Something getting into chicken coop

[quackiemama]

It sounds like it might be a chicken snake. I have killed four already this year. They will strangle the chicken even if they can't eat it, leaving no visible marks. Check under everything anywhere near the coop. I found one hiding under the dogloo that my ducks use as a house to lay eggs in. ( and for the snake lovers out there, I know that chicken snakes keep mice and other rodents under control, but their safety ends where my coop begins.)

I didn't even know there was such a thing. I am going to do that when Ben gets home. I know it is upsetting him that he keeps losing his hens. He will be so happy Mable came home.

 

[MinniesMomma]

I didn't even know there was such a thing. I am going to do that when Ben gets home. I know it is upsetting him that he keeps losing his hens. He will be so happy Mable came home.

I looked it up, and you don't have the same variety in Maryland that we have here in Texas, but you do have a version of what is also known as a rat snake. They are non venomous, but can get quite large. The ones I have killed have all been over four and a half feet.

 

[quackiemama]

Yuk

 

[quackiemama]

I know the little biting midges are bad around here and can kill chickens, they crawl in their nostrils and suffocate them. It would be more likely to happen during the day though, I would think, they don't like darkness so they chickens will stay hidden during the day. Has he noticed this happening?

I will have to ask him

 

[MinniesMomma]

How did things go last night?

 

[quackiemama]

so far we still have a rooster and 2 hens although I noticed Mable was not put up for the evening. I think she slept under one of our big bushes because she was here before the others were let out. We did not get to go talk to him since he was gone all day and got home late and has been gone all day today. But so far so good. Makes me wonder why she is not going home at night

 

[Miss Lydia]

Probably scared away. If a predator came in their coop I doubt that is something easily forgotten.

 

[quackiemama]

My husband wondered if she was not going in at night since she knew there were snakes or something else getting them. Maybe she is the smart one. She left again before bedtime but could not tell you where she went. She is hiding herself before bedtime

 

[quackiemama]

So last night all 3 went to their coop together finally. We helped our neighbor patch up his coop making it more secure. Here they are right before bedtime last night hanging out with me

 

[DuckyDonna]

So last night all 3 went to their coop together finally. We helped our neighbor patch up his coop making it more secure. Here they are right before bedtime last night hanging out with me

What a cool looking coop! Good job!