what kind of snake

[DCortez]

Found this thing in the hen house today, he's been evicted. The pic doesn't show the colors very well, poop looked more like an egg cooked easy over.

 

[DCortez]

Hmm ...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/669540/texas-rat-snake-a-k-a-chicken-snake

 

[HEChicken]

Looks like some kind of rat snake from what little I can see. Hopefully you relocated him to somewhere he can help you keep the mice/rat population down. They are wonderful to have around for rodent control.

 

[Akrnaf2]

Do you have a foto of it's had? Icould Tell you from whice snake familly this specimen comes from, acording to the had scale shape

 

[PapaChaz]

yeah that's a rat snake of some variation. it would eat a chicken if it could, but most likely it was there for some eggs. They'll empty a nest in a heart beat.

Here in GA, it's illegal to kill any non venomous snake. As mentioned above, catch and relocate somewhere where it will help with the rodent population. BUT, now that it's found the henhouse and free eggs, if you don't fix how ever it got in there, it will be back. IF it's still living of course

 

[HEChicken]

BUT, now that it's found the henhouse and free eggs, if you don't fix how ever it got in there, it will be back. IF it's still living of course

I've heard that said many times but have not found it to be my experience. In my blog (link in signature) I show pics and tell of a 12' black rat snake that visited my coop two summers ago. Yes, it certainly did eat a ton of eggs that were under broody hens (side note: the snake is the only sure-fire, permanent broody-breaker I've ever experienced). But I relocated it across the street to a big open field and never saw it again. It was only a few hundred yards from the coop and I feel certain if it had been determined it could have found its way back but it didn't.

 

[jophus]

That looks like a young black rat snake to me, although depending on where you live, it could be another species/subspecies. They don't complete the color change to black until they're older. We call them chicken snakes here, for a good reason. They love feasting on eggs and chicks. Biggest I've ever seen/caught was measured at 7 ft, and they don't get a whole lot bigger than that. They have a mouthful of very sharp teeth and will bite if given the opportunity.