What do your girls do if a snake gets in the coop?

[lambchicks]

Last night, It had just got dark, I went out to close the coop door. About half way there, I notice what (in the dark) seemed to be a "rope" going from the hoe handle to the shovel handle around the wooded latch into the hen house. I have 3 boys. I thought, "what have those crazy kids tied to my shovel handle?" Then it dawned on me, that might be a snake. So I scurried back into the house, got a flash light and went back to get a closer look. Sure enough it was a black snake going into the door of the coop. All nine of my hens were on thier roosts settled down for the night. It didn't seem to bother them at all. Now, it was on the floor and had not had time to make it up to the nesting boxes or to the roosts. I wonder if i would have been different if it had started climbing up closer to them.
Ever had this situation? What did your hens do. I have no rooster, so no alarm there. I have seen song birds fuss when they see a snake. I sort of thought a chicken would too.

 

[flatheadfisher]

My pigeons go nuts - cooing an moving around so much they wake me up and I go get the snake out and relocate it. It has happened twice this year and I woke up before the snake got any squeakers. Here is a pic when I wasn't so lucky - they were making so much noise that I thought a coyote had gotten in somehow. The snake had eaten three squeakers - I relocated him a mile away.

 

[KingSpeck]

I've never had one get into the coop but my girls have definately found snakes out in the yard. They gang up on the snake and peck it like crazy. I usually have to go out and save a poor terrified snake. We try to keep the snakes around so we don't end up with mice instead.

 

[CalebtheChicken]

If a snake got in the chicken coop at night, you would proubly wake up to find a half eaten snake in the morning.

 

[lambchicks]

It was a pretty big snake but sounds like it was pretty lucky that my neighbor came and re homed it. Tonight went a lot better, not surprise visitors at bed time.

 

[ShysCreations]

I wish I had a picture of the hens a week ago when a garter snake came through the yard. There was no mistaking somethin unusual was in the yard because 2 hens were fixated on it and their posture said "SOMETHING IS UP!!!" I find that very interesting about animals because if you watch them, often they are telling you something!

 

[lleighmay]

I haven't had one in the coop yet (that I know of) but my birds pay absolutely no attention to one in the run or near it. I've just about concluded that chickens pay pretty much no attention to anything that isn't attacking them at that very moment. I've got lots of snakes in my yard (many of which I've brought home and "installed" over the years) so as long as we all play nice together I don't worry about it.

 

[hensonly]

We have a garter snake who's been around for a few years. A couple of weeks ago he was sunning himself on the tray of tomato seedlings waiting to be planted. Later that afternoon I was walking by the chicken run and he's sunning himself right next to the fence. As I approached, he started to go into the run, presumably to hide from me. But the hens saw me, too, so of course they ran right over to the fence, where the snake had just gotten his head through to the inside. He saw them and froze. I could see him thinking "Oh, SH*#&!!!! The hens saw him, too and the whole flock stopped dead and looked at him. He's quite big for a garter snake, and I could see them thinking, "Oh, boy, dinner!". It was a standoff for a few seconds, then I went over to the other side of the run and the hens came over, hoping for a handout. I never saw a snake move so fast, out of their reach. It was pretty funny.

 

[aerosmith_99]

I had a rat snake last year. I took and relocated it and it ended up telling all its friends. I had about seven all lengths of rat snakes coming to the coop for about a month. The chickens were freaked out and wouldn't go into their house at all.

 

[lamoka]

When we had our chickens they kept the snakes thinned out. Fortunately we only had garter and milksnakes around and the chickens would love to find them you always new when they did because they would start carrying on like crazy and they all would gang up on it intill it was dead. Funny thing was they never ate the snakes they just killed it almost like they did it out of some type of survival instinct. We have not had chickens for some time and now we have lots of snakes. Just one of the reasons I will be starting up with chickens again!!