[kev]

Opened the door of the starter house, and there was a snake in with the chicks. The chicks are a little over a month old.

When I built the chicken house, I did everything I could imagine to make sure it was snake proof. I guess it was not snake proof enough. However, the house is around 5 years old and this was the first time a snake was able to get into the house.

I have a general rule on non-venomous snakes, as long as they are not in the chicken house, they will be left alone. Not only did this one get into the house, it swallowed a couple of my chicks.

There were two separate bulges in the snake, but one bulge seemed larger than the other.

It seems to never fail. You work and take care of something, and either something or someone is always trying to steal it from you.

The snake was removed from the chicken house and dealt with. Hopefully, something will make a meal out of it.

I was very upset that the snake was able to get into the chicken house, and that it ate at least two of the chicks.

 

[TxHannah]

It's extremely frustrating. I've been through it many times. If it's not snake, it's a ****. Or some damn neighborhood cat. Once anything kills one of my chicks, pullets, ducklings, turkey poults or whatever, it's dispatched. Once they kill, they will be back. Without exception. The only way to stop it is to stop the attacking animal permanently.

I really wonder how the true pioneers did it, when they didn't have things like chicken wire and hardware cloth and other modern materials. It's a wonder they were able to grow anything at all.

Sorry about your birds.

 

[wootie]

My grandmother had a snake trap she swore never failed. First she would boil two eggs. Then she would drive two nails into the henhouse floor too close together to get the egg through. Tie a string around the top of the nails and place the eggs on each side. The next morning the egg eating snake would meet her garden hoe. Good luck

 

[Joe_Kerr]

I've caught lots of snakes using a minnow trap, the kind you can make at home using a 2-3 liter coke bottle work just as well. Just cut off the top and turn it around making an inverted funnel...for whatever reason they can't quite figure out how to escape...at least I've never seen one do it.

Sorry about your chicks.

 

[TxHannah]

I've had snakes that ate nest eggs and couldn't get back out through the chicken wire because the nest egg wouldn't crush inside them. I guess they don't vomit out something that won't digest?

 

[two bits]

Kev...your lucky. It could have been one of these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7mkDaEhcIQ