I have been letting the hens free range during the day when I am home. The other day when I was out in the barn I heard one of the hens give an alert, so I checked it out. She was in the weeds standing very alert when suddenly she jumped and in a panic came running to me and the dog, right behind her was a three foot long brown snake moving fast. I carry a little pocket pistol around the house, and with a quick draw that make Roy Rodgers proud I dispatched the viper with a quick shot to the head. It stopped immediately, stone cold dead. Lucky shot! Shortly after I collected eggs - It looked like that scared hen layed four eggs, though I suspect she had some help. I would not want to use this little pistol on a large rattle snake, because the effective range with rat shot is about four feet, the same range as the larger snakes. Plan, B, get a hoe or shovel with a long handle.

Yesterday evening I noticed one of the hens standing still and all fluffed up by the out door fire place. I went to her and her head and neck were badly swollen, no doubt a copper head bite. She didn't want to move so I picked her up and put her in the chicken house. She got on the roost and just rocked back and forth like she was drunk with her eyes closed, then when the other hens came to roost I noticed a second hen with a fat head though not as