I have maybe four eggs disappearing every three days or so. Usually this means snake. It happens during the middle of the day since I don't leave eggs in the coop overnight. I keep showing up at odd times but its been going on three weeks and I haven't caught it yet.
I leave non-poisonous snakes alone as long as they are not in my coop. That's not true. I saw a garter snake a few days ago in there and I left it alone. It will not get big enough to eat eggs or chicks so I left it alone. If it hangs around though I expect the chickens to eat it. It was maybe 10" long. A beautiful black and yellow striped.
If they are in the coop and eating eggs or chicks, yeah, i don't like that. I just don't like to relocate any animal. Either live with it or deal with it. I'm not criticizing what anyone else does, it's just my way of thinking. We all deal with things our own way.
I once had a black snake eat the eggs out from under a broody. I walked in the coop in the middle of the day and saw it sort of wrapped around her and going after the eggs. It got away before I could stop it. Within three days and nights, it had eaten all her eggs. It did not touch the fake eggs (plastic sand-filler Easter eggs) I put under her. I had some eggs in the incubator so she got to raise 15 chicks anyway.
I walked into the coop one morning and found a 5' black snake in there with two golf balls it had eaten, It could not get back out the hole it came in. About a week later, I came in again and exactly the same thing had happened. It was a different 5' black snake that had swallowed the same two golf balls. I know it was a different snake because I used an ax to retrieve them from the first snake.
Thanks for the information on the egg and hook method. My concerns were that the chickens might eat a cracked egg or peck off a hook and eat it if it were attached to the outside. I may try threading a hook inside the egg and sealing it with wax. I'm stil uncomfortable with a cracked egg in the nest though, afraid they might eat it. I don't want to put a doctored egg where a dog could get to it so it needs to be in the coop.
I think it about has to be coming in the pop door. I think I've sealed the other possible entry points. Maybe if I build a box for it to crawl through from there to keep the egg away from the chickens............
I leave non-poisonous snakes alone as long as they are not in my coop. That's not true. I saw a garter snake a few days ago in there and I left it alone. It will not get big enough to eat eggs or chicks so I left it alone. If it hangs around though I expect the chickens to eat it. It was maybe 10" long. A beautiful black and yellow striped.
If they are in the coop and eating eggs or chicks, yeah, i don't like that. I just don't like to relocate any animal. Either live with it or deal with it. I'm not criticizing what anyone else does, it's just my way of thinking. We all deal with things our own way.
I once had a black snake eat the eggs out from under a broody. I walked in the coop in the middle of the day and saw it sort of wrapped around her and going after the eggs. It got away before I could stop it. Within three days and nights, it had eaten all her eggs. It did not touch the fake eggs (plastic sand-filler Easter eggs) I put under her. I had some eggs in the incubator so she got to raise 15 chicks anyway.
I walked into the coop one morning and found a 5' black snake in there with two golf balls it had eaten, It could not get back out the hole it came in. About a week later, I came in again and exactly the same thing had happened. It was a different 5' black snake that had swallowed the same two golf balls. I know it was a different snake because I used an ax to retrieve them from the first snake.
Thanks for the information on the egg and hook method. My concerns were that the chickens might eat a cracked egg or peck off a hook and eat it if it were attached to the outside. I may try threading a hook inside the egg and sealing it with wax. I'm stil uncomfortable with a cracked egg in the nest though, afraid they might eat it. I don't want to put a doctored egg where a dog could get to it so it needs to be in the coop.
I think it about has to be coming in the pop door. I think I've sealed the other possible entry points. Maybe if I build a box for it to crawl through from there to keep the egg away from the chickens............
