Does this look like a snake ate one of their eggs?

[ChickenLord33]

When I collected their eggs I found part of a smashed egg but with no yolk and hardly any shell (that yellow is a flower from their herbal mixture). Did a snake come through here and eat an egg?

 

[chrissynemetz]

Usually when a snake eats an egg they don't leave any mess. I'd be more inclined to think the flock ate it.

 

[ChickenLord33]

Usually when a snake eats an egg they don't leave any mess. I'd be more inclined to think the flock ate it.

Thank you. That actually makes a lot of sense because recently one of the eggs was laid without any shell, just the membrane. I think one of the birds might need more calcium and they ate the shell maybe? We just picked up oyster shell and a tray for them.

 

[Lor]

I think a snake eats the egg whole.

 

[ChickenLord33]

I think a snake eats the egg whole.

Yes the last time we had eggs taken from snakes there was no sign except missing eggs. I've also heard of others finding the crushed egg shell in a sort of cylindrical form discarded by the snake nearby after eating the inside of the egg, but that was not around either. Must be the chickens...I have the cam on today.

 

[chrissynemetz]

Thank you. That actually makes a lot of sense because recently one of the eggs was laid without any shell, just the membrane. I think one of the birds might need more calcium and they ate the shell maybe? We just picked up oyster shell and a tray for them.

If your girls are young, they tend to lay softies and weird eggs occasionally. Sometimes they'll do the same when they're coming back into lay after taking the winter off. Maybe once they have oyster shell available the eggs will start having nice hard shells, and this won't become a regular occurrence.

 

[Lor]

I want a camera out there but the coop doesn't have electricity. I'm thinking of maybe a game camera. Just don't know much about them.

 

[cmom]

I want a camera out there but the coop doesn't have electricity. I'm thinking of maybe a game camera. Just don't know much about them.

Check out this thread. I have several game cameras. There is a lot of good videos posted on YouTube that shows differences in cameras. Good luck...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/post-your-game-cam-pics-here.438535/post-25470240

 

[ColtHandorf]

Usually when a snake eats an egg they don't leave any mess. I'd be more inclined to think the flock ate it.

Yeah, that sounds much more likely with that amount of mess in the box.

 

[ChickenLord33]

So far so good, I started giving them oyster shell and now there aren't broken eggs. No snakes sighted either