snakes

[mg15]

Hi mg15. I am anxious to try this with my young flock. lol I don't know but I have a feeling they will eat it. They are pretty vicious! lol I have lots and lots of snakes here at my place but for some reason I have not seen one of them yet, and that is very unusual! I wonder if you can train chickens to kill snakes. I wonder if you kill one now and then and toss it in the run for them to eat if they will start killing and eating them on their own.

I would wonder that too. Just that I don't have the heart to kill the snake to feed to them. The girls won't even eat mice that are caught in a trap and the mouse is laying in front of them. Huh? Altho, they know to eat raw meat like ground turkey or red meat. They go nuts over that. Wonder why the wild animals they don't eat, but from the store, they will eat it. .......lol

 

[Triple Willow]

I would wonder that too. Just that I don't have the heart to kill the snake to feed to them. The girls won't even eat mice that are caught in a trap and the mouse is laying in front of them. Huh? Altho, they know to eat raw meat like ground turkey or red meat. They go nuts over that. Wonder why the wild animals they don't eat, but from the store, they will eat it. .......lol

I know what you mean, I have an appreciation for snakes - to a point. I actually have had several pet snakes (corns, rats, milk, etc.) And have a pet corn and a pet rat snake now. I have a huge population of snakes here at my place. And it is pretty common to see them laying around here and there. Friends and family think that I am off my rocker for not killing every single one of them. In the past I did kill every one of them but for the past 20 years or so I have let them live. They have got pretty dang big and healthy - one ate an adult squirrell a couple years ago then fell out of the tree. lol But the venomous snakes do have to die if I see them. I have lived here alost 50 years and I have only seen one copperhead, he passed away. I did have a copperhead (probably) bite one of my dogs while he was in his pen in the backyard. The dog almost died! This flock of chickens is the first one we have had in a long time. I HOPE the snakes stay out of them. But like you, I had rather the chickens take care of the snakes so I don't have to. haha I am going to look for some of that netting today.

 

[Triple Willow]

I have read on here about black snakes (aka chicken snakes, rat snakes) killing other snakes as well as venomous ones. A chicken snake is a rat snake and they do come in a black variety but they DO NOT kill other snakes. The "black snake" that kills other snakes is the BLACK KING SNAKE. Like rat snakes, king snakes come in several different species -many different beautiful colors and patterns! Depending on where you live across the country, there is a king snake in your area and they will kill other snakes, including the venomous ones. There are two KING SNAKES that are black. One is the Common King Snake found through the KY, TN , AL etc area and the other is the Mexican King Snake (not sure where it is found besides the Mexico area). You would really be doing yourself a favor to learn about and how to recognize King Snakes if no other snake. I wouldn't doubt that if you placed a young King Snake (too small to eat eggs or chickens) in your coop he would keep the other snakes away. I don't know it for a fact but I have read accounts of where Rattle Snakes will actually leave an area where they smell a King Snake. I have a friend who raised and sold pet snakes. He did a lot of shipping. On one occassion he was shipping a King Snake along with some other kind of snake and during shipment the King Snake constricted the other snake killing it even though they were both contained in seperate bags (in the same box) for shipping. They LOVE to kill other snakes!

 

[Persimmon]

I got my first flock in 2009. 50 female chicks and 6 roosters and the oddball they throw in that always turns out to be a rooster. I decided to get a new batch this year and got them in the beginning of july. I have killed 1 and relocated 5 bull snakes since they came. I will never never never let my chickens sit or order chicks after the weather warms up again. The first batch the snakes had not come out of sleepy time yet. I have learned my lesson.

 

[mg15]

This is very very good advice....I am in the city so it is the occasional garter snake, they run away. But what you are saying really makes sense. If I was in that kind of territory I would take your advice and never get chicks in the mid summer. You are right the snakes are all asleep in the cooler weather.
Thanks.

