Ceramic eggs gone!

Date sort Score sort
Eons ago my family had a few banties (no clue how we got those) that laid a zillion eggs and no one knew how old they were. Of course they were broody and no one was keeping track. (Ehh I was a kid ...) Anyway the eggs were probably rotten. My guess is a snake detected those (never had an issue before), went in the get the eggs, but probably got attacked by a broody hen, which it probably suffocated and tried to swallow. No go, even a banty. No sure what my dad did with the snake after discovery ...
 
ladybrasa said:
Eons ago my family had a few banties (no clue how we got those) that laid a zillion eggs and no one knew how old they were. Of course they were broody and no one was keeping track. (Ehh I was a kid ...) Anyway the eggs were probably rotten. My guess is a snake detected those (never had an issue before), went in the get the eggs, but probably got attacked by a broody hen, which it probably suffocated and tried to swallow. No go, even a banty. No sure what my dad did with the snake after discovery ...
Click to expand...
Aww, thats sad.... im finding snakes seem to be our problem right now more than rodents or hawks. And im deathly afraid of snakes myself.
 
I've had snakes eat gold balls out of nests with no eggs in them, generally at night when they were cold. I've had snakes eat real eggs and leave the golf balls during the day. I've had a snake eat real eggs out from under a broody hen. That one was creepy. I've had a snake eat a baby chick.

My experience is that a snake can come any time, day or night, though they seem to prefer nights. Often when they ate golf balls they could not get back out of the coop through the same hole they entered. That enabled me to find out where the hole was so I could plug it. And I retrieved those golf balls using an ax.

I don't bother non-poisonous snakes unless they are in the coop eating eggs or chicks. I like for them to eat mice. If I find a non-poisonous snake in the coop and can physically catch it (I keep a pillow case and snake catching stick handy) I relocate it to a friend's place several miles away. She wants non-venomous snakes in the hope they'll eat venomous snakes and thus protect her dogs.

I don't know if a snake will regurgitate ceramic eggs or golf balls or not. Some sources say they will, some say they won't. I'm not willing to take the chance that it will suffer so I take the fake eggs back using an ax.

My experiences with snakes is that they take however many eggs they can, depending on size, go away for two or three days to digest them, then come back for more. A five foot long black rat snake took no more than four real eggs at a time, then came back a few days later for more. Those were the eggs under the broody hen.

I don't know for sure it is a snake. Hopefully my experience will help you decide that. These things are not always easy. Maybe a hen is taking them away. Maybe a dog is playing with them. Sometimes it is hard to know for sure.

Good luck!
 
Ridgerunner said:
I've had snakes eat gold balls out of nests with no eggs in them, generally at night when they were cold. I've had snakes eat real eggs and leave the golf balls during the day. I've had a snake eat real eggs out from under a broody hen. That one was creepy. I've had a snake eat a baby chick.

My experience is that a snake can come any time, day or night, though they seem to prefer nights. Often when they ate golf balls they could not get back out of the coop through the same hole they entered. That enabled me to find out where the hole was so I could plug it. And I retrieved those golf balls using an ax.

I don't bother non-poisonous snakes unless they are in the coop eating eggs or chicks. I like for them to eat mice. If I find a non-poisonous snake in the coop and can physically catch it (I keep a pillow case and snake catching stick handy) I relocate it to a friend's place several miles away. She wants non-venomous snakes in the hope they'll eat venomous snakes and thus protect her dogs.

I don't know if a snake will regurgitate ceramic eggs or golf balls or not. Some sources say they will, some say they won't. I'm not willing to take the chance that it will suffer so I take the fake eggs back using an ax.

My experiences with snakes is that they take however many eggs they can, depending on size, go away for two or three days to digest them, then come back for more. A five foot long black rat snake took no more than four real eggs at a time, then came back a few days later for more. Those were the eggs under the broody hen.

I don't know for sure it is a snake. Hopefully my experience will help you decide that. These things are not always easy. Maybe a hen is taking them away. Maybe a dog is playing with them. Sometimes it is hard to know for sure.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thank you, for the advice. There could be several possibilities. Hopefully i can find the culprit.. also i never thought about if it was a snake being too big after eating them to fit back through the same hole/ space.
 
Do you have ground squirrels??? I’ve been fighting ground squirrels taking eggs. I’m almost positive I’ve won this fight.
 

Similar threads

sunnie7
Snake or other chicken getting my eggs and a newly hatched chick?
Replies
1
Views
497
sweaterthebroodyrooster
sweaterthebroodyrooster
Goose_Willis
Ceramic Eggs
Replies
8
Views
266
Goose_Willis
Goose_Willis
Awaytome
    • Like
Chicken Pranks
Replies
4
Views
173
Ridgerunner
Ridgerunner
rod5591
    • Like
Ratsnake?
Replies
1
Views
368
TheWasp
TheWasp
GiddyUpGo
What's eating our eggs?
Replies
3
Views
816
Folly's place
Folly's place

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom