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

[m1chelle1]

Maybe ... probably best to tighten up you coop ...

Read this https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/snakes-kill-chickens.379873/

Will do, thanks much

 

[Fishkeeper]

I'm not sure a snake that's far too small to eat a chicken would try to kill one. If they did that on a regular basis, they'd spend a lot of time and energy on fighting things that they couldn't possibly eat. They would also die frequently from things like a two-foot rat snake trying to eat a raccoon and being eaten instead.
My thought is that, when things like that happen, it's because the chicken bit the snake and the snake bit back. Sometimes snakes will attempt to strangle a threat. If you've spent a decent bit of time chasing snakes, you've probably had one do this. They're especially prone to trying to strangle if they already have their fangs in something, so if a snake strikes in self-defense, it may then be inclined to throw a few coils around whatever it's biting.

 

[TeenageRooster's Dad]

I'm a Hufflepuff... but non-viperish snakes around the yard are usually ok and never had any issues with the Chaykins... actually the opposite... they'll gang up on them once in a while... when it's dry... but their attention span... they move on quick lol

 

[DIMBY]

My chickens will attack and eat anything smaller than they are, esp. mice. Snakes and lizards don't have a chance with my flock.

 

[zdb]

This Snake Ate My Chicken Alive!

 

[Fishkeeper]

That's a small chicken, not an adult, and that looks like it's pretty much at the limit of what that guy could eat. They just can't open their mouths wide enough to get an entire adult hen in there.

Those poor chickens, though. They're gonna be packed so tight they won't be able to move when they get any bigger.

 

[Beakrr]

If you get them while it’s cold you can relocate them pretty easily...

 

[Rocky-Acres]

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

The snake can get up to 6'. It will kill chicks and consume all eggs ( not just 1 or 2). Why go after rodents when it has easy meals? I put golf balls and plastic eggs in nests to eliminate egg eaters. Snakes can't digest the plastic so they won't come back.

 

[Beakrr]

But once it warms up and momma comes out of hibernation, they put up more of a fight. I about soiled myself grabbing ahold of this one. Holding it up in the air messes up the perspective. It was the biggest one I’ve ever seen. Oh the things we do to be brave for our kids! Hahah

 

[Fox]

Rat snakes killed several of my chickens even though they never could swallow them. They always killed them at night. I could see where they tried to swallow them, their wet, slicked feathers over the head and neck, but stopping at the wider part of their body. They were Silkies, so not huge, but not super tiny either. The snake would return to the coop. If the snake finds a food source in your coop, it will return. They are constrictors and just because they don’t eat your chickens, it doesn’t mean they will not kill them and think they can. The black racers, (smaller, skinny black snakes) never did harm my chickens, but the rat snakes with the checkerboard bellies did.