I have ten laying hens that I keep in a 1/4 acre pen attached to the side of my barn, with nest boxes and a little free-access henhouse inside the pen.

Recently a rather large rat snake has discovered the pen. He (or she!) comes back every three or four days and eats up as many eggs as he can find.

I appreciate that rat snakes are more beneficial than pesky, and don't mind sharing a few eggs in exchange for keeping the rodent population down, but his egg-stealing expeditions are upsetting the hens. So in addition to lost eggs, production is down overall.

I try to gather all the eggs promptly so the snake won't be tempted to crawl into the nests in the first place, but there are always a few hens who have to wait until AFTER I have gathered for the day!

So now I'm wondering, does anyone know about snake repellents such as "snake away"? What are they made of, how do they work, and are they safe to use around pets and poultry? Ideally I'd like to surround the chicken pen with it so that the snake will still have access to the rest of the property (besides, if he's full of easy-to-catch eggs, he probably won't bother hunting rodents anymore!)

I have read about putting golf balls in the hens nests to "block up" and kill snakes, but I can't imagine a more horrible way to die and I wouldn't do that to an otherwise harmless creature. I might consider moving him, if I can't have my cake and eat it too, but if I do, how far away would I have to move him before he doesn't come back anymore?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated, too!