# Guinea hens -vs- rattlesnakes



## Ellen West

Rattlesnakes are plaguing us about the house. Don't want to lose any gopher snakes though! Left off keeping Guinea hens, but now I'm wondering if that was wise. Do they really keep the snakes down?


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## WstTxLady

they are probably looking for a place to den for the winter...need to kill or remove them ASAP (snakes)


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## Ellen West

Thanks, I do dispatch them with a spade if they're small enough, a .22 rifle if I don't want to get that close. They're around Spring through Fall, all sizes from 12" to 34". Annual count to date in the yard is 14. They hide out in the flower pots, at faucets; the latest a small one on the back step. There must be dens around, but it's pretty much open country for miles, rocky gulches, plenty of gophers and ground squirrels we also battle. Snake heaven! Used Bonide Snake Repellent at the foundation, but I'd need airial spraying to have much effect. (And you start to feel you might tolerate a bite or two just to take your mind off the stench.)

I'm wondering if Guinea hens really kill them or if that's just a myth. Folks kept Guineas 20 years ago on another part of the ranch that has very few rattlers. Our ears are still ringing though...


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## fishhead

You can minimize the number by reducing the number of hiding areas around the yard.

Then I would look at putting some kind of scent around the hiding areas you can't eliminate.


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## Michael W. Smith

I think guineas only eat the very small ones (chickens too - they think they are big worms).

I think what really occurs is that the guineas are on constant patrol looking for bugs and searching such a big area and everyday, the snakes don't like the constant movement and interruptions - and they move elsewhere to quieter spots.

Guineas usually cover the same area around the same time - and they are CONSTANTLY on the move looking for the next tasty bug to show itself. Having a flock of guineas just means a larger area they cover - hoping the neighbor beside them stirs up a bug to come their way. Snakes prefer to be left alone - no one bothering them everyday where they lose more of their "sun nap", due to "movement" that has made them hide.


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## thaiblue12

We have bull snakes and the pair of Guinea hens I have killed it. It was about 4 foot long. They ate some of it but moved on, then the chickens moved in to finish it off. 

My Guineas are fairly quiet. Not sure why, I hope that pattern keeps up  They only yell if they feel the a threat is direct at them. They could careless if the goats snort and start a "stampede", the LGD bark, or any of it. They only care if they think it impacts them, then they fly up a roof and scream for about 5 mins.


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## cathyharrell

I think all poultry discourage snakes. I have a lot of cats too and never see a snake close to the house except the poor little coach whip that I found mutilated in the yard a month or so ago.


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## PotBellyPigs

Ellen West said:


> Rattlesnakes are plaguing us about the house. Don't want to lose any gopher snakes though! Left off keeping Guinea hens, but now I'm wondering if that was wise. Do they really keep the snakes down?


I imagine that guineas will kill and eat small snakes....
However, if you wish them completely gone from your area, pigs are much better.
Years ago, my grandma ran a herd of them to get rid of copperheads and cotton mouths.
It worked extremely well.....
Greg Zeigler,
Alger, Oh.


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## cathyharrell

My one and only wild, tame turkey just came home with a baby coach whip in his mouth.


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## StockDogLovr

I will be moving to the CA central valley foothills where I have been warned about the rattlers, so this thread interests me. I have cats, but I'm worried my young ones will be victims, not the solution! I've been told that chickens and cats make a difference. I'm hoping my mustangs don't get bit in the nose! One has been skunked a couple of times because he wanted to check out the striped critter in his corral! The second one, though, was on the range until he was 2, so hopefully he'll have more sense due to past experience!

What are guineas good for other than snake patrol?


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## PrincessFerf

StockDogLovr said:


> What are guineas good for other than snake patrol?


Guineas are insatiable bug eaters. In our neck of the woods they love ticks and mosquitos, but will try to eat anything that moves. 

That's why we keep them.


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## grandma12703

Guineas, chickens, and cats are all a good idea where there is a snake problem. I didn't know chickens would kill snakes until I walked out to the barnyard one day and couldn't figure out what all the rukus was with the chickens. Well poor rattler...there was about 20 hens who had him cornered and killed it. It was pretty much dead before I got over there and I don't know if he died of shock, a heart attack, or all of the hen picking but he was no more.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl

Too good for many - they will set up a clatter when something different comes by, louder than peacocks. No one will sneak up on you, but they're just as likely to go off when you visit the compost heap. :hrm:

I suppose you could eat one, the different varieties have distinct habits. They tolerate heat but still need accessible water at all times.

I like the "pearl", they're the source of those polka dot feathers, and they're more tame. If you raise one by hand it'll follow you about. Maybe chat up your local 4-H coordinator this fall and see what's going.

By the by, it's dogs that get bitten, and drunks.


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## Cliff

There was a perfect picture for this thread on my fb today.










Guineas hate snakes. If they are too big for them to kill they will still surround them like this and make a deafening ruckus like you've never heard till you go out and get rid of the snake.

I've seen my guineas surround and tear apart and eat a snake half this size. Don't know what happened in this particular situation, the person who posted the pic didn't know.


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## MO_cows

*"What are guineas good for other than snake patrol?" *

Eating bugs, laying eggs, and making a racket.


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## Real Hawkeye

Michael W. Smith said:


> I think guineas only eat the very small ones (chickens too - they think they are big worms).


Yep, I've witnessed my hens eagerly tear baby snakes to pieces, each grabbing whatever part they can, and all pulling in different directions till it comes to pieces and they eat them up.


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## motdaugrnds

Guineas will, indeed, let you know if there is a snake around. (My aunt lived in the sand dunes of West Texas with guineas and they actually killed rattlers and copperheads.)

Here in Virginia, our guineas let us know if "anything" strange comes on our 6 acres; but it is the black snakes that keep the copperheads off as these black snakes are quite territorial.


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## pancho

If I had to choose between having snakes, guineas, or cats it would be hard to make up my mind. Think the snakes might win out.


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## geeksoldier

Ellen West said:


> Rattlesnakes are plaguing us about the house. Don't want to lose any gopher snakes though! Left off keeping Guinea hens, but now I'm wondering if that was wise. Do they really keep the snakes down?





Ellen West said:


> Rattlesnakes are plaguing us about the house. Don't want to lose any gopher snakes though! Left off keeping Guinea hens, but now I'm wondering if that was wise. Do they really keep the snakes down?


Yes to guinea hen on snake
control. They are snake hunters by their very nature. They will either kill them or alert you to their presence, also, if it's too big of a snake for them to tangle with they will throw a fit and warn you. they used them at a college in northern Ca. with great success. when that particular college was made in the 1960s there were so many rattlesnakes there that it was "a problem".


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## robin416

Mine alert if the snake is large or dangerous. 

I had one come running to me last Summer, then run back to the "stick" I could see out in the yard. Called him back. One shotgun later a four foot rattler was dead.


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## geeksoldier

PotBellyPigs said:


> I imagine that guineas will kill and eat small snakes....
> However, if you wish them completely gone from your area, pigs are much better.
> Years ago, my grandma ran a herd of them to get rid of copperheads and cotton mouths.
> It worked extremely well.....
> Greg Zeigler,
> Alger, Oh.


I agree, pigs work VERY well, but only large pigs, small pigs can get bit and die.


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## barnbilder

Snakes are far preferable to guineas.


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