in your rural area by the forest much more if you weren't concerned about encountering snakes. And you could include new & fascinating experiences such as keeping chickens with your boys much more freely if you weren't worried about attracting snakes with this activity.

I also say this because I do not understand people who choose to live in a rural area but have issues with the inherent conditions & native fauna & flora. We purchased our home in an acreage neighborhood specifically because we desired this rural setting. We looked forward to keeping chickens, tending gardens, observing wildlife, and enjoying the atmosphere. However, in recent years there are many new families moving into this area only because the home prices were cheaper than those in town & in developments. These people are now campaigning to pave the roads, bring in city water, and build shopping centers here. They are clear-cutting their lots and spraying lots of fertilizer & insecticide all over their lawns. Some are complaining of the noise & smell from roosters, guineas, horses & goats.

I wonder if their real estate agents blindfolded them in order to sell them their homes. What were they expecting?

Their actions are affecting our way of life here. They want to bring in more noise, light, and faster traffic. We're getting the fall-out from their spraying and the nuisance animals that flee to our yards. I would be upset if my neighbors broadcast Snake-Away on their lawns if it meant we got more than our share of snakes in my yard.

But to get back to minding my own business & answer your initial question, it seems that if in 6 years you've only seen one (dead) snake, then keeping chickens shouldn't cause more snakes to suddenly take up residence in your yard. Many snakes are nocturnal, or crepuscular, and are active only at night or twilight, you may never have to see them.

If you collect your eggs before dark you should avoid attracting egg-eating snakes.

If you keep the chickens' feed bins closed tight & even remove the feeders at night, you won't attract as many mice & rats, and the snakes that eat those.

If you keep your chicks closed up tight or brought inside at night while they're small, you won't attract the snakes that eat them.

I hope I didn't offend you and I hope you will have a wonderful experience if you do decide to keep chickens.

 

[roosterwrangler]

I've just read all the posts here. I have some comments and questions.

My guineas do not kill or eat snakes. They like to watch them, yell at them and run around them, but not kill or eat them, regardless of size (could they be chicken???). My chickens don't kill or eat snakes either, but they will kill and eat mice.

As to the chicken food attracting mice - I keep all my food in rodent proof containers EXCEPT for the food the chickens actually eat. Since I saw the comment about removing the feeders at night helps to cut down on rodent population, I'm going to give that a shot.

Snakes - I've seen alot in my coop and they seem to consume the eggs during the day, because that's when I've seen them. They don't go after my chickens, just the eggs. My chickens are free range during the day. Even if I could afford to entirely cover their yard in small holed wire, how do I stop the snakes from going through the door into the yard? I can't put down sulphur, because the chickens can get it. Don't get me wrong, I love snakes, they serve a useful and necessary purpose in life and I am dead set against killing them. But I sure would like to enjoy cooking and eating my eggs, not just feeding them to the snakes, lol. I might look at running the electric netting around the yard, but again I have the open door issue. Perhaps, if the only access to the yard and coop is through that one door and everything else is electrified or otherwise plugged, that will keep the snakes out. I really don't want to confine my chickens into their yard and coop 24/7 - I love to see them running around the property, catching grasshoppers and eating plants - but I've really got to do something about these snakes.

I'm going to keep reading this form and see what other hints I can glean. Thank you very much for the insights so far.

 

[amyabuck]

We have had chickens here in Upstate SC for 6 years and have never seen snakes in the pen until this summer. We have seen only black snakes, and they are not nocturnal. The first time I saw one, I was able to get out of the nest box with a broom handle and take it outside. It had an egg in its mouth and dropped the egg as I carried it out (I had the egg for breakfast the next day!). I was able to catch the snake - it was rather lethargic due to having the egg in its mouth but not yet swallowed - and carried it off through a pasture and into some woods about 200 yards away. Either that wasn't far enough, or we have more than 1 snake! There have been 3 more sightings in the 2 weeks since. The latest was today, which spurred me to get on this forum. The (at least) 4-foot snake had obviously just eaten at least one egg, and got away. I'd love to catch the snake and "re-locate" it several miles away, but I'm not wild about sticking my hand in the nest box with a large snake!

 

[junoirmamahen]

I am also raising chickens. If you have raccoons in your area put a plastic type board 3 ft in the ground around your coop. Racoons will try to dig to get to the chicken food. This helped me & I hope it helps you

 

[junoirmamahen]

Also DO NOT USE MOTHBALLS! My mother has seen snakes slither right on them.

 

[BawkBawkBawcka]

Snakes will actually eat small chickens and baby chickens, so you should put a VERY fine chicken wire around the pen if your baby/teenage chickens are outside. (I know this because a snake attacked my neighbor's month old chickens.)

 

[clousert]

I am going to pick up some snake away tomorrow and try that around the coops. Had a rat snake attack one of my 5 wk old roosters today. He was wrapped around him trying to suffocate him. Was able to get him to let go and he slithered off but came back again tonight. They're not old enough to lay eggs yet so he wasn't there for the eggs. He was too small to actually eat the rooster he attacked so he was just there to kill it. I'm sure he would have tried to eat it but there's no way he could have. When he came back tonight I was sure to get rid of him. Wild snakes freak me out because I don't know which are poisonous or not, which bite or don't, etc. I've always just stayed away from them. Can't do that now that I have to protect my babies from them though. I sure hope the snake away works

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I wouldn't waste money on any product that claims to keep snakes away.
They simply DO NOT work, no matter how many people "swear " they do.

 

[cappy]

I posted this on another thread but maybe you'll find it useful

"If you live in the country, snakes are a fact of life. There are "repellents" sold, but only work in dry arid locations. Humidity and rain makes frequent applications necessary (and it gets expensive). Any powder will have the same results. When I built my feed shed I put 3 boxes of mothballs under the floor. You could smell them 50' away and in the shed the smell was overpowering. I put a 12" barrier of Snake Away inside the door. The 2nd week I found a 5' chicken snake in there. The following week I found a rat snake even thought the mothballs were still going strong. I have found numerous snakes in there so figured the moth balls and snake repellent aren't very effective. I have guineas and goats and have not found a snake in the pasture or the chicken runs. Is that because the guineas keep them away? I doubt it but you never know. There are steps you can take to reduce the chance of having snake problems. Keep the area around the chicken coop cleared of junk, wood piles, grass and weeds. Keep your grass mowed short and clear under shrubs. Snakes don't like being in the open where they are easy targets for predators. I have a thick layer of straw in my nest boxes and check under the straw daily. I have found several chicken snakes had burrowed under the straw and were impossible to see and did not bother the chickens, but ate the eggs."

Using 1/2" mesh wire around the chicken run will keep out the larger snakes and pretty much eliminate them eating eggs or chicks. If they can't get food they move on. I keep my feed in metal garbage cans and clean up any spilled feed to keep the rodents out of the feed shed. My coop and run are at the edge of heavily wooded area so it is easy for snakes to get in, however, I have found less than a dozen snakes in the coop over the years so it is not a real problem, except to my wife who is like you when it comes to snakes.

Don't let your fear of snakes keep from letting your kids have the enjoyment of raising and caring for chickens or other livestock because they are not that big of a problem.

Ken