Found a small (2-3 feet long) black snake in the chicken house today. It ate the young starlings that were in a nest near by. It was not threatening to my girls who are 8 weeks old. I had to shoo it out at 9 PM tonight to get it away from the house. I usually let black snakes live....BUT.... this one is so into my building and I have to leave others in charge in three weeks.

What do YOU do?

-- Anne (whocares@who.com), June 02, 2000

Answers

I've had snakes in our chicken house before. In fact we had ducks a few yrs back and a black snake was coiled up in the cornor of the barn with a 3 month old muscovy duck swallowed til the neck. I hate snakes and any I see i load the gun and shoot. They will steal eggs too.

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), June 02, 2000.

Where there are chickens there are usually mice and/or rats. King snakes or black ratsnakes prefer mice and rats but find the other "pickins' in the coup make for a nice variety.

-- Jim Roberts (jroberts1@cas.org), June 02, 2000.

I would NOT kill the snake. He just needs to be relocated. You'll feel much better about YOURSELF if you handle this in a humane and respectful way. The snake has nothing to warrant being killed, and even if he ate a chick or something, in my book that still would not call for him to be killed. Snakes gotta eat too, and in the long run he probably will do you more good than bad by living on your farm. If an animal is not posing a clear threat to your family, then it should not be killed. Now, a fox or something that massacres numerous chickens or ducks or whatever, I can see how someone would lose tolerance for that. (I am NOT saying it should be killed, just that I can see how someone might get to that point). But to kill a snake just for being a snake...I don't understand that mentality.

-- Shannon (Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary) (gratacres@aol.com), June 02, 2000.

Starlings being major pests, imported from Europe, it is no great loss that the snake ate the young ones. I agree with those who say that snakes are much more use than harm. Try to relocate it, or make the hen-house snake proof if you can. It will undoubtedly eat more mice and rats than eggs.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 02, 2000.

We've never had this problem, but what I would recommend is to find out how it gets in and fix the coup.

-- Kelly (Abamek@aol.com), June 02, 2000.

Most snakes are the good guys. If the black snakes you have are like the big black pine snakes we have around here then they arent a poultry concern, not even the 6&7 footers. On the rare occasion that some kind of snake was able to avoid the turkeys and pigs AND get to a size to be dangerous to poultry AND started to cause a problem...I ate it. Pin it down with a stick, whomp him on the head with another, chop off the head, slit down the belly, peel him like a bannanna, cut into 3-4" pieces and panfry him then add roux, then white wine, sauteed onions, button mushrooms and the same herbs you use on your baked chicken. MMM...MMM...GOOD!

-- William in WI (thetoebes@webtv.net), June 02, 2000.

OOPS!!! I see there are some snake friendly folks here, sorry to have offended you with the manner in which I control snakes. When I was young I was bitten by a black snake.. I am scared to death of snakes. We also have copperheads and mocassins here too. I recently lost a baby goat to a snake bite. I have no reason to like them and if you want to save the snake then I suggest you find the time to travel here and catch it. I don't mean to be rude about this nor offend, just wanting to explain my position. I vehemently began to hate snakes after Gypsy died. She suffered so. but... the good news is with our chickens free ranging we don't see many snakes. We have a flock of about 50 give or take.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), June 02, 2000.

Bernice, no offense -- I just don't think it makes much sense to kill one of the natural pest controls we have. However, if I saw a poisonous snake on my property I would kill it without hesitation. There are enough non-poisonous ones to take its place! I should add that I've never been afraid of snakes the way many people seem to be, so they don't bother me that way. Also not afraid of spiders, but if I see one in the house, I kill it!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 02, 2000.

kathy,

You're right, it does not make semse to anyone else but me or someone who is afraid of snakes. Fortunately we have not had to deal with snakes in 2 yrs.. "knock on wood..."" Except for the one that bit Gypsy. Now spiders... we have recluses here so they definately become chicken food.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), June 02, 2000.

Hre's the update....

This morning the snake was caught and tangled in the poultry/bird netting over one of the runs. Had wrapped itself tightly, especially in the middle where his last meal was sitting. Became very defensive when I got close to see. A mockingbird joined in by spending an hour sitting on the post and flashing its wings.

I thought it might free itself, but after some time, about 3 hours all together, I put it out of its misery and killed it. A very difficult thing to do for me. The snake was cut into, in several places, from the thin plastic netting and was not likely to survive, especially not in this heat here today, if it had to wait to digest more.

I am not pleased with the outcome, as I had planned to re-locate it to a state park about 6 miles away. Thanks for all the feedback.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), June 02, 2000.

Anne: sorry to hear about the death of the snake, especially since you were going to try to relocate him. I think your intentions count for something. Even at the very end, you meant well. Strange, how problems resolve themselves sometimes, huh?

-- Shannon (Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary) (gratacres@aol.com), June 02, 2000.

