Chickens Thumb Their Beaks at Ace

A few minutes ago, I was out checking the chicken pen when I saw the girls running crazily around fighting each other for some huge night crawler. Awfully big worm. Fit for the Guinness Book of World Records. Then I saw that it wasn't a worm but a ring neck snake almost a foot long and as wide as a pencil. I love ring necks - the ONLY snake I love, and got into the pen to get it out of their beaks. It took a bit of wrestling and at one point I thought it was dead but it was only playing possum. As it started heading for the door, I held the girls back and helped it along. They get enough kitchen scraps that I don't feel they're a bit deprived. Ace (the Airedale) has always been the snake-killer around here and truth be known, his prey are a bit lengthier and more venomous - copperheads, mostly. But he has to hand it to the chickens, if it wiggles, those girls are going for it.