Went to change out the litter in the coop today and found this fatherless critter. Might explain why there was a light egg day recently.

Was in the coop under a box (trying to encourage a new laying location):


Took it out to the edge of the pasture. It was every bit as long as the scoop shovel I have:


Figure it got in one day when the girls were free ranging. Glad we found it before it found a hen.

Arnold voice: "I'll be back'.

It was amazing peaceful. It probably took 5 minutes for it to get frustrated enough to strike and vibrate the tail.

Will they eat rats?

Before my family sold our tobacco pounds to the government and became professional chicken people, I had a few chickens growing up. Dealt with several critters going after them and their eggs.

Damnedest thing I ever found was a black snake that tried to eat a hen, head first. It succeeded in suffocating the hen, but suffocated itself in the process. I found him dead with his head down to the full grown hen's shoulders.

Not sure if he bit off more than he could chew, or failed at choking his chicken. But he never did it again!

Weasels were the worst, though. Theyd find a hole to get in and gnaw their heads off and leave them to rot.

quote:

Originally posted by msfzoe:
Will they eat rats?

They'll eat your weight in rats several times a year.

quote:

Originally posted by msfzoe:
Will they eat rats?

I don't know about rats, but they will eat mice. They don't seen to bother the hens, mine would drop an egg right on top of them .

quote:

Originally posted by olfuzzy:

quote:

Originally posted by msfzoe:
Will they eat rats?

I don't know about rats, but they will eat mice. They don't seen to bother the hens, mine would drop an egg right on top of them .

DO I need to go find it and put it back?

[/QUOTE]
DO I need to go find it and put it back? [/QUOTE]

Never fear, it will find it's way back

Never found one in our chicken coop. Note, been about 65 years since we had a coop. Have rescued probably about 2 dozen of those black snakes, though. I take them to a non-dangerous area and let them go. Around here, that means about 20 yards from the house, into the dead leaves, etc.

I think the hens themselves would be more at risk from rats, than from the snake.

Though, according to this website, apparently they can eat bird eggs if they get hungry enough.

quote:

Diet: Black rat snakes normally eat any kind of rodent that is smaller than they are. This usually consists of small lizards, baby mice and small frogs. Older and larger black rat snakes will eat larger rodents, as well as consume other kinds of mammals. This may include chipmunks, moles and a large variety of mice and rats. Sometimes, a black rat snake, if desperate, will eat bird eggs.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
I think the hens themselves would be more at risk from rats, than from the snake.

Haven't seen any signs of rats, guess the snake was doing its job.

Don't have chickens, but a dog kennel. Every year, black snakes find a home around the dog kennel/s after the mice that are attracted to the leftover dog food.

However, sometimes, my dogs get bitten by those snakes, most of the time in the mouth, neck area, when the dogs go after the snakes.

Found a snakeskin in the eves of my garage next to the dog lot two weeks ago, so th snake is growing.

Black snakes equal no poisonous snakes....good snakey.

I make bush piles through out the area for them to seek shelter. They can also climb trees and lay their eggs in my leaf compost piles.