Will king snakes kill chickens?

[mamaKate]

I saw what a friend thinks is a baby king snake in my roses. I'm about to put my 5 wk old chicks out in the daytime. Their run is covered with 1 in. chicken wire. It's cat and dog resistant and hawk proof but it won't keep out snakes.

 

[Pop]

I have never had a problem with snakes eating chickens but they do like the eggs. Possibly a newly hatched chick might be might be manageable for a grown snake.
I've caught king snakes that were 5-6' long and had as many as 4-5 eggs in them. They help to eliminate any mice or rats but I hate to reach in a feed sack and find one. I used to re-locate but they come back so now I kill them.
Granddaddy used to keep the old white porcelain door knobs in each of his nests. Snake can't digest or pass the door knob and death happens pretty quickly as we used to find dead snakes in the yard and garden. Wait a couple of days and let AMother Nature take care of the remains and you got your door knob back. I think some folks are using golf balls for the same reason.

 

[okieroy]

That's pretty cool about the door knobs and golf balls. Never thought of that.

 

[mamaKate]

I sort of like snakes and I don't want to kill them unnecessarily. I'm still not sure of the species. If it's venomous or a hazard to the birds I guess I'd have to. I'm hoping to get some little Porcelain D'uccles later and I don't want them to be anybody's lunch.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

I have had a large chicken snake kill one of my little oeg hens years ago. I heard a ruckus in the hen house and I got out of bed to see what was going on. When I got there, the snake was coiled tightly around her on the nest and already starting to swallow her from the head. I am not anti-snake and I do not kill them unless it is necessary but that one died immediately!

 

[doodledoo]

Last summer we would get king snakes in our brooders about ever week. They will kill and eat young babies (6wks or so).We even had one get in the tractor that we had a mooma hen and her baby in. The snake killed the baby but could not manage to swallow it but you could tell it tried. Needless to say all the chicken wire got replaced or covered with hardware cloth.

 

[DiVon80]

Actually king snakes are good they eat other snakes...They keep them away... Also eat rodents. I was raised to never kill a king snake...

 

[mamaKate]

That's too much risk for me. My little ones are really shy when I take them out to play and don't seem to mind their ferret cage at all. I wanted to put them in a tractor during the day because of the mess. I think I'll just clean more often for a few more weeks. Thanks for the info.

 

[lone cedar farm]

I wouldnt kill one unless it was caught in the act of killing chicks or stealing lots of eggs, they are a + in most cases.

 

[Breslin]

I sort of like snakes and I don't want to kill them unnecessarily. I'm still not sure of the species. If it's venomous or a hazard to the birds I guess I'd have to. I'm hoping to get some little Porcelain D'uccles later and I don't want them to be anybody's lunch.

Please don't kill any snakes by tricking them into eating a doorknob. That is a horrible death for anything. Use finer mesh . 1/4 inch. I've kept chickens and I have kingsnakes.