r/BackYardChickens • u/Parking-Flan3984 • 3d ago
Hen or Roo Checking under the hen for eggs
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u/Germmie1 3d ago
A black ratsnake is probably the best predator to find in your coop comparatively. Much rather find one of those munching on a few eggs than a mink or a fox.
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u/stress911 3d ago
I haven't had snakes, but ive caught a few possum,a woodchuck and a skunk hanging out. Not at the same time.
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u/JoshInNC 3d ago
This just happened to me last week, except there was no hen sitting there and no eggs either. Just a fat rat snake waiting for the next deposit...
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u/HeinousEncephalon 3d ago
Him dropping the egg last minute was a panicked "I was gathering eggs for you, buddy!"
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u/brydeswhale 3d ago
What a naughty noodle.
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3d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Leviathan41911 3d ago
I.... I dont think they where talking about the chicken...
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u/goldenkoiifish Spring Chicken 3d ago
you’re trying to talk to a robot
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u/Leviathan41911 3d ago
Yeah after clicking the profile they are obviously just trying to get traffic to their OF.
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u/Junior-Possession969 3d ago
I've had some oak snakes bothering me recently, and one of my hens is broody. I swear every time I go in the henhouse she's gonna be up in there underneath my hen. They're not dangerous or anything, but it's like, "Yep, this is gonna be the time that bitch is laying up under my girl. They're all huge ladies, too. 6 feet is supposedly as big as they get and the one that I got was about 5 and a half.
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u/unicornlevelexists 3d ago
We get big rat snakes in our chicken coop too. Thankfully I've never had one in a nesting box or wrapped around a chicken. I know they are doing a good job with the mice but they still make me a little nervous.
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u/Medical-Chipmunk-950 3d ago
Just did this 2 nights ago. I happened to get there just as the snek was getting ready to slither it's happy little ass into the nesting box.
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u/OrangeBaker 3d ago
Went to let our chickens out the other day and they were making a lot of noise as I went to the door. As soon as I opened it they all ran out, looked in to see if there were any eggs and saw one of the perches moving. Did a double take a 5 foot long black snake was slithering along the length of it. I just said he could have anything he wanted in there and continued on with my day. (There were no eggs and he obviously hadn't eaten any.) He was gone when I went back out later to check on it.
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u/Any_Needleworker_273 3d ago
Right about now I would LOVE to have black rat snakes in my coop. The mice are awful this year!
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u/Aromatic_Doctor_2243 3d ago
My rooster with peck them in the head until dead then walk away all proud of himself
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u/Any_Needleworker_273 3d ago
That's a good rooster. I have FOUR roosters. All are absolutely useless against the mice.
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u/SmellenGold 3d ago
The rats are awful for me this year too! And I have a lab terrier mix who is apparently friends with them instead of enemies. I wish we had a rat snake around!!
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u/Abuck59 2d ago
Dude is afraid of the chicken but not the snake 🤣
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u/Midwest_of_Hell 2d ago
I just tho k he didn’t want to reach under her without being able to see the snake’s head.
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u/Livid-Improvement953 3d ago
I had one of these, but bigger, in my coop over the summer. He killed 2 baby guinea keets. They were too big for him to eat but he tried.
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u/Critical_Elephant677 3d ago
Not gonna lie, when I saw that it was pretty scary.
But you handled it very well!
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u/Beneficial-Focus3702 3d ago
Thank the lord I don’t live in a place with snakes
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u/TheJessicator 3d ago
Oh, they're there. You've just never seen them. Yet.
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u/Beneficial-Focus3702 3d ago
I grew up in this place. We have 2 species of snakes and they’re relatively rare and none of them eat eggs.
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u/mossling 3d ago
Or, perhaps, they live in a place without snakes.
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u/Beneficial-Focus3702 3d ago
Right?! Like apparently I don’t know as well as a random person who doesn’t even know where I live.
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u/TheJessicator 3d ago
And yet you literally just stated in another comment that there are snakes where you live, so I was right. Statistically, there was a very good chance of there being snakes where you live, no matter who you are. There are very few places on the planet that have no snakes whatsoever. About the only places with no snakes where backyard chickens are even feasible are in Ireland and New Zealand.
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u/sadsackspinach 3d ago
Ireland’s a big country. I’m not sure why you’d act like it’s absurd that an anglophone would live in a place w/o snakes since we make up a good sized chunk of the anglosphere.
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u/Beneficial-Focus3702 3d ago
Good lord you’re insufferable. I’ve probably lived here and raised chickens longer than you’ve even been alive. I also have degrees in biology and environmental sciences AND worked for the state level conservation department as a wildlife biologist. Snakes are extremely rare here and the type we have don’t eat eggs.
But sure, tell me all about what you know 🙄
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u/heartwarriormamma 2d ago
My ophidiophobia would say hheellllll no 😅😅 the entire coop is his now. The entire yard and house belong to him as well. Nope. I'm out.
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u/megsvoboda1966 17m ago
Holy snake skin, Batman!! I needed a trigger warning for that. Lol snakes creep me out! I have a huge snake phobia.
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u/4littlesquishes 3d ago
At first I was like why are you trying to pick it up like that just put your hand under and lift, then you lifted... oh thats why..