Egg thief!

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

So, I’ve finally convinced the guineas to lay their eggs in the coop - they have a communal nest. I had been collecting 8-9 eggs per day, and leaving 10 marked eggs, but yesterday there were only 2 new and 6 marked ones... Puzzled, I left all 8 and marked them all. This afternoon, I checked soon after letting guineas our at 4 Pm - 8 new eggs and 2 marked eggs. So, I must have an egg thief. They are locked into the coop at night. There are some 3/4” Gaps around the door frame, which I’m closing now. I can’t find any other gaps. Snakes were our biggest guinea nest/coop predator last year, and I guess a small to midsize one could get in, but how could it get out after eating 6 eggs??? Looked all inside and around the coop - no snake and no egg shells! Also, I have four other nests with marked eggs in the coop and run, each with 3-7 eggs, and no eggs are missing from them. So weird.... Setting up coop and game cameras for tonight...

 

[Sea Wolf]

Would like to see. You are correct that a snake full of eggs would not be able to get out a hole that the eggs wouldn't pass through. And, if it did break the shells internally, you would find the piles somewhere as evidence. A 3/4 hole is a pretty small one. Most rats and mice eat the contents but leave the shells. I do occasionally have naughty hens that eat eggs and they eat the shells too.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Would like to see. You are correct that a snake full of eggs would not be able to get out a hole that the eggs wouldn't pass through. And, if it did break the shells internally, you would find the piles somewhere as evidence. A 3/4 hole is a pretty small one. Most rats and mice eat the contents but leave the shells. I do occasionally have naughty hens that eat eggs and they eat the shells too.

I hadn’t thought of a guinea hen eating them but that’s a good thought! A few times over the past few weeks, I have had eggs with yolk on them. I just thought that a hen had stepped on an egg and broke it... That would be a lot of eggs and shells for a guinea to eat in 12 hr though, maybe if she had compatriots... I’ve set up a motion sensor camera in the coop and a game cam on each door. I’ve also finished the door jambs; I can’t find a place with a gap bigger than my 1/2 inch hardware cloth covering. Tonight a hen decided to go broody on the eggs. Sigh. See still camera capture from video. She’s the dark shape in the triangular box on the right. I’ve also included a pic of our winning nest box taken in daylight.

This was my problem last year - when I got them to lay in the coop, they also went broody on them and that turned into a giant communal nest with five broody guineas, lots of broken eggs, and eventually dead keets. I’ll need to get her off and change out the eggs every day until I get my glue-filled eggs finished, I guess. No more broody guinea nests for me for awhile! I hope getting her off the nest doesn’t convince the crew to abandon it... Anyone else have experience trying something like this?

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

So, funny story, I was up late working (yes, working from home has my schedule completely messed up), and checked the camera when I thought of it to see Viceroy (the RP hen that stayed on the nest last night). I finished my work at about 4 AM, checked the camera and... Viceroy was gone. Concerned that perhaps a snake had found a hole in the coop that I had missed, I trudged out there in the dark with a red light and found Viceroy on a roost. No signs of a snake, eggs still there.... I can barely believe that she could even get to the roost in the dark! And, I don’t know why she decided that she needed to leave her nest. I was awake, near a window, and would have heard if the birds had put up a big fuss about something...

 

[Sea Wolf]

Still waiting to see what the culprit is.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Still waiting to see what the culprit is.

I’m afraid neither of us is going to be satisfied! I put jambs around the doors and cameras in and around the coop, and the egg disappearance has stopped as of right now. There’s also a hen sitting on the eggs broody, pretty constantly. So, that means...???

 

[Sea Wolf]

Maybe the thief is self conscious/camera shy? You might have managed to block whatever entry hole it was using. Also the culprit might be full of eggs still and taking a break. If no more losses in 2 weeks I would say you solved the problem.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Maybe the thief is self conscious/camera shy? You might have managed to block whatever entry hole it was using. Also the culprit might be full of eggs still and taking a break. If no more losses in 2 weeks I would say you solved the problem.

Yeah, or maybe with a broody sitting on the eggs, the egg eating bird can’t really get at them now? I dunno. I still have marked eggs in other potential nest sites both inside and outside the coop, with no damage. I would have really expected either an egg eating guinea or a predator to go after those. It’s just weird! I’ve been letting the guineas out more, so an egg eater might be less stressed out. Unfortunately, I think I need to lock them up for a few days as a coyote came by and tried to grab our ducks this afternoon... Now that I’ve been reading stories about male Guineas killing each other, I’m so nervous to lock them all up!

 

[southwind00]

Over the last week the eggs on my outside nests have been disappearing so I decided to find out who was doing it.

Doesn't make me happy as you can see my coop flyway in the background. Traps are out.

 

[R2elk]

Over the last week the eggs on my outside nests have been disappearing so I decided to find out who was doing it.

Doesn't make me happy as you can see my coop flyway in the background. Traps are out.

You are lucky that eggs are all that are going missing.