Incident this morning!

[AllyRodrigues]

This morning as we were getting ready to leave for work we discovered a large black snake in the chicken coop!! I had 14 four week old pullets in there and the snake had eaten 3 and couldn't fit back through the chicken wire!

I don't have any problem with snakes hanging around until they start eating chickens...I don't even mind swiping the occasional egg!

Needless to say I managed to shoot the thing-in my dress and heels, even!

One of them was a Black Australorp..one of the breeds I was so excited about adding to my flock!

 

[HotPepperQueen]

OH MY GOSH! I would have been so scared. I hate snakes. Sorry about your chicken losses Hopefully you don't have that problem anymore!

 

[ninnymary]

Oh so sorry. Glad you found it before it did more damage. Is there a way you can snake proof your coop? or add something to deter it? Don't know much about snakes. :/

Mary

 

[lesa]

Reminds me of a joke...Women are not helpless, even when their nails are wet- they can still pull the trigger! You go, girl! Sorry about your babies. What about hardware cloth? Can they fit through there?

 

[AllyRodrigues]

I think I'll leave it be with the chicken wire and just see if maybe this is a rare occasion. We've had the chickens there for more than a year, so hopefully it won't happen often enough for me to justify changing the coop around!

I have dogs that have done a good job keeping racoons away and normally the big chickens will kill a relatively small snake..

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

I just don't like snakes. So sorry about your chicken loss. That is sad and aggrevating. I am glad that you were able to kill it.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

So sorry to hear about the chicks, Ally. Just a couple weeks ago DW and I were talking about how to encourage black snakes to take up residence in our barns again. We used to have several huge snakes that kept our mice and chipmunk population in check. They disappeared a few years ago and we haven't seen them since. I think the cats got 'em. But the cats were getting old and did not chase the mice much so we cut back from 6 cats to only 2 (I think). Mice and chipmunks are a problem now. Snakes are our friends. Yes we would lose an egg or a chick now and then but it was not many. Our chicken coop is very "critter proof". And our chickens, even the babies, free range and stay out of trouble most of the time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My sympathies. I really like the Black Australorp so hopefully you will get another.

I had a similar experience a couple of weeks ago. A 20" black snake got inside the brooder through the 1" hardware cloth, ate a 1 week old, and could not get back out. The other chicks in the brooder were pretty much ignoring it. Some were walking right around it.

I don't know what your weather is like. I think the drought we are having increases the danger.

 

[ducks4you]

You MUST get a barn cat. When we moved in in 2000 there was a garter snake living under the porch and no cats. Even with as few a 2 cats, I never get mice in my house, though some live in the barn. The mice attract snakes. In the mean time you could break up some clay flower pots and put them along the bottom of your enclosure to discourage snakes. Not sure what else to suggest. Sorry for your loss. I, too, have pullets and young roosters outside.

 

[catjac1975]

What a sight to behold. I hate snakes and guns. But I would have loved to see you in your dress and heels giving that snake what for.Hahaha.Sorry about your chicks. What kind of snake was it????

This morning as we were getting ready to leave for work we discovered a large black snake in the chicken coop!! I had 14 four week old pullets in there and the snake had eaten 3 and couldn't fit back through the chicken wire!

I don't have any problem with snakes hanging around until they start eating chickens...I don't even mind swiping the occasional egg!

Needless to say I managed to shoot the thing-in my dress and heels, even!

One of them was a Black Australorp..one of the breeds I was so excited about adding to my flock!