Snakes..the only good snake is a dead snake?

[ella&clara]

I posted earlier about a black snake killing three of my guineas. I killed him for his trouble. My philosophy about snakes has always been that I only kill them if they are poisonous because I don't like harming living creatures, and I know they are beneficial. But I have never had one harm me or my animals either. I know they've stolen eggs before, and we killed one last summer that was going to die because of a wooden nest egg he'd swallowed, but it hasn't been a big enough problem to try to get rid of them. I am beginning to revise my feelings about the presence of snakes. I caught one going into the chicken house last night--my movement scared him off before he could do any harm or I could do anything to him. Both of my grandmothers, raised on subsistence farms, killed or had killed any snake they saw (and broke many hoe handles in the process). So what is your philosophy on snakes?

 

[ella&clara]

I posted earlier about a black snake killing three of my guineas. I killed him for his trouble. My philosophy about snakes has always been that I only kill them if they are poisonous because I don't like harming living creatures, and I know they are beneficial. But I have never had one harm me or my animals either. I know they've stolen eggs before, and we killed one last summer that was going to die because of a wooden nest egg he'd swallowed, but it hasn't been a big enough problem to try to get rid of them. I am beginning to revise my feelings about the presence of snakes. I caught one going into the chicken house last night--my movement scared him off before he could do any harm or I could do anything to him. Both of my grandmothers, raised on subsistence farms, killed or had killed any snake they saw (and broke many hoe handles in the process). So what is your philosophy on snakes?

I should clarify that the snake killed three guinea keets out of the brooder, not adults.

 

[zazouse]

I don't have a pholosiphy, i keep my babies in a snake proof/ critter proof pen till they are able to fend for themselves.

Snakes can't reason as to why there is food right there for the taking, they are just doing what comes natural to survive, they kill rats people are happy , they kill a chick and people want to kill them only to have to keep killing all the ones that take their place. Kinda sad really.

You keep doing what you think is right and i will do the same ,someday mabe you will understand.

 

[ella&clara]

What is snake-proof? I agree with you about them just doing what's natural. That's my quandry. So are any predators that attack chickens. And can snakes kill sleeping chickens?

 

[zazouse]

See that little hardware cloth no snake nor rat can get threw that.
My dogs also keep an eye on things around here and snakes don't dare get near the brooders cause this is what happens if they are caught, my girl loves her birds she knows who lays her breakfast.
I do not like that she kills the snakes sometimes she is bed to hunt and she is my critter getter at night when somthing strays into the area that poses a threat to her birds.



All kinds of critters eat bird best you can do is keep them secure if you don't have a pack a dogs watching your place, i have that advantage and all of my birds are free to come and go day or night as i have no pens set up at all except for the babies.

 

[Jubilee1111]

Good girl! Is she a pittie or an American Bulldog? I especially like the last pic with her getting covered while the chicken dust bathes.

 

[ella&clara]

See that little hardware cloth no snake nor rat can get threw that.
My dogs also keep an eye on things around here and snakes don't dare get near the brooders cause this is what happens if they are caught, my girl loves her birds she knows who lays her breakfast.
I do not like that she kills the snakes sometimes she is bed to hunt and she is my critter getter at night when somthing strays into the area that poses a threat to her birds.



All kinds of critters eat bird best you can do is keep them secure if you don't have a pack a dogs watching your place, i have that advantage and all of my birds are free to come and go day or night as i have no pens set up at all except for the babies.

Great setup! I also love the picture with her getting covered by the dirt. I have mine in portable electronet fencing, which snakes can go through, and I don't have dogs to protect the chickens, unfortunately! I can't let them roam completely free because of dogs and such and the mess they make of my flowerbeds. I plan to let the guineas roam though. I am keeping the remaining keets under close watch--I had them in a cardboard box inside the garage but had the door up which is how the snake entered. Now I'll put them on the screened porch when I need to leave the door open. My dogs are dachshunds and older, they'd be more of a threat to the chickens than anything else if they could catch the chickens. It would be great though.

 

[motherofmolly]

we have snacks. i do think they serve a purpose and appreciate them for that...but i have had to kill two this year. one was a larger black snack that was just too big. and another one was one that took a strike at my smaller child.

i have the hardware cloth around my coop so i havent had one go in there yet.

 

[Fishbone]

I'm responsible for my actions.
Protect your flock the way you seem fit.

My 'philosophy' is to protect them, build cages to protect them!
Protect them from disease or predators.

For me, losing 3 guineas to one snake doesn't 'add up'...Guinea eggs are good...I don't eat snakes!

 

[Oregon Blues]

I'm happy to have snakes around. They are the best at mouse patrol.

Rattlesnakes get chopped if they try to hang out too close to the house or animal housing. I like rattlesnakes, just can't afford big vet bills or a visit to the emergency room.

My baby poultry is kept safe and there are no snakes around here big enough to molest adult poultry, or even big enough to swallow eggs. If I had egg eating snakes, I would fence them out.