snakes.

[cappy]

Never seen a 5' copperhead but have caught several in the 4' range and lots more 3' to 4'. We have a bunch in the woods behind the house. Not likely a copperhead will kill you but they may make you wish you were dead for awhile. Not really sure how they get along with chickens, chicken snakes and rat snakes are into the coop and barn but never had a copperhead or rattler in there (yet).

Ken

 

[jebogy]

Here in southeast Arkansas 5' copperheads ae not too much of a rarety, same being said of cottonmouths (close cousins) I've worked in rice fields most of my life and large snakes are no big deal. If they are venamous I usually dispatch them, if not poisonous I move them or let them alone. My concern is what to do about black chicken-snakes (I'm new to poultry!) I've seen them from three to six feet long for most of my life. I can remeber as a child watching a chickensnake engorged with eggs constrict around a boompole on a barn to break the eggs it had eaten. I am expecting my first flock in a few weeks and I have seen some monster chickensnakes around here since I bought this farm. Does anyone have suggestions to combat these vermin?

 

[little_grey_bantam]

Make sure the netting -- err wiring is thin/small that they cannot get into.

I suppose electric wire would not work lol
Strangely enough, snakes don't get into our pens... they'd be PECKED to death lol
Other than that, avoid places that they can hide in (piles of logs, wood, leaves?, sticks, crap lol) and sadly, if you have snakes, you probably have mice... or rodents, and those guys can do a heck of a lot more damage, so I'd figure out to get rid of those O.O