# Keeping Snakes Out of Chicken Coop



## Martin's Grove (May 13, 2013)

Anyone have a tried & true method for keeping snakes out of chicken coop?


----------



## farmgirl01 (May 13, 2013)

No, I wish I knew one.  I just expect to see one a year.  I found a huge snake skin yesterday.  I do have a snake trap set , baited with eggs.   I looked up snake traps on Youtube and found some really good ideas.  Some ppl use moth balls, but I never have.


----------



## Fluffygal (May 13, 2013)

My coop has hardy wire on it. So far no snakes. If you put those fake ceramic eggs in the snake will eat it and not be able to digest. It will kill the snake. Generally if a snake is getting that means you have a hole big enough for it to pass through. Just plug up the spot and look for any other weak areas that need fixing.


----------



## bcnewe2 (May 13, 2013)

I've seen snakes go through tiny holes that you'd never think they could. Don't know any methods, but maybe hardware cloth which is a type of wire that has tiny little square holes?


----------



## xa.logan (May 13, 2013)

We used to raise quail and to DRAMATICALLY reduce the snake population we used an old trick my grandpa taught me. We took an empty quail egg and poked a small hole in both ends then put a treble hook one end, threaded the fishing line through the other hole in the egg and placed the egg where snakes could be getting in. The snake swallows the egg and the hook gets caught in its digestive tract. It might also work with chickens. Though it's not a true repellant, we could tell a large decrease in the amount of snakes we saw.


----------



## recardomaurice12 (Jun 12, 2013)

This type of chicken coop http://www.cheapsheds.com.au/chicken-coop/ would certainly help you with the dilemma you are facing ..


----------



## danielburns271 (Jun 24, 2013)

> This type of chicken coop http://www.cheapsheds.com.au/chicken-coop/ would certainly help you with the dilemma you are facing ..


Indeed a very valuable possession to  keep snakes out from your coop.


----------



## cgmccary (Aug 27, 2013)

I'd like a couple of snakes in my coops to eat the mice right now. I even asked my brother to catch me a couple to put in there. I think my geese keep the snakes away mostly. My chickens eat the small ones. The only snakes in the past I have relocated were Gray Rat snakes who were eating eggs only & a small Timber Rattler.


----------



## bj taylor (Sep 21, 2013)

I would like to find a cooperative relationship w/a good rat snake.  I've started getting mice in my little barn & a good snake would be helpful.  I've got an area in my actual coop part of the barn that isn't closed up tight enough though.  I need to take care of that little detail.


----------



## bubba1358 (Sep 21, 2013)

Deer netting! Found a dead snake tangled in it this morning. Of course, this was on the perimeter fence....

http://homesteadcatholic.blogspot.com/2013/09/predator-proof.html


----------



## MDres (Oct 7, 2013)

I've got some big black rat snakes around, and I welcome their presence. They really help keep the mice population down, which I REALLY appreciate, because I hate using mouse traps and refuse to use poison. So far, none have gotten in the coop that I know of. An easier target for them would be the eggs that my hens lay in the stack of small square bales in the barn. And if they do steal an egg here or there, I guess I'll just consider it fair pay for them offering their mouse eradication services to me!

My husband on the other hand.... Is deathly afraid of snakes, no matter what kind or size. I have to beg and plead with him to leave the black snakes alone.

Any copperheads we find on our property, however, well, they just have to die. Immediately. I don't want their "services".


----------



## Team Taylor (Oct 8, 2013)

Black or King snakes do keep other snakes away. Especially Copper Heads. I don't mind the trade off of a few eggs for a natural snake and mouse "trap". Buy one more hen to supply payment to the snake.


----------



## Baymule (Oct 8, 2013)

Martin's Grove said:
			
		

> Anyone have a tried & true method for keeping snakes out of chicken coop?


HARDWARE CLOTH.


----------



## Scooby308 (Mar 6, 2014)

Sadly we are infested with copperheads. Couple of year back I killed one that was 4'. Had I known the average length was 3' or less I would have had it mounted. Lol

Now just across the road on dad's farm he has more woods and more black snakes and rat snakes. He has never in 15 years seen a copperhead on his place. I have nearly all pasture and have seen nothing but copperheads on my place. 

