Chews through chicken wire?

[WingItRanch]

I dont mind snakes as long as they are grass snakes or eat vermin, we have some pretty large black snakes here that have a yellow ring around their necks, the locals call them Indigo's they look like they can take on some of the larger field rats.

There's a phrase in the south: "If It's Indigo, Let It Go."

They're known for hunting poisonous snakes like rattlers and copperheads.

Edited to add: Indigos are black. If they have a yellow ring around their necks, they are a different breed.

 

[Al Gerhart]

The thing about snakes and controlling rodents is that they only eat once or twice a month, during warm weather... their presence might mean rodents don't hang around where they rest between meals, but their resting place will be far from the rodent's nests or tunnels. Net result, a once or twice trip to eat a rat then back to cover for a few weeks digestion. Little impact on rodent population.

 

[eworms]

Dogs can get through hardware cloth if they can get a tooth in. If you install hardware cloth and something seems to be damaging it, definitely reinforce with welded or woven wire.

 

[McChooky]

There's a phrase in the south: "If It's Indigo, Let It Go."

They're known for hunting poisonous snakes like rattlers and copperheads.

Edited to add: Indigos are black. If they have a yellow ring around their necks, they are a different breed.

Those little ring necked snakes don't get very big.

 

[McChooky]

Anything that kills copperheads gets a reprieve

 

[Shadrach]

i have had these chicken runs for about 5 years, they are the typical metal, chicken wire variety, other than occasionally having to backfill couple holes here and there from what i believe are possibly field rats, or small dogs. What could possibly chew threw wire chicken mesh? what ever it is its even trying to chew threw the the roof of the runs as well, where the canvas is not covering. have not lost any poultry or eggs this far, i did notice these huge rats from the surrounding acreages coming in to eat whats left of the feed in the containers, i have stopped feeding the chickens after 4:30pm to make sure there's nothing left for the rats in the evening, the fact that they are there is a threat to my hens, i feel its only a matter of time b4 they turn on the hens, or make them sick since they carry all manner of bacteria or pathogens on their body. I dislike killing them however lately I been considering using the bow and arrow on them. ANY SUGGESTIONS FOLKS?

The first suggestion is don't leave any food out, day or night. Basically this means timed feedings where you leave the food down and supervise while they eat, then lift the food and repeat at next feeding time. Many farms carry out this practice for the reasons you are discovering. It seems everything likes chicken food as well as chicken meat.

An option I have recently discovered (I have a major rat problem and poison/extermination isn't an option) is to put any spilt or spoiled feed with the chicken droppings from the daily coop cleaning in a bucket away from the coop and run. In my experiment, so far at least, the rats go for the bucket with the droppings and spoiled feed in and don't bother trying to dig and gnaw their way into the coop. I've even had a few rats fall into the bucket and drown after a heavy rainfall.

It's win win really. The chicken droppings get cleaned of grains and feed supplying a clean compostable material.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Sounds like you are feeding the very thing that is causing the problem. Does that ever end?

Sanitation is always the best way to deal with rodents. Bulk feed in metal drums with tight lids, an actual rodent proof treadle feeder, most are not, and cleaning up the pathways between the rat's food and its dens so natural predators can get to them.

 

[JPadronMiami]

There's a phrase in the south: "If It's Indigo, Let It Go."

They're known for hunting poisonous snakes like rattlers and copperheads.

Edited to add: Indigos are black. If they have a yellow ring around their necks, they are a different breed.

Interesting, only really seen the ones with the yellow rings around the neck, they are born with it,

The thing about snakes and controlling rodents is that they only eat once or twice a month, during warm weather... their presence might mean rodents don't hang around where they rest between meals, but their resting place will be far from the rodent's nests or tunnels. Net result, a once or twice trip to eat a rat then back to cover for a few weeks digestion. Little impact on rodent population.

makes total sense, Id forgotten that snakes only eat maybe twice a month, and it would make little impact on the rodent population.

 

[McChooky]

I had to spray a big rat snake on my patio last summer to make it leave. He was lying between some Chewy boxes that had arrived earlier in the day and was enjoying the shade.

 

[JPadronMiami]

I had to spray a big rat snake on my patio last summer to make it leave. He was lying between some Chewy boxes that had arrived earlier in the day and was enjoying the shade.

I can understand that, its not too difficult for me to determine what's a bad snake or rat snake, i just treat them all with apprehension and distrust. I usually will make every attempt to move em on and if they are not cooperating and being obstinate .....in very rare cases grab my machete....