In the Garden of Eden---Almighty God put this "thing" between man and the serpent. Old Mr. snake will get his head stomped whilst man will get his heel bruised. I hate snakes and don't mind letting people know---I'll kill everyone I see! I can find no good for them at all. Rats and mice? Thats why they make de con, barbait and posioned wheat. I also hate moles that dig up my yard and destroy my garden. Solution for those is a 12ga. shotgun. Don't even have to bury'm. Snakes makes good fertllizer for my trees. I guess they ARE good for something after all. Last winter, right before Christmas time, wife and I were in a city near home. I told'r I was gonna go to the pet store and look at puppy dogs while she shopped at Sears. She said she'd catch up with me there. I noticed ole santy claus was settin out front to store gettin his picture taken with little kids and puppy dogs from the store. I walked on in the store and headed toward the back - past the puppies. It was absolutely wall to wall people with kids runnin around everywhere. As I got to the back of the store a young lady asked me if she could help me find something. It just fell out of my mouth--- "I heard you had a snake killin goin on down here and was wonderin if we were supposed to bring our own club or do you guys furnish it"? She was really excited and said "OH! We dont' kill snakes in here"! She started heading toward the front to "tattle" on me. I headed out the door as she was pointing me out to her boss. Met my wife outside- she asked why I was in such a hurry. Said she wanted to see the puppies too. Told'r it was too crowded in there. I was back in the store last weekend and had an "escort" for the few minutes I was in it. Of course, I wasn't serious about the snake killin--but THEY didn't know it. Humor makes the world go round.

-- hoot gibson (hoot@otbnet.com), June 02, 2000.

Snake skins make great hat bands

-- Okie-Dokie (www.tommycflinstone@aol.com), June 03, 2000.

Anne,

Sorry to hear of your experience. Like Shannon said, sometimes things resolve themselves. Personally, I think snakes are an important part of our ecosystem. While I will kill poisonous snakes if close to the house I would not consider killing a king snake! I think the best approach is to educate ourselves about what snakes are dangerous and which are helpful. Bernice, I understand your dislike after losing a critter. Still, not all snakes are dangerous. I can honestly say I am happy to have beneficial snakes in my garden and around my homestead. Kim

-- kim (fleece@eritter.net), June 04, 2000.

In Texas these are chicken snakes. We use golf balls (you could use ceramic eggs also) in the nest boxes now (stopped a problem we were having with hens pecking at eggs) and the chicken snakes can't tell the difference between these an eggs. We find a snake every once in a while with a golf ball in it to big to fit back out through the wire. Yep, we kill our snakes here, and get our ball back also. We have had a chicken snake eat a whole litter of baby rabbits. Keeping the eggs picked up when the door is open during the day, and keeping everything mowed really well around the chicken coop has pretty much eliminated our snake problem. In fact the only snake we have seen this year was in my sister's yard next to us, that her son mows way to infrequently. Relocating an animal that only lives by instinct wouldn't work very well, I would think. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 04, 2000.

Black Racers are reported (in the book about our state's wildlife) as having a range of about 25 acres. I have successfully removed them before, including the 5 foot 3 inch beauty living in our basement when we moved in. "Simone" was stunning, and never seen again.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), June 04, 2000.

I had a chicken snake getting my eggs and then I surprised him one day and reached in and caught him. I carried him about a quarter mile away and let him go. In the meantime I put wooden eggs in the nests. Three days later he was back but this time he had swallowed the wooden egg. So I caught him again shook the wooden egg out and this time I carried him about 2 miles away and hadden seen him since. As for the rattlers and other poisonous ones I got no use for them and if I see one he's going to be a hatband.

-- Gary Mattox (rgmattox@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

I just posted a message yesterday about my Mixed Chicks (4 Black Aulastrops (sp), 4 barred rocks and 4 silver spangled hamburgs. I also bought my wife a small bantam with feathers on its legs and put it with them. Today, I went down there and it was just after dark and there was a smake in the pen. I got so upset that I just grabbed it by the tail and banged it against the wall and ground until it was dead. I pulled it apart and squeezed a baby barred rock out of it. Shannon, I'm sorry and I repent. You are right. You shouldn't kill something that is just trying to find food but I just lost my cool. Also, I wanted to see if it had eaten any of the chicks. It (the snake) had killed 4 (including my wife bantam.) Also, what if you relocated it and it ate someone else's chicks? Enough said. Eagle.

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 08, 2000.

We had a problem with king snakes eating our eggs and chicks. This is how we resolved the problem. We built several snake cages. Put in hay, some logs, stick and water containers for them. Everytime we found a king snake in the chicken pen, we would transfer it to one of the snake pens. Feed the snake an egg every few days, everyone was happy. By last fall, we had 7 snakes. When the time came for the snakes to go into hibernation, we took them out of the cages, and distributed them over our property. I'm sure they will all be back this spring, but once again we will just share with them. The only thing is...you have to check the nests several times a dayk in order to get the snakes before they eat everything.

-- cfw (c_wentworth@hotmail.com), April 15, 2001.

Altho I collect eggs all day long, I found 3 black snakes on 3 different days, eating eggs in the nest boxes last year. I shot all 3 of them. I've never had a rodent problem, and I will shoot anything that bothers mine! Haven't seen a snake since I got guineas. Don't know if it's coincidence or if they're doing a good job.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), April 16, 2001.