Dad had some plastic netting around his cherry trees to keep birds out and we lost two beautiful 4' black snakes. Also, I have used dryer sheets and mothballs in out buildings and my camper and they seem to work. Not sure they would be great to have in a coop. I carry a .38 snubby with birdshot in my hip pocket for copperheads. 




 
This rat snake was pushing 8'. The handle is 18". And yes, I found him the hard way by reaching up and pulling down on the handle. I jumped like I was a teenager.


----------



## GrimshelsGrazingGoats (Jun 7, 2014)

I've always heard a snake want pass a line of lime. When my dad built his chicken pen I bought a bag of lime and threw around both sides of the fence. Haven't had a snake in there in three years.


----------



## goatgurl (Jun 7, 2014)

now, i can't tell you how to keep snakes out of the hen house but i can tell you they taught me quickly to either gather the eggs in the daylight or take a flash light with me after dark.  even though i know a big king snake won't hurt me i also know they can make me hurt myself and the poor hen i knocked off the roost on my way out the door.


----------



## greybeard (Jun 8, 2014)

cgmccary said:


> I'd like a couple of snakes in my coops to eat the mice right now. I even asked my brother to catch me a couple to put in there. I think my geese keep the snakes away mostly. My chickens eat the small ones. The only snakes in the past I have relocated were Gray Rat snakes who were eating eggs only & a small Timber Rattler.


I had a pair of geese for about 6 months. They had a pen located and  nested in a big plastic barrel at the end of my garden. Was working the garden one day, and noticed both geese right in the corner of the pen, and even from a distance, could see 2 very large black snakes in the barrel devouring the eggs in the nest. I killed both snakes, but it was a full day before the geese would return to the nest. They were terrified of the snakes. Both were about 4 /2 feet long and as thick as my wrist.


----------



## M.L. McKnight (Jun 9, 2014)

I keep a flock of guineas roaming around my farm, they take care of the snakes and are world champs when it comes to dealing with ticks.


----------



## GrimshelsGrazingGoats (Jun 22, 2014)

M.L. McKnight said:


> I keep a flock of guineas roaming around my farm, they take care of the snakes and are world champs when it comes to dealing with ticks.


What else do your guineas eat? By any chance do they horseflies as well.


----------



## M.L. McKnight (Jun 23, 2014)

GrimshelsGrazingGoats said:


> What else do your guineas eat? By any chance do they horseflies as well.



My guineas eat pretty much anything that crawls, flies or stays still long enough. Snakes, lizards, frogs, ticks, spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, grasses, leaves, feed, crop seed that they scratch and find, etc... They have nearly ended up on the menu a time or two for messing up my rows and being occasional terrors in my gardens; BUT the fact that I haven't had many ticks on anything in nearly three years has saved them from ending up on a dinner plate.


----------



## Okie chicken (Aug 18, 2014)

A large rat snake has killed 2 of my hens.  It ate the smaller hen about a month ago.  The hen it killed today was too large for him to eat.  What can I do?  Both times it happened during the day, not at night.


----------



## M.L. McKnight (Aug 19, 2014)

Okie chicken said:


> A large rat snake has killed 2 of my hens.  It ate the smaller hen about a month ago.  The hen it killed today was too large for him to eat.  What can I do?  Both times it happened during the day, not at night.



Keep guineas with your hens, if they are in a coop- use a smaller wire, put out some quick lime in the areas you think the snakes might be hanging out, burn brush piles, clear weeds/scrub, sprinkle a little sulfur around your coop and in places the snakes might be, get a few barn cats, try and set a trap OR pay some little boy a $1.00 bounty on every hide he brings you. 
I love snakes but they quickly fall out of favor when they show up around the barnyard.


----------



## Bryan99705 (Nov 18, 2014)

Have heard loose fruit tree netting will tangle them up and kill them, have heard shrimp pots work great for the "can't kill a snake group" and have seen guineas destroy any snakes they can get to


----------

