Will a Large Black Rat snake try to kill my full sized BA's???

[ijon]

Buckeye chickens are good for mouse control.

 

[Vicker]

I reeeeally don't like snakes. I used to find huge rat snakes every Spring in my coop. I'd go get my husband or neighbor to remove them. Sometimes they returned. Yes, one did kill a full grown hen. It tried to swallow her head first and backed off when it couldn't get past the neck. I haven't had a problem since I changed to using mobile coops.

 

[grandbayou]

I had a hen setting in a 5 gallon bucket... a big chicken snake constricted and killed her before eating all the eggs.. I does happen rarely

Hello BYC.

Just in the process of having a bit of a conflicting conscience. I dont mind snakes, granted ive never met one like the huge monstrosity of a snake that was just in my yard. We've seen it on our property before, i think its a rat snake and we actually have a bit of a mouse problem that i was getting very frustrated at. And i DONT like mice. So i was thinking oh well just let it slither around and eat mice, right? Then i read that they eat chicken eggs and i got concerned. Then i was curious if it would try to attack my chickens....
they know its there and they make the notorious "predator alert" noises when they see it and are around it. I wonder if it'll hurt them?? Losing an egg or two to the snake isnt a huge deal as long as it eats those mice, but i wouldnt want to lose a full sized bird to one.

Any advice welcome. thanks[/QUOT

Hello BYC.

Just in the process of having a bit of a conflicting conscience. I dont mind snakes, granted ive never met one like the huge monstrosity of a snake that was just in my yard. We've seen it on our property before, i think its a rat snake and we actually have a bit of a mouse problem that i was getting very frustrated at. And i DONT like mice. So i was thinking oh well just let it slither around and eat mice, right? Then i read that they eat chicken eggs and i got concerned. Then i was curious if it would try to attack my chickens....
they know its there and they make the notorious "predator alert" noises when they see it and are around it. I wonder if it'll hurt them?? Losing an egg or two to the snake isnt a huge deal as long as it eats those mice, but i wouldnt want to lose a full sized bird to one.

Any advice welcome. thanks

 

[Jack Speese]

I live in the South and big rat snakes are common. They couldn't eat and therefore wouldn't attack an adult chicken, but unfortunately they can and will eat eggs and chicks. I've even caught them under a broody eating eggs out from under her. And I had one eat a full-grown quail once. And kill a large Muscovy duckling. Managed to get the neck down but couldn't get its jaws around the shoulders, but the result was a dead duckling just the same. If they would just eat rodents I wouldn't mind them. Because even a big snake can get through very small holes, in the summer when it's warm enough for them to be about I've raised chicks in homemade brooders with hardware cloth floors and sides, and some solid sides. I covered the floor with a layer of straw or pine straw to protect their feet. I've also put a broody hen with her clutch in such a snake-proof facility and had successful hatches. But of course that only works with a chicken hen; you can't move a duck hen and her nest. I've had the best luck with natural hatches in the spring (i.e., now) when here in the South anyway, it's warm enough so they eggs aren't exposed to extreme temperature changes but still cool enough, at least at night, to keep the snakes inactive.

 

[TCCL]

As long as the snakes are fillng their greedy bellies with your chicken eggs, they won’t be going after anything else. They won’t bother to hunt mice or rats. They just won’t. I tried to coexist with snakes believing they would play a useful role. Nope. Snakes like that will always find and eat innocent baby creatures. Not mice and rats. That’s just been my experience. I kill every snake on sight now. I trap mice and rats when they become a problem. Problems solved.

 

[TCCL]

This snake had at least 5 eggs in it’s belly in addition to the one in it’s mouth. That’s a duck egg by the way. Killing every snake you see will not harm the overall population in the least. For every one you see, imagine how many you don’t see. Killing the ones around your protected area only gets rid of the ones that are making themselves at home within your protectived area. Snakes, go ahead, live in the wild. Stay away from my creatures.

 

[Sea Wolf]

Would love to have a huge black rats nake in residence here. No, it will not harm your chickens. It is after rats and mice. A small chick will be taken, eggs if it finds them but rats and other things like possums will destroy eggs also. If the eggs are collected and not left in there at night, no eggs for snake to find. Hope you get to see him at work frequently. They get into holes and under buildings to get at any rat/mouse they can sniff out. They are after small mammals and will also kill any weasel that it happens to run into.

 

[m1chelle1]

Wow! thank you fore the useful input everyone! Too many posts to reply to, so ill just say this.
The rat snake is absolutely huge. Its at least 5' and it is fat. IDK if it could be considered larger than my chickens, its mouth certainly is not large enough to eat a full grown large chicken, tho. My chickens kill and eat medium to small snakes, small mice that they can catch, and lizards frequently. There is not a chicken out there large or "good enough" to eat this giant of a snake. But if you feel you have a giant freak chicken that could take on this feat, id say let me know, that could be an interesting thing for my chickens to observe.....

I dont think the snake COULD physically eat (ie: fit in their mouth) my full grown fat and heavy Black Australorps, but my worry is that it would "try" (via constriction, etc). Which, i think, is still a concern. Yes, i get the egg eating concerns, but ive never found it inside of my coop. Not saying it hasnt been inside of the coop, there is really no way i could know that. I mean, if i caught it inside of my coop one morning, eating eggs one by one, then yeah, id have a different concern.
Ive gotten such a mixed bag of responses that i think ill just wait and keep an eye out for him/her and see if it causes any issues that i can see or starts to discover/eat eggs. I have a pretty serious mice problem that i am treating in other ways, so if the snakes around here can and will (hopefully) help me kill those suckers off, then id truly rather have that, then have to relocate the snakes off my property. Mice, in my world, are much more of a pest and concern than snakes.....unless snakes start killing off my birds, js. Im not scared of snakes, they dont bother me, and relocating the snake(s) shouldnt be a problem if it comes to that.

Really appreciate the varied responses and input from everyone!!

 

[m1chelle1]

View attachment 1710991 If you get them while it’s cold you can relocate them pretty easily...

LMAO. Im in sub tropical SE NC. It hasnt been "cold" here since Feb. Too late for that

thanks tho. that snake looks like a small version of the one on my property

 

[CLSranch]

Look at my pic. That's a small rat snake on a full grown RIR hen. It was killing my half grown chicks for 2nights and unable to swallow them. I shut them up and it went into the other coop and got on a full grown hen. 2 days later I got a 6 footer. And they won't eat a few eggs they will eat a dozen a day.
Also if there is 1 there is another somewhere close.