SNAKES..PREDATOR OR PEST CONTROL?

[tatertot]

Iv killed a couple of rat snakes in my chicken barn...will they harm my 7 month old pullets?
I don't like them at all creeping around my little kids and I'm fearful they will kill my hens...anyone have their own opinion on snakes. Friends or foe and what should I do about them

 

[aart]

If you have snakes, you probably have rodents. Get rid of the rodents and the snakes will probably go somewhere else.
Snakes will eat eggs and chicks, possibly older birds but not likely.
You can exclude them by covering any openings with 1/2" hardware cloth.

There's lots of info about snakes on this forum:
advanced search>titles only>snake

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

They will kill your smaller birds, and eat LOTS of eggs.
As long as they are too small to swallow eggs, they mainly eat mice

 

[tatertot]

I try to get the eggs as they lay them...I didn't get a green one yesterday but I had to leave for a spell

 

[bellschick]

I have a 6 1/2 foot black snake that I wont let anyone kill but all the rest they can have at em. Will other snakes besides black snakes kill rats?

 

[sandspoultry]

I look at them as pest control and leave them alone

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Rat snakes are constricters and while they won't eat full grown chickens they can still kill them. Case in point, there was a thread here where 1 had wrapped around a hen's neck & killed it.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Most larger snakes at some point in their lives will eat rodents of that size.
Venomous snakes especially tend to prey on warm blooded animals.

Some snakes prefer OTHER SNAKES, or frogs and toads, such as King Snakes and Hog Nosed Snakes

 

[tatertot]

I look at them as vile disgusting creepy toliet with nasty fangs