I always close the coop up until they are just ready to go in...snakes go in there and wait for them. I lost a girl to a black snake that tried to eat her but of course she was too big. He suffocated her and left her there. Her head was all slimy and wet. Then another black snake coiled around one of my babies and was strangling it. I picked up the whole package and started slinging it like a yo yo until he let go of her and she went flying. I beat the living daylights out of the snake with a board and my baby lived, but it was touch and go for a few minutes. Snakes are attracted to eggs and chicks. Make the place they sleep in at night at secure as possible.