 

[ebe]

Well... I'm soooo mad. I'm having a big problem with snakes eating and/or just killing my young chickens around 8 weeks old, a baby turkey about the same age and even a 6 week old peacock who was in a different enclosure. Needless to say, my eggs are disappearing at an even greater speed. My chickens and turkeys are in an outdoor pen and my peacocks are in a big outdoor peacock palace I built for them to keep them "safe" from predators. BTY, in one pen I have chickens, guineas, and turkeys and I have found 2 serrama chickens that look like the snake tried to eat and regurgitated them back because she could not swallow them, but nerveless they were dead. HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!
Ebe [email protected]

 

[Triple Willow]

Well...  I'm soooo mad. I'm having a big problem with snakes eating and/or just killing my young chickens around 8 weeks old, a baby turkey about the same age and even a 6 week old peacock who was in a different enclosure. Needless to say, my eggs are disappearing at an even greater speed. My chickens and turkeys are in an outdoor pen and my peacocks are in a big outdoor peacock palace I built for them to keep them "safe"  from predators. BTY, in one pen I have chickens, guineas, and turkeys and I have found 2 serrama chickens that look like the snake tried to eat and regurgitated them back because she could not swallow them, but nerveless they were dead.  HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!
Ebe [email protected]

Oh boy Ebe, you are going to have to declare war on snakes. You might not be able to cover your coop/run in 1/2" hardware cloth right now. That and sealing any crack and filling up holes in the ground is the only way to keep them out. But you can do other things... Some people use that flemsy bird netting to catch snakes. They try to crawl through it and get caught up and can't get out. You can try doubling it and attaching it to your coop/run about 1 1/2 to 2 feet up the sides. Be sure it is on the ground good so they can't go under it. Also, if your coop/run is under trees they can go in that way too. They are great climbers! You might have to cover your run with doubled bird netting. I checked on the price of it a couple days ago at Lowes - about $6 for a 14'X14' piece. I've got to get some myself. People also use minnow traps to catch snakes. There is a post and pictures on BYC somewhere where somebody did that. Snakes like to travel right up next to walls or borders so you would place the minnow trap with that in mind. Also, electric fence around your coop/run would help some. I would put it about 4 inches from the coop and about 4 inches from the ground. That will also help A LOT for any other predator problem. But for other predators I would put another wire maybe 1 1/2 to 2 feet higher and possibly around the top of the fence. Electric fence will solve a lot of predator problems!

If they are NON-venomous I suggest you relocate them and if you do take the a few miles away because they will come back if you don't. If you kill them feed them to your chickens, good protein sourse. haha Who knows, they might get the idea to kill them theirself. There are some breeds that will kill snakes. Also, cats love to kill young snakes. Some dogs like to kill them too. Just don't get a dog that will kill your chickens!

Good luck to you!

 

[zazouse]

great advise Triple willow
my brooder is outside and covered with 1/2 inch hardware cloth incase a snake gets that far and they do try all the time but I got a few dogs that can smell them when they get in the area and they are history when they are found

Sorry you lost your Birds, I feel bad when I read these things it has to be heartbreaking

to loose so many.

 

[Triple Willow]

great advise Triple willow my brooder is outside and covered with 1/2 inch hardware cloth incase a snake gets that far and they do try all the time but I got a few dogs that can smell them when they get in the area and they are history when they are found Sorry you lost your Birds, I feel bad when I read these things it has to be heartbreaking

to loose so many.

Thank you and great pictures! LOVE the picture of the dog getting the dust bath. LOL I have got to get a dog that will protect chickens and not kill them! I have two and one of them loves to kill snakes but the problem is she loves to kill any small animal, including chickens. The other dog just chases them and plays with them until they are dead. I have to keep them seperated from the chickens. I am thinking a shock collar may work on the one dog but I don't think anything will work on the other. I'm afraid she will end up having to go live where there are no chickens. Were your dogs raised with chickens??? I read the posts from people who say "oh you just have to work with the dog". Balony! They have not seen the prey drive on my one dog! lol Sweet dog but look out small critters! She is like a heat seeking missile! lol Oh btw, it was "Ebe" that lost the chickens to snakes, not me. Take care!

 

[rbaker0345]

Try a shock collar. My pit killed 8 chickens the day I brought him home. I went out and got a sportdog shock collar and turned that sucker up to 11. Now he takes dust baths with the chickens too. I found him facing off with a copperhead the other day though, I picked up his 80lb butt and carried him away. I need to get a pair of snake tongs to remove and relocate.