Will a Large Black Rat snake try to kill my full sized BA's???

[CLSranch]

Also you can get fake eggs or small light bulbs and put in your nesting boxes and the snake will eat it then crush it trying to break the "egg". I've used golf balls and found them later with a bunch of egg shells somewhere else in the coop.
I've heard minnow traps work if you leave eggs in it overnight. I've not had success with that.

I would put rat poison out in a animal safe container and kill the snake or drive it miles from the house. They are easy to handle even at 6'

 

[Matzwd]

View attachment 1706055

This is my friend, the Rat Patrol. S/he has lived here for several years, and is now about 5 feet long. Yes, I lose a few eggs, but I know for a fact that this one is keeping the rat population in check (worse than mice).

My son just relocated inne just like that yesterday. One of my girls started singing the egg song all of a sudden. Then my little silkie roo started his alert. I was about 30 feet away, messing with my chicks so sent my son over to see what the hubbub was about. He saw nothing but returned to me just in time to see the snake in the big girl run, which is directly adjacent to the chick run. It's that time of year. Son put it in a five gallon bucket and took about a mile up the road.

 

[m1chelle1]

My son just relocated inne just like that yesterday. One of my girls started singing the egg song all of a sudden. Then my little silkie roo started his alert. I was about 30 feet away, messing with my chicks so sent my son over to see what the hubbub was about. He saw nothing but returned to me just in time to see the snake in the big girl run, which is directly adjacent to the chick run. It's that time of year. Son put it in a five gallon bucket and took about a mile up the road.

oh yeah!! gotta be careful with those little ones!! mine are indoor in a brooder, thankfully lol

 

[Matzwd]

oh yeah!! gotta be careful with those little ones!! mine are indoor in a brooder, thankfully lol

My babies are 6-7 weeks old, but most are bantams.

 

[Sea Wolf]

Hello BYC.

Just in the process of having a bit of a conflicting conscience. I dont mind snakes, granted ive never met one like the huge monstrosity of a snake that was just in my yard. We've seen it on our property before, i think its a rat snake and we actually have a bit of a mouse problem that i was getting very frustrated at. And i DONT like mice. So i was thinking oh well just let it slither around and eat mice, right? Then i read that they eat chicken eggs and i got concerned. Then i was curious if it would try to attack my chickens....
they know its there and they make the notorious "predator alert" noises when they see it and are around it. I wonder if it'll hurt them?? Losing an egg or two to the snake isnt a huge deal as long as it eats those mice, but i wouldnt want to lose a full sized bird to one.

Any advice welcome. thanks

It is NOT going to go after your adult birds. It will sneak an egg if it finds one, but, if you are collecting eggs daily, there probably will not be any for it to find. YES it is after the mice and rats and any other furry vermin it can find. It will be under the coop and in tight spaces where they hide. It will smell out the nests themselves and eat every baby mouse/rat it finds. It might be a black ratsnake or a black racer. If you can get a good picture of it, especially it's head I can probably ID it for you. If it panicks and runs when it sees you, it might be a racer. Ratsnakes are a little more sociable and a little slower to decide that you are dangerous.

 

[Sea Wolf]

I’d personally get rid of the snake, you just see a giant snake in your yard and live your life normally? Terrifying.

Snakes around your home are a positive thing. If you have them, you have vermin which they are after. Considering that those adorable little mice will be very happy to share Hantavirus with you as well as other nasty things like Lymes disease, I would be very happy to see a rat snake around the house and would be encouraging it to stay.

 

[Jack Speese]

I've had black snakes kill and eat full-grown Coturnix quail. I had one kill and try to eat a "teenage" Muscovy duckling. It couldn't get the shoulders down, so it regurgitated it, but the result was still a dead duckling. Black snakes will get under a broody hen and literally eat the eggs out from under her. I wouldn't mind having them around either if they just ate rats and mice but not when they do this.

 

[Fishkeeper]

If your coop isn't snake-proofed (which it should be), moving them isn't a bad idea. Don't kill them! If it's not venomous, it's safe and relatively easy to move, and they're beneficial animals that shouldn't be killed just for being in an inconvenient area. If it IS venomous, you shouldn't be messing with it for any reason. Most snake bites happen when someone is either trying to catch or kill a snake.

 

[kyle476]

If the snake figures out it can readily eat eggs when hungry, then it probably won't do much to curb your rodent problem. Can you effectively limit the snake's access to the eggs? If so, it might be a nice ally to have around.

I think a full-sized chicken is too big for a ratsnake to eat, but if cornered or it feels threatened it might bite a chicken in defense.

totally agree

 

[CLSranch]

I agree with the top paragraph.
But the 2 month olds that got killed 2 days in a row or the full grown RIR hen in the pic on night 3 (pen next door) after 10 pm and asleep on the roost (on the ground when I found her and the snake) WERE NOT cornering it and got more than a defense bite.