I’ve been raising chickens for about two years now. When I was originally planning the layout of the coop and run, I obviously wanted the chickens to be secure from predators. Currently, the coop has a large fenced run, with a bigger yard fence around that for when they free range. My dogs also roam the yard fence and have kept opossums and raccoons from getting any chickens. I only have one opening to the “living quarters” controlled by an automatic door.

So far, I’ve thought I’ve done a pretty good job of protecting the chickens. A good defense in depth strategy if you will.

Today, I went out to the coop to clean and freshen the bedding and when I was flipping it around, I flipped over a 6+ foot rat snake. Looks like it’s been having egg dinners for about a week. And there was a chicken inside laying when this occurred!

There’s a lesson here about how no matter the strength of your security, something can always get through. That snake has been in there a while, so something something insider threat…..Fortunately, no chickens were harmed, just a bunch of lost eggs, but maybe that’s my sensitive data in this analogy.