My Little Hoop Coop

[farmerjan]

Have you ever seen a garter snake bothering the chickens? The one in your picture is not one I have ever seen even going after the eggs.... they are like 80-90 % earthworm and small amphibian eaters.... and like things like smaller insects like garden caterpillars.
Not saying they might not eat a bantam baby chick, just that I have never seen them go after a warm blooded animal... they like salamanders and frogs too. I used to catch them and study them when I was a kid. My mom didn't like snakes much, but her sister, my aunt, like amphibians and she got me to "liking them"...
Now, black snakes are really bad around the bantams... they will eat eggs and baby chicks in a heartbeat. They also eat mice and such... so had to be discouraged from getting in the chicken coops....but were great in the cattle barns for keeping the mouse population in check.

 

[Mini Horses]

Here, rat snakes. They will crawl under a broody hen and take eggs -- yes, found one doing that and killed it on the spot!!!! I hate those things. They will hide and keep emptying each nest. I watch for them each year.

 

[fuzzi]

Have you ever seen a garter snake bothering the chickens? The one in your picture is not one I have ever seen even going after the eggs.... they are like 80-90 % earthworm and small amphibian eaters.... and like things like smaller insects like garden caterpillars.
Not saying they might not eat a bantam baby chick, just that I have never seen them go after a warm blooded animal... they like salamanders and frogs too. I used to catch them and study them when I was a kid. My mom didn't like snakes much, but her sister, my aunt, like amphibians and she got me to "liking them"...
Now, black snakes are really bad around the bantams... they will eat eggs and baby chicks in a heartbeat. They also eat mice and such... so had to be discouraged from getting in the chicken coops....but were great in the cattle barns for keeping the mouse population in check.

I'm keeping them out to protect chicks and eggs. The snake I caught was a rat snake, 3' or maybe 4' long. I rehomed it. The silhouette is possibly a black racer, or a rat snake. I think it was between the hardware cloth and the tarp. It's why I put hardware cloth over the entire coop even though I am planning on adding a roof to this one.

 

[fuzzi]

Here, rat snakes. They will crawl under a broody hen and take eggs -- yes, found one doing that and killed it on the spot!!!! I hate those things. They will hide and keep emptying each nest. I watch for them each year.

I only kill copperheads. I have seen racers and rat snakes, brown snakes, green snakes, ring-necked and worm snakes in my yard. All non-venomous get a pass because they go after mice, rats, insects.

 

[Mini Horses]

I have 10 ferals cats for mice. If the damned rat ones would leave my hens alone, the could live but, won't. There's plenty of them, so the couple that come here won't hurt the species existence.