Problem of snakes and chickens?

[Ninie]

Hello, I'm not sure I'm on the right forum to get an answer but as I would like to find an ecological solution ...
We have a henhouse surrounded by wire netting and covered with a protective net (to dissuade our friends the hawks from decimating our "flock"
Our dwarf hens brood and raise the chicks but here it is, the "piou-pious" disappear at the rate of one every 3 or 4 days. After analyzing the situation: no trace of a struggle, no pile of feathers, no holes in the fence (I reinforced it with a net at the bottom), no result with the installation of a trap for small pests , we think it is a snake or a viper (there are quite a few in our corner) which comes to take its tithe. We would rather capture or deter her than kill her. Repellents are expensive and we are afraid the hens will eat them. So does anyone have an old recipe from behind the bundles?
Thank you in advance

[Christine]

Hi Ninie,

At Priori, there are not many solutions, except to cut the grass around the chicken coop and to remove all the hiding places (piles of pebbles ...): in short, to make the environment unpleasant to your visitor. But hey, if she knows that she will easily find food she could still continue ...

[yanyan26]

Hello

For my part, I do not think it's the snakes that are the cause of the disappearance of your pioupious
Chickens are excellent snake killers
I would rather look for rats, a weasel (are there passages under the roof of the chicken coop)
Or maybe it can be other hens or a rooster.
I knew the case where a chicken damaged by the heat of the cock was made live empty of his guts by his girlfriends

What is the mesh size of your grill?

[Ninie]

Thank you for your answers. I know Yanyan that chickens kill snakes, but a weasel would be too big to get into the mesh, and they live at night and it's during the day that chicks disappear, when they start to be a bit reckless and move away from their mother. That's why I doubled the bottom of the aviary with the net that I sewn on the fence (three days of work, phew!). The chickens led their young along the fence and they went through the mesh to look for insects on the other side. I thought it would solve our problem but it's not enough. When the rats, we have two cats, who are excellent hunters we leave the aviary open at night so they can go (the chickens are safe in a well closed wooden cabin.)
We had already had the problem last year and our son-in-law had installed traps but we did not take anything.
Yesterday morning one chick had the top of the head raw, I removed it so that others do not eat it (you're right it happens, and often enough if you are not vigilant enough). In my opinion, the Beast had tried to catch him, but he was perhaps a bit too big for her. In short, the problem remains. I think I will end up using repellents even if it makes me sweat to spread this kind of product. See the pious-pious disappear one after the other is too annoying (especially we would prefer to eat them!). thanks anyway

[phil53]

I think rather of a weasel. It can go through a hole the size of a piece of 2 €. On a full enclosure, it's easy to leave a hole this size.
Snakes do not like chickens, in addition to the risk, they are disturbed by the noise they make.

[yanyan26]

I think I will end up using repellents even if it makes me sweat to spread this kind of product. See the pious-pious disappear one after the other is too annoying (especially we would prefer to eat them!). thanks anyway

Hello
Repellent !!! But against what?
Already you have discovered a chick with a live head so it's not a snake.
Try to separate the mother and her young from the others for a few days while they grow a little to see if it is not one of the chickens

[Ninie]

No, they are not the other chickens. It's 20 years that I raise, hens tend to attack and kill those who are injured (young or old). They also attacked the chicks when we bought small 4 or 5 weeks, but since they are born in our homes and raised by dwarf hens, we have no more problems of this kind. Mothers protect their babies and even our big cock does not dare rub it. The weasels bleed their prey and do not hesitate to attack adults, there chicks disappear completely, there is no trace. That's why we thought of a snake. The big snakes and some vipers feed on chicks and, who has already seen a snake feed (which is my case) knows that it swallows its prey all round.

[Arthur_64]

It is true that chickens grease snakes normally.

Hedgehogs are effective too.

Do you find any particular faeces around the hen house?

[Ninie]

No, no specific droppings. I know that the history of the snakes in the henhouse, it sounds a little weird, but, we reviewed all the "pests" (typically human name) that we know, our son-in-law who is a hunter and trapper inspected the henhouse and found nothing. It's the mystery of the Beast of the Morvan !!!!!
Here is the photo of the piou-piou who was "assaulted" (yuck!)

[raymon]

It is probably tyros rats it is common, sometimes they lose their mother of sight and die.
The best technique is to lock the mother and cubs on a small surface (2 or 3 m2) for about 3 weeks so you will lose very few chicks. Better yet add a bulb of 100w for the heat and feed with organic chick food.