Will black snakes harm my chickens and chicks?

[StephanieD]

I just saw three black snakes in my back yard.....ugh. I hate snakes. Will they harm chickens and chicks?

 

[terrilhb]

Don't know about the chickens but they can eat the baby chicks. I had this bad thing happen to me last year. I hate snakes too. YUCK,

 

[JulieNKC]

not sure if they'll mess with your chickens, chicks maybe. they will eat your eggs though, i remember when i was little my mom's friend had one that swallowed a fake egg out of the nests and got stuck in the rafters because of the bulge in it's belly. they would catch and release them far from the coop because they eat rats and mice.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

How big were the snakes? Do you know what type of snakes they are?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Most snakes in the US are not a threat to grown full-sized chickens. Some can get big enough to be a problem, but most don't. Where the main threat is from black snakes is that they will eat eggs and baby chicks. Some bantams could also be threatened.

Many of us hesitate to kill a black snake because they do such a good job on controlliing rodents. But I have had a black snake eat eggs from my coop. I have not had them eat baby chicks, but that threat is certainly there.

 

[hennyannie]

I have heard that if you keep a golf ball or fake egg in the nest they will eat it too and it will kill them. I am sure they would dine on eggs and chicks if they were handy. On a brighter note they love mice so I always hope they ate a bunch of them before I killed the snake. My brother lets them live because he says they eat mice, but they can really put away eggs too.

 

[ksmissy]

they also eat baby ducks, my ex would never kill one, but they do eat eggs as well as any baby birds of any kind, they will climb a tree to get baby birds, I will remember the fake egg idea, my Mom used to do that. They just need to stay away from my property, I wonder how many are old enough to remeber the old out houses, go in there and sit down and there is a big old black snake on a 2x4 on the wall, yuk, scary.

 

[StephanieD]

Well I just KILLED two of the black snakes! I would say they were three feet long. I had the momma and her 4 chicks out this morning but they went right back into their crate. I thought that was strange. I guess the snakes were roaming the yard. I swear they were teasing me as I chased them around with a shovel! The chickens are back out roaming so I maybe they are all left / dead! I know there is at least one more out there...lol well there's lots more out there that I haven't seen! I moved the momma and chicks into the porch.

 

[sfw2]

I have nothing against black snakes, in principle. However, once they enter my chicken pen, they're fair game. I had a broody killed by a rat snake, last year. She wouldn't let it take her eggs, so it constricted her.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yesterday, mine found a 6" snake in t the bog area. They played keep away with it for a while but eventually ate it.