How do I keep snakes from eating the chicken eggs? There are some laying boxes outside the henhouse and that's where I'm sure some of the eggs are missing from maybe from inside too but I'm not sure about that. Any ideas?

-- kathy (davidwh6@juno.com), July 02, 2001

Answers

This may be an old wives tale or it could be effective, I have not tried it myself, but was told this by my grandfather. He said to use a "bait egg" that has the yolk blown out like they did for christmas ornaments. Fill it with glass shards, clean the human scent off by rolling in the coop and putting a little yolk on it. When the snake swallows it and contracts on it, you've gutted him. Sounds crazy enough to be true.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), July 02, 2001.

I always let the snakes have a few eggs as payment for keeping the rats away. They don't eat many and I have no rats. Only black snakes receive this treatment, all the rest are killed.

-- Don (hihilldon@yahoo.com), July 02, 2001.

If you keep the place cleaned up you may not have rats for the snakes to eat. I don't want rats or snakes! What I do is that I keep a white golf ball in each nest. It serves two purpose. One is if a snake swallows it, he will not be able to break it and digest it when he wraps hisself around a tree. Thus killing the snake. Second if you keep a golf ball in the nest it helps break the habit of chickens eating eggs. Not 100% successful but helps.

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), July 02, 2001.

Your local feed store probably sells wooden eggs. Be sure to keep the real eggs picked up regularly(don't leave any in the nest overnight), and keep a wooden egg or two in the nest all the time... I don't care for snakes, even though they do eat rodents, they'd just as soon eat baby chickens.

-- athome (athome@home.com), July 02, 2001.

Try emptying an egg and fill it with salt, the snake will die from all the salt.

-- Bruce Burdge (comfreybruce@richmond.com), July 03, 2001.

I was told to try this one-Get 30 lb. fishing and tie a number 3 hook on the line, then get an egg and put the egg on the hook with scotch tape with the small end around the egg with the tape going length ways so he cannot slip the tape off. When it swallows the egg you got him hooked, have it tied down and hid behind some boards so nothing else cannot reach it. The other ones sound very good also, Try different ones and let us know which works best.

-- Mary (marwel@microserve.net), July 03, 2001.

I shot 3 snakes last summer. Haven't seen any since. My covered pens are chainlink. I've attached 1/2 inch hardware cloth from the ground up 4 feet. Other predators can't reach in and grab a bird and they can't climb the hardware cloth.

Some folks use electric wire ~ one wire a couple of inches off the ground and another wire a few inches farther up.

Collect the eggs as often as you can. Those chicken snakes, as well as different breeds, will also eat your birds, 'specially the smaller birds.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 04, 2001.

We have killed several snakes that are black with a yellow stripe, is that a chicken snake? Thanks,

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), July 05, 2001.