I was gathering eggs and reached inside the box on the left of the setting Welsummer, She was raising such a racket that I didnt even look under her! I didnt even notice the rat snake under her box until I actually bumped into the swinging net it was tangled in, EEEwwww!
I had wrapped the nesting boxes with bird netting to prevent her from crawling into the nests. I didnt think she would actually try to get through the netting! Well She did and she got so tangled up that she never made it any further, nary an egg did she get for her breakfast!
My daughter ran for the scissors and I tried to get it untangled, but by the time I got to cutting the net away I could see that the snake was severely cut up and damaged. So I just pulled away as much of the net as I could and unwound her. She was right at 5 feet and 8 inches, as long and my daughter is tall.
This is Rat or Black snake number two so far. The first one was over 6 ft, and I ran it off after it had consumed , for what I could count in its belly, 4 eggs!
Dang it, can't they be good little predators and eat mice and moles and not your eggs??? I don't mind snakes if they are the non-poisonous type. I usually leave them be, but I commend you for taking precautions. I hadn't thought about snakes making their way into nests. I have to work that into the plan when I start building nest boxes. Got a few more weeks to work that out since they won't start laying until Aug.
We have caught several snakes in bird netting in the garden. Hadn't thought of using it to keep snakes out of the chicken pen, but now I will. Thanks Eufaula.
I chased a rat snake out of the coop a couple of nights ago. It was about 4' long and had trouble making good its escape with the huge egg it had just swallowed. There is also a much larger one that steals eggs from time to time, but we have no rats or mice in the coops so I'll give the snakes credit for that.
EWW is right I hate snakes
I would far rather lose a few eggs to snakes than have rats in my coops. At least the snakes don't mess with the food, rip open the bags and pee on everything, and chew on my chickens :(.
I do keep the broody hens and littles enclosed with 1/2"x1" wire, which seems to deter the snakes, and is easier than hardware cloth to turn into drop cages.
I Agree Cat, but this broody Welsummer decided that she had to set in this nesting box and Ive been trying to keep her eggs safe. The first snake took her first 5 eggs, so I replaced them with Wayandotte and Serama eggs, hope fully we will get chicks anyday now! Oh by the way, I was far more cautious with "Summer" the Hen than scared of the snake, This Hen will peck the living day lights out of you!! Thats why I quit trying to argue with her and left her where she wanted to be!
I've got one like that right now. That's why I made a cage to stick over her, out of the 1/2"x1" welded wire. It goes together with clips and a tool that squeezes them together. It's very secure (I think), and I feel much better :))
I like your snake deterrent/trap idea. I think we need to try that one. We have had snakes in nests many times, once we had two in one nest.
I'm with Cat. I would rather have snakes than rats. Think my yard ducks are keeping the snakes away. I have only seen a couple of black snakes and 1 Garter snake this year
