Squirrels eating chicken eggs

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JoBethWhite

JoBethWhite

Hatching
9 Years
Apr 27, 2010
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I have a new chicken coop and run, very predator proof, but not squirrel proof. Squirrels have been raiding the henhouse, any suggestions at how to deter them. I have pictures of them taking the eggs from the nest boxes, managing to get them to the floor without breaking them and then rolling them out the chicken door. Any suggestions would be welcome. JoBeth
 
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I had a similar problem, they were taking my fake eggs! My real ones were broken, but I think in the end that was blue jays. Silly squirrles, what are they going to do with eggs? I would vote for a cat.
 
Glad we are not the only ones that have that problem. We have 8 breeder pens that are all built the same but they only take the eggs out of one pen. One of the other pens they get into the box and bust the eggs. Our best deterent so far is a .22.
 
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yummmmmmmm...nice fat squirrel....gonna eat my eggs....im gonna eat you........lol
at least thats what i did when i found some nice big fat ones eating my wild bird food......lol....delish
 
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I'm sorry I just had to chime in here. Envisioning a squirrel rolling an egg out the henhouse door cracked me up. Just when you think you've seen everything !! I'd love to see those photos.
Sorry, I can't be of any help here. I have two cats that found their way into my garage one day and never left so I don't have many squirrels. I did however lose a chicken to a fox in broad daylight last week while they were free ranging so I'm dealing with that right now.
If it ain't one thing it's a couple dozen of another I guess.
Maybe you should hang a squirrel feeder out for the little fellow to entertain himself with.
 
For me keeping chickens is about sustainable living. Killing any predator in your yard is NOT.

Remember they have been there before you. We human enroach on wildlife - try to live in peace with your wildlife.

EXCLUSION is the key word - almost any "pest animal" can be excluded.
In your case, you might want to add fencing (hardware cloth with 1/2inch to 1inch) that is too small for the squirrels to get through.
Also feeding the squirrels might do the trick to distract them. Squirrels are not big on eggs anyway - I work in wildlife rehab and although we offer eggs to squirrels, they hardly never eat it when giving other choices.

Exclusion also works for raccoon, foxes, etc - trying to live in harmony with the world around you also might make you feel better about yourself and your chickens
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I would love to see the pics of the squirrels rolling the eggs though, thats hillarious !!
smile.png
 
There are probably more squirrels in the United States right now than before the advent of European colonization. We provide them plenty of cover, enormous amounts of food, and cut way down on their predation. So like all rodents they breed and breed and breed until their population inevitably crashes the first time there is a bad mast year or a disease gets them. We could all bag squirrels all day long and not seriously affect their populations. Actually feeding the things will only increase the problem not decrease it.

Raccoons are mostly a problem at night when the birds are on the roost so one can simply close up the hen house to exclude them. Squirrels are very active all day long and naturally are not deterred by fences unless you have a good hot wire set up. I've only seldom had them bother my eggs, but they are a bloody nuisance about getting into feeders. They're rodents. Occasionally they need to have their populations thinned out.

.....Alan.
 
Hmm, I've never seen a squirrel in my coop- but I have plenty of them around and it does seem like I don't have as many eggs, as I should. Food for thought...
 

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