Will black snakes harm my chickens and chicks?

[wekiva bird]

x2 and mice and rats

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[cackydoodledoo]

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Sulfur works because it burns their skin. Crush up eggs shells around the perimeter too. Big chunks. Have heard it will cut them!!

 

[Randy]

I have a barn cat for the mice and rats. I have no love for bull snakes. I've had them kill half grown pullets before. Couldn't even swallow them because they were too big. Another time I had one kill around 8 young turkey poults. They were in a cage made with 1 x 1 welded wire. The snake was too big to get in but he scared the birds and they stuck their heads through the wire and the snake would get them by the head. He wasn't strong enough to pull thier heads off but he did pull the skin off of thier necks and heads. Talk about looking like something from a horror movie. I went in the barn and there were all these skinned turkey heads sticking out of thier cage. Green snakes, blue racers, garder snakes, and king snakes all get a free pass around here. Bull snakes, copperheads and ground rattlers get the axe.

 

[derbygirl1961]

Biggest dang black snake in my nesting box this evening....and it had swallowed at least one egg as I could see it in his belly. By the time I came back out with the branch lopper (my weapon of choice), he was gone. And another egg broken in the nest...he has to go away forever...

 

[dianehodges]

Two days ago I found a very large black snake in my pen I would like to keep him around but I am not going to loose eggs or birds to him Yesterday I added deer netting around the bottom of the coop and put folded chicken wire in the open areas in the roof Hopefully this will work Last year it was rats and they did kill a hen and her chicks

1 veteran 1 dog 1 roo 8 hens and 1 very old cat

 

[2plus2 is44]

They like to eat eggs but will also go after chicks 6 weeks and younger

 

[hughmac312]

With regards to snakes. I just got the holy chicken.... scared out of me.
I'm cleaning up my fence line around the pen, I have my head down as I tighten up the fence. Once I get to the other side I come upon and 3 foot black racer caught in my fence.
I have netting over the top of my chicken pen, because of hawks, there is bird netting. Seems as though this snake had pushed his head through the netting and could'nt pull back out. He is dead.
Creepy creepy creeeeeeepy!
So it seems that bird netting secured tightly and folded on it self may be a good snake trap.
I'll add some pics when I get my camera charged.

 

[kellieetal]

I can't comment on the sulpher, but snakes can slither along without a scratch across rocks, trees, burning sand/asphalt, then how would egg shells harm their belly skin? If sulpher works for real, I think I might buy it by the truckful and completely surround my entire property line. Does anyone know if the available form has the "sulpher" smell? I don't want to make my neighbors complain about a "rotten egg smell" and have them thinking it's the chickens they're smelling--come to think of it, I don't particularly want to live with the smell myself. So, I'm hoping they sell it in some form that doesn't have that smell.

 

[JerseyCindy]

Two summers ago I had a HUGE black rat snake (over 6 ft) that was sitting on a nest in the coop on top of eggs and it would NOT get off no matter how threatening I got! So......we took care of it - not gonna say how.....needless to say the chickens ate well that night. Ordinarily I just let the snakes go their way, but this one just decided it had found himself a nice little food source and wasn't leaving. By the way - when we stretched it out there was a huge lump mid stream and when we "pushed" on it it cracked - so yes, they definitely eat eggs WHOLE.

 

[bugglesmommy]

A few weeks ago I went to bring in my 10 week old gorgeous silkie chicks for the evening and discovered 2 of them snake crushed, including my prized splash. It may sound strange to some but I'd rather they had been eaten! Such a waste of life. My rat snake tolerance has severely decreased.