Snakes Kill Chickens!

[CandJHens]

Yes...I thought the same thing. My husband caught the snake trying to take another egg and he got rid of it. I hate the thought of killing animals that are just doing what they do naturally, but they can't have my chickens! Hopefully, this problem is solved! for now!

 

[Triple Willow]

The only way to keep snakes out is to make your coop tight (no cracks big enough for them to get through) and have your run covered top to bottom in 1/2" hardware cloth (they climb very well). The wire must be a couple inches in the ground too or they will go under it. Also you have to be sure there are no holes in the ground of your run. They will use other animals borrows to come in. I have never tried it but people say that bird netting is great to catch them with - they get in it and can't get out. Don't know but I have been told that ammonia helps keep them away. Good luck to all of you.

 

[weezilgirl]

I am worried about your 1/2" holes in the protective wire. I had a black snake make himself so flat and small that he got through a 5/8" hole in a screen. He would have gotten into my bedroom had not my big yellow cat, Timmee, kept slapping him up side the head and hissing until I heard the ruckus and pulled the snake out by his tail. You have to have solid protection and don't forget that snakes can climb and very easily, I might add.

 

[Triple Willow]

I am worried about your 1/2" holes in the protective wire. I had a black snake make himself so flat and small that he got through a 5/8" hole in a screen. He would have gotten into my bedroom had not my big yellow cat, Timmee,  kept slapping him up side the head and hissing until I heard the ruckus and pulled the snake out by his tail. You  have to have solid protection and don't forget that snakes can climb and very easily, I might add.

'Good Timmee!!!' -Hug that kitty cat! LOL I am not afraid of non-venomous snakes but snakes of any kind in the house freaks me out a bit! lol I have seen a small snake wiggle its way underneath a door to come in the house. Even a big one can go through a pretty small crack. I had to have the bottom seal of one of my doors repaired last year because I was afraid snakes would come in. We have a lot of them! Cats are good to kill the small ones.

 

[weezilgirl]

Glad you mentioned seals. I have to do one on a back door. I have copperheads and one could easily slither under the door. BUT the worst happened last week. I have a "snake" dog, Dinah Shore. I heard her and thought she was in the front, so I ran out front door. She was in the back and thinking it was a copperhead that I could dispatch with one good hit, I didn't pick my big shovel up. My trimmer broke and I have some 'wandering jew' that grew up between the rocks on the back patio. I looked for a copperhead and all at once realized I was looking at the open mouth of a cottonmouth water moccasin! It took forever to 'kill' it. I carried it on a stick and put it in a wastebasket on a garden table. I heard Dinah again and ran back outside and the basket was turned over and the snake was gone. She found it under a wheelbarrow. I REALLY killed it that time. I took my cherrywood hiking stick and pulverized it's head. I showed it to two neighbors and we all agreed it was the biggest we have seen in years.

I'm not afraid of non-poisonous snakes either but they get my baby birds, so I relocate them.

Timmee is the hero here. He also kills black snakes.

 

[weezilgirl]

Either relocate black snakes or kill them. They also eat baby birds and eggs. I have Eastern Yellow-Bellied Racers and they have decimated my toad population. I catch them and put them in 5 gallon buckets and we go for a ride. I take them about two miles away.

 

[Triple Willow]

Glad you mentioned seals. I have to do one on a back door. I have copperheads and one could easily slither under the door. BUT the worst happened last week. I have a "snake" dog, Dinah Shore. I heard her and thought she was in the front, so I ran out front door. She was in the back and thinking it was a copperhead that I could dispatch with one good hit, I didn't pick my big shovel up. My trimmer broke and I have some 'wandering jew' that grew up between the rocks on the back patio. I looked for a copperhead and all at once realized I was looking at the open mouth of a cottonmouth water moccasin! It took forever to 'kill' it. I carried it on a stick and put it in a wastebasket on a garden table. I heard Dinah again and ran back outside and the basket was turned over and the snake was gone. She   found it under a wheelbarrow. I REALLY killed it that time. I took my cherrywood hiking stick and pulverized it's head. I showed it to two neighbors and we all agreed it was the biggest we have seen in years.

I'm not afraid of non-poisonous snakes either but they get my baby birds, so I relocate them.

Timmee is the hero here. He also kills black snakes.

That gives me the creeps! LOL Those dang cottonmouths can get huge! I am so lucky right here at my place, we have a lot of non-venomous snakes and I have only seen one copperhead (in 40+ years). I think we don't have many venomous snakes because all the nonvenomous don't leave them much to eat. I very seldom kill a non-venomous snake. I just let them stay. I was reading the other day that somebody was having a bad problem with copperheads so they released two Speckled King snakes at their place and within 2 years the copperhead problem was solved. You gotta love king snakes!

 

[weezilgirl]

I'm ordering chicks next month and am worried about the black snakes. I also have Eastern Yellow-Bellied Racers here. Shaking head. At least Dinah alerts me. I guess she smells them. She acts totally different towards the venomous and non-venomous.

 

[Triple Willow]

I'm ordering chicks next month and am worried about the black snakes. I also have Eastern Yellow-Bellied Racers here. Shaking head. At least Dinah alerts me. I guess she smells them. She acts totally different towards the venomous and non-venomous.

I have one dog that will just walk on snakes like a dummy and I have one that spazzes out when she sees one and will kill it if she gets the chance. She wants to kill anything she sees! If I could just get her to kill everything except chickens it would be wonderful! lol

 

[craftytammie]

We don't have eggs yet, but have had several young chickens killed. They appeared to be strangled, weren't eaten or mutilated, and we were very confused about the cause. I finally caught a big black snake in the coop, and I put on my big girl pants and killed it with a shovel. It had a bulge and one of our girls was gone. I still can't believe I was able to do it, but I was so mad that it had killed one of my babies!



We didn't have any more problems for several weeks. However, yesterday my son hollered that there was a snake in the coop, but when I got there it was gone. This morning, one of our youngest girls is missing. I assume it's the same problem as before and I will be snake stalking until I catch the culprit. (BTW, I normally have no problem with non-venomous snakes, but in the heat of the moment it had to go)