I was at TSC yesterday looking for fake eggs to try to train the chickens to use the nesting boxes. After looking around a minute, I asked an employee just to be sure I didn't miss them somewhere. Unfortunately they do not carry fake eggs but he told me his grandmother had used small lightbulbs, you know, the tiny egg shaped type. The lightbulbs seem like eggs to the chickens and to snakes. If a snake gets into the coop and eats the lightbulb, during digestion the snake will crush the bulb and therefore will kill the snake. Brilliant! I don't mind snakes and certainly do not want to kill them if unnecessary but this is wonderful to keep in mind in case snakes every become a problem.
Yeah, sounds great for the snakes, but you might have a chicken that decides to peck at it and there ya go....
I found wooden eggs at a local craft store. You can also use the small plastic ones sold around Easter. I would glue them together so they don't open up. Besides, candy is not good for chickens!
Try checking a local feed store. One of them near my house (I live in SE Texas) sells ceramic eggs. They've got several colors, I guess so you can get breed-specific colors.
