How many eggs can a snake eat?

[dadsdeercamp]

I'm talking about one snake. My son has a 7 foot boa and he only eats 1 or 2 rats a month and can go 6 months without eating anything.I've seen a large bull snake (5-6 footer) eating a rat out at the barn about a month ago. But i just cant see one snake taking enuff eggs that you would even notice. I will kill any predator i find in my coop. but dont see any need to kill snakes that dont pose a threat to my birds or family.

just my two cents

 

[Impress]

I guess put a dozen in there and see what happens?

 

[dadsdeercamp]

my sons snake will not eat eggs she only eats warm fury critters like fresh killed rats.

 

[Lesliewine]

actually I had 6 eggs disappear in one day But never seen the snake to a couple days later coming back for seconds

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I'm talking about one snake. My son has a 7 foot boa and he only eats 1 or 2 rats a month and can go 6 months without eating anything.I've seen a large bull snake (5-6 footer) eating a rat out at the barn about a month ago. But i just cant see one snake taking enuff eggs that you would even notice. I will kill any predator i find in my coop. but dont see any need to kill snakes that dont pose a threat to my birds or family.

just my two cents

I am unable to tell you how many eggs that a snake can eat in one sitting. Mostly because once I discover a egg eating snake it never eats another egg. But I have seen the aftermath of a snake eating at leas 4 eggs at one time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It’s going to depend on the size and probably breed of snake. I’ve had a 5’ black racer take 4 eggs at a time from under a broody, stay away a couple of days to digest them, then come back for 4 more. That one was hard to catch. I’ve had a 2’ black racer eat one 1-week-old baby chick and no more. It could not get back out of the brooder through the hole it came in so I was able to dispatch that one immediately. I never did catch the one that was getting two at a time so I don’t know what kind or size it was. But a snake has a clear pattern, eat what it can, stay away to digest them, then come back for more. I’ve had snakes come in the middle of the day and overnight. No clear pattern for time of day.

Yes a snake can go a long time between meals, but just because it “can” does not mean it “will” when an easy food source is available.

 

[Lesliewine]

well this is about a 5 foot black snake cant catch him in the act But we have to close Our chickens up at night Because the yard they free range in is in the woods so we are afraid a wild animal would kill them Be cause we have seen a red Fox a couple weeks ago just right down the road from our house wasn't even a block away But I go in coop and do a walk through look and check under shelves and check the whole coop before I close them up for the night We also lost a baby chick yesterday evening sometime no sign of chick anywhere we still have 3 though But this snake is really sneaky because I check several times a day trying to catch him and haven't been able to catch him eating eggs or after he has consumed one because you can tell when they have ate one because it takes a while to digest so you can see a bulge in that area we ran one out Sunday but we caught him before he got the egg he was after But we run him off well my husband got him out of the coop But you would think he would want something tastier then a egg Like one of theses rabbits we have a lot of rabbits around our house and plenty of wild bird and am sure they are plenty of wild life here in the woods so was wondering if anyone had a idea of about how many they could eat in a day and how they have to wait between meals

 

[Lesliewine]

so what happen to the snake that ate 4 eggs

 

[Ridgerunner]

so what happen to the snake that ate 4 eggs

Good question. I saw it once in the nest with the broody hen before the eggs started disappearing so I’m really sure which one it was, but it got away before I could stop it. I now keep a garden hoe in the coop, one with a broken handle so it’s short enough I can use it in enclosed spaces.

A couple of times since I’ve had a black racer snake that size swallow the golf balls I keep in my nests and get stuck in the coop. They can’t get back out of the hole they came in so I can deal with them. I did recover the golf balls, those snakes did not live. Was one of those the one that was eating eggs out from under the broody? I don’t know. The first of these was a few months later and as soon as I saw what was happening I started gathering eggs several times a day so the snake did not have a free meal with those eggs.

I’ve also caught and released snakes on a friend’s property. I have her permission, she even requested it, and she is far enough away I’m not worried about them returning. I’ve given her a couple of rat snakes and a black racer, but that racer was not big enough to be the one. I generally leave non-poisonous snakes alone unless they are in the coop. I’m OK with them being in the area and eating mice. I have seen black racers and rat snakes over 6’ long around but they were not in the coop so I did not bother them.

I’m all in favor of removing animals that threaten my chickens, I’ve removed several raccoons, possum, skunk, and rats as well as snakes. That reduces the predator pressure on your chickens because you are removing threats that are actually active on your property. But I once shot 16 rabbits out of my garden before I got the one that was eating my beans just as they sprouted. There were probably a few eating those beans but not all were. When you shoot one, you don’t know if you got the guilty party or not but when the beans get to grow you have real strong clue.

Earlier this spring I had a skunk go through a pet door into my garage and spray. Since then I’ve trapped and disposed of seven skunks in the general area. Did I get the guilty party? I don’t know.

I can’t tell you what happened to that specific snake. I can tell you that some snakes that fit the general description are no longer with us. And it was not four eggs. It was four eggs twice then the final two last. I did hatch chicks in the incubator and gave them to her to raise. The snake did not bother the chicks but I housed her at night in a different coop until the chicks were bigger.

 

[Lesliewine]

well been trying to catch a black snake that has been visiting the coop daily and lost a baby chick this week Not sure if it was a hawk or black bird or snake got it but no signs of it no where But the black snake that has been visiting daily I went to close my chickens and baby chicks up for the night and he was there I had collected the eggs earlier today it has been so hot so my chickens have slowed down on laying But this black snake has been hanging around for two weeks I guess, well we had to get rid of him Because he was eating all the eggs unless I caught them right after they laid them which is never the same time every day so hopefully it will be awhile before another one finds the coop Because our coop is in a fenced in area in the woods so they can free range at much as possible We will have snakes But Before we moved to our new house we had a coop in our back yard and we had a lot black snakes there in summer too But anywhere you have chickens you are going have snakes But at least it is a black snake and not a poisonous snake But they still scare me But if I have to deal with them because my husband is at work I figured out if I spray them with wasp spray they will leave on there on they don't like to be sprayed for sure much less wasp spray I would guess it would burn but we have a creek on our property so they can go take a bath to get it off