Blondie finally laid an egg - now it's gone...

[LuckysMom]

Yesterday my daughter and I checked on the chickens before we went to school and we were so excited to see that Blondie had laid an egg. She was acting strange the night before so I knew something was up, and sure enough, there was the egg! Anyway, we came home from school and went to look, and the egg was gone. No pieces of shell lying around either. My pa-in-law thinks a snake got it. Is that possible? Would a snake crawl all the way through the fence and into a chicken coop and up into the nesting box? Ughh, that's a scary thought!
So - what could have happened to the egg? Did the chickens eat it? Wouldn't there be shell pieces lying around? Has anyone ever seen a snake stealing their eggs?

 

[Farmer Kitty]

It is possible that the chickens ate it. I wouldn't leave eggs in the nest to long. Your going to have to collect the eggs frequently for a while in order to break them of eating the eggs. Keeping the nest boxes dark also helps.

 

[Buster]

I bring my eggs in every time I check so nothing bad happens to them out there.

 

[LuckysMom]

Okay, whenever she lays another one I will bring it in right away. But what do I do later on in the spring when we want to hatch some out? I'll have to leave them in the nesting box. I mean, it will take awhile for her to lay enough eggs to sit on, right?

 

[tiffanyh]

Yeah,, my chickens eat theres sometimes and leave behind little to no evidence. Could have also been a snake but it would be coincidental that the day you get your first a snake finds it....hey but stranger things have happen!

 

[okiechick57]

Yes ! a snake took mine for a while...........went right up into my henhouse........it is off the ground by 2 ft........a bull snake........havent left my eggs out long since.......hope you find what took it..........

 

[Frozen Feathers]

It's possible your chickens could have eaten the egg, shell and all. I have a BSL who will 'steal' and egg every once in a while. I caught her one day, that naughty girl.

 

[LoneCowboy]

My neighbor stopped keeping hens because of the snakes. The just love eggs, so they would come get them. He stuck his hand in the box once and got a snake instead of an egg.

he said the whole neighborhood heard him yell.

I put a lid on top of my boxes so I'm never sticking my hand on something I can't see