Beware of Rat Snakes **GRAPHIC IMAGES**

Hey everyone. I'm posting this as a warning about large rat snakes, which are commonly regarded as helpful to keep around for pest control. We recently had seen several in our coops--one of them over 5 feet long--and caught/released them thinking they were harmless (despite the egg casualty) and ultimately useful for rodent control. We thought wrong. A few days later, while watching our neighbors' poultry, we were horrified to find that one of their turkey poults had been killed by what appears to have been a snake. Her entire head and neck looked wet and was covered in a goopy white material. Here eyes and beak seemed pasted shut. No other visible injuries save for a scratch on her foot. I've since discovered that snake attacks like this are quite common on poultry, especially young/smaller birds (though many have reported seeing full grown hens getting choked by a snake). The snakes will kill/attempt to eat the poor bird but can't get past their shoulders, thus regurgitating them back up. That won't stop them from trying again another day, however. Be forewarned. This is a horrible thing to discover.

Unfortunately, many folks believe that snakes are beneficial, but they absolutely are nothing but opportunistic predators. They will target eggs or various size poultry just as readily as rodents.

Franklinridgefarms said:

Unfortunately, many folks believe that snakes are beneficial, but they absolutely are nothing but opportunistic predators. They will target eggs or various size poultry just as readily as rodents.

Click to expand...

Yes, I was misled by info about keeping them around if you find them in your coop. I understand they do help with rodent problems. So we initially just coaxed them out and let them on their merry way. Now that I know they're behind poultry kills in our neighborhood I may have to take a different tactic when finding them in the coop. Want to eat eggs? I'm annoyed at you, but fine, you beat me to it and obviously I need to crank up security. Go in for one of my chickens? You just declared war.

Interestingly, in this case, there was a duck egg in the coop (a different section, though)--if only the hungry snake had gone for the egg and not the bird. He would've been sated and the poor poult wouldn't have had to die in vain.

buffy-the-eggpile-layer said:

Hey everyone. I'm posting this as a warning about large rat snakes, which are commonly regarded as helpful to keep around for pest control. We recently had seen several in our coops--one of them over 5 feet long--and caught/released them thinking they were harmless (despite the egg casualty) and ultimately useful for rodent control. We thought wrong. A few days later, while watching our neighbors' poultry, we were horrified to find that one of their turkey poults had been killed by what appears to have been a snake. Her entire head and neck looked wet and was covered in a goopy white material. Here eyes and beak seemed pasted shut. No other visible injuries save for a scratch on her foot. I've since discovered that snake attacks like this are quite common on poultry, especially young/smaller birds (though many have reported seeing full grown hens getting choked by a snake). The snakes will kill/attempt to eat the poor bird but can't get past their shoulders, thus regurgitating them back up. That won't stop them from trying again another day, however. Be forewarned. This is a horrible thing to discover.

View attachment 2266120

View attachment 2266121

Click to expand...

Yep. I've lost a few cockerals and pullets in this manner. If I see the snake, I kill it on the spot.

We have many rat snakes around, hundreds maybe. I’ve seen about twenty. I keep them around and would never harm one. Even though they do stuff like that they have the right to live. They are still living animals. It’s like killing chickens and just throwing them away because they are eating snakes, lizards, bugs, or something you want to have around.

JadeFarms said:

We have many rat snakes around, hundreds maybe. I’ve seen about twenty. I keep them around and would never harm one. Even though they do stuff like that they have the right to live. They are still living animals. It’s like killing chickens and just throwing them away because they are eating snakes, lizards, bugs, or something you want to have around.

Click to expand...

That's comparing apples and oranges. I'll do whatever it takes to protect my property.

JadeFarms said:

We have many rat snakes around, hundreds maybe. I’ve seen about twenty. I keep them around and would never harm one. Even though they do stuff like that they have the right to live. They are still living animals. It’s like killing chickens and just throwing them away because they are eating snakes, lizards, bugs, or something you want to have around.

Click to expand...

It's tough. That's my ideal approach, and the one I respect most (I have trouble killing any living thing, down to insects). But I put a lot of time, resources, and care into my very small backyard flock, so even just one loss is a huge one. Of course, since we upped security in our coop I haven't seen one, so hopefully I wouldn't have to deal with that. The neighbors, however, are away and cannot fortify their coop/run of 16 young birds, all of whom are vulnerable.

Was tough to see the sweet healthy poult dead like that, and not eaten either. Total waste of a vibrant life. If anything, it's good to know these snakes can and will kill chickens even if they can't successfully eat them--certainly a think to be vigilant about, ideally dealt with through prevention.

buffy-the-eggpile-layer said:

Yes, I was misled by info about keeping them around if you find them in your coop. I understand they do help with rodent problems. So we initially just coaxed them out and let them on their merry way. Now that I know they're behind poultry kills in our neighborhood I may have to take a different tactic when finding them in the coop. Want to eat eggs? I'm annoyed at you, but fine, you beat me to it and obviously I need to crank up security. Go in for one of my chickens? You just declared war.

Interestingly, in this case, there was a duck egg in the coop (a different section, though)--if only the hungry snake had gone for the egg and not the bird. He would've been sated and the poor poult wouldn't have had to die in vain.

Click to expand...

I grew up around a lot of farmers that let snakes stay around their corn cribs and barns to keep down rodents. I also knew some that had a kill every snake policy. Snakes are like any other predator they will go after what ever they see as a potential food source. I’ve lost eggs and a couple chickens to them. Predator management is a major part of livestock and pet raising. Snakes are just as much of a nuisance as any other predator or pest

dawg53 said:

That's comparing apples and oranges. I'll do whatever it takes to protect my property.

Click to expand...

I'm new to keeping chickens, and my mama bear side is certainly coming to the forefront on this. Docile so long as not poked (aka so long as my livestock are not threatened).

Franklinridgefarms said:

I grew up around a lot of farmers that let snakes stay around their corn cribs and barns to keep down rodents. I also knew some that had a kill every snake policy. Snakes are like any other predator they will go after what ever they see as a potential food source. I’ve lost eggs and a couple chickens to them. Predator management is a major part of livestock and pet raising. Snakes are just as much of a nuisance as any other predator or pest

Click to expand...

It's good to know this. I don't plan to go hunt and kill any and all snakes in my radius, but if our poultry are dying in this way and I find the culprit in their coop...well... Fair game.