URGENT found snake eating chicken

[Dust Bunny]

im a snake person i can help more if i know what kind, can you send a pic? real important we do have poisonous snake here in the states, to kill a chicken it must have been a large constrictor or venomous, please send pic or decription

 

[sgtmom52]

They have to be some place warm ~ the snakes around here are still buried under 6" of snow!

 

[satay]

2 dead pullets and only one being seen eaten by the snake seems odd. I have snakes and they normally will only strangle and eat something not just kill it and leave it be. Like the others were saying must have been one hungry or very large snake to eat a 12 week old pullet. We have a 6 foot carpet snake and she eats large rats. My father has a 12 foot one that will eat a rabbit so perhaps it was that big. Did you get any pictures?

 

[Chicky Tocks]

I read somewhere that there's something you can put on the ground that a snake will not slither across. Something about it will cut their bellies, but is harmless to animals. Let me google. I know it's not mothballs...

Ok so far I've read to plant tobacco. Snakes are highly offended by the smell of tobacco.

You can also spread dry tobacco leaves around the perimeter of the run.

Here’s an idea you might want to consider. Water soluble granulated
sulfur can be spread over the yard and watered-in to keep fleas and
tick under control, but I have also read where it will keep snakes at
bay as well. Check your hardware store or farmers’ co-op for a supply
source. If you do decide to use granulated sulfur, it’s essential to
read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions and avoid inhaling the
dust.

And here's a link for snake repellent called Liquid Fence.
http://www.liquidfence.com/snake-repellents.html

 

[satay]

Not sure the size of your yard but we are on acreage and we had trouble with a goanna stealing eggs.( I am terrified of goannas but not snakes lol) Got a big turkey male and nothing gone since. Have also heard guinea hens will deter snakes but I can't stand the noise of them lol.

 

[happytxchick]

I've always heard that dandelions deter snake (of course, your chickens might eat them...does anyone know if dandelions are poisonous to chickens if eaten). Anyway, guineas will also kill snakes. I have twelve in the 'bator right now for that purpose and bug control.

 

[Dust Bunny]

Quote:
dandelions are edible and delicious! make wine with the flowers and salad with young greens

mmmmmm

 

[sgtmom52]

Quote:
My chickens love dandelions! When I weed my gardens I always dump my weed buckets in the chicken run and the girls eat them!

 

[ruby]

Ive lost teenage chickens to big rat snakes. They kill them then can't get them down. It's gross. Guineas were my answer to snakes, we have a pond down the hill. I never stop looking either!

 

[ranchhand]

We have a lot of big rat snakes on our property, because we have woods. They steal eggs and they can kill the young/smaller birds, though they never have here. The most effective deterrent I have found is hardware cloth from the ground up to 3' high. Mothballs are toxic, and as they melt into the ground in the weather the toxic residue remains. Not a real helthy approcah to land stewardship.

We have learned to identify snakes from necessity, and the venomous ones get killed. (Copperhead got one of the dogs last year- dog is okay, snake - not so good!) Non-venomous ones are good at eliminating mice and rats, so we just encourage them to hang out anywhere but the in chicken pens.

The best thing you can do is eliminate the entrances that snakes use. Snakes that "coil around" their prey are constrictors, and while large are generally good snakes to have around.

Here's my avatar Goldie with her pet snake. Goldie is a bantam buff cochin, and snakes don't bother her.