Do gray squirrels steal eggs?

[CrashingPines]

There has been a sudden loss of eggs lately in my coop. Chickens are fine, not molting. I have a LGD so predators are staying their distance. And he can’t get into the coop and he isn’t an egg thief anyway.

But I have many many squirrels. Can they carry eggs away? No broken shells or any other evidence. Another big mystery is that when I started, I had two ceramic eggs in the coop nest boxes and they also, disappeared without a trace. I’m baffled.

 

[AltonaAcres]

We have squirrels who steal our chicken food but haven't ever lost an egg to one

 

[happybooker1]

Snake??

 

[AltonaAcres]

Yes, those eat our eggs all the time

 

[guyvstewart]

You have at least one snake! I leave my run open during the day so the chickens can free range, and have found 2 snakes in the coop. I caught 1 snake that had swallowed 2 ceramic eggs.

 

[cmom]

I have plenty of squirrels around here but mostly fox squirrels. They never go near my coops. I do have a few grey squirrels, but not many. When the grey's start to move in, I eliminate them. The don't bother my coops or birds either but they do other damage. When the grey's move in they will eventually drive the others species out such as the fox squirrels which don't do any damage. They multiply quite quickly and they are not an endangered species. If you have a game camera, put it up and then you will find out where your eggs are going. Good luck...

 

[Nola985]

We have tons of gray squirrels and they are welcomed part of our yard. I feed the wild squirrels daily along with my birds and dog. Sadly, a ton of misinformation and damage is contributed to gray squirrels or just squirrels in general. A friend swore grays were eating his veggie garden. I persuaded him to set up a camera. Turns out it was a rat. Same thing with roof damage. Rats. I’ve never had one damage anything, eat eggs, or even mess with my garden. The worst is them burying nuts in my beds. If you watch your yard diligently you will soon find the real culprit.

I have plenty of squirrels around here but mostly fox squirrels. They never go near my coops. I do have a few grey squirrels, but not many. When the grey's start to move in, I eliminate them. The don't bother my coops or birds either but they do other damage. When the grey's move in they will eventually drive the others species out such as the fox squirrels which don't do any damage. They multiply quite quickly and they are not an endangered species. If you have a game camera, put it up and then you will find out where your eggs are going. Good luck...

 

[cmom]

You are quite welcome to all of the grey squirrels. The grey squirrels here got under the hood of our truck and ate the windshield washer tubing which was a real pain to replace. The greys also ate the cable TV wire at the telephone pole next to our drive way and also at the pole out next to the street.

 

[cmom]

When the fellow from the cable company came out and replaced the wire he said they see this quite often and that there is something in the wire the squirrels like, so they chew on it. I have several game cameras. I did get plenty of pictures of the grey squirrels getting up in under the truck.

 

[cmom]

There has been a sudden loss of eggs lately in my coop. Chickens are fine, not molting. I have a LGD so predators are staying their distance. And he can’t get into the coop and he isn’t an egg thief anyway.

But I have many many squirrels. Can they carry eggs away? No broken shells or any other evidence. Another big mystery is that when I started, I had two ceramic eggs in the coop nest boxes and they also, disappeared without a trace. I’m baffled.

For the past three evenings when I have went out to collect eggs, in one coop where I usually get a dozen eggs all of a sudden none. None of the other coops have been bothered so last night I put a game camera in that coop. I do have a couple of birds in that coop that want to be broody but they aren't sitting on any eggs but on the golf balls I put in the nest boxes. Hopefully the camera will solve the mystery. There is no place the birds can hide the eggs and I have looked but there is no places for them to stash them without me finding them.