Eggs missing from under my little bantam. WHAT THE HECK?

[Dawn419]

Quote:
But what if the chickens broke the light bulb first???

Dawn

 

[rufus]

The hens won't break the light bulbs. We used to put them in the nest all the time to get the hens laying.

Snakes disgorge the undigestible remains of their prey, but the light bulbs seemed to stay in them.

Golf balls are too heavy.

Rufus

 

[nccatnip]

I had the same problem and had caught two snakes in my coop. This began as my girls had just started laying for the first time. I put out golf balls to stimulate them to lay and one day all my eggs were missing from under my banty and so were two of the golf balls in the other nest boxes. The snakes ate them. Since then, I have had no more problems with missing eggs and last weekend I found the remains of one snake (just vertebrae, a few ribs) with the golf ball laying in the center. So it can't hurt to put out of few golf balls.
There are also snake traps you can make that seem pretty simple if you go a search. After the missing golf balls, I have had no need to make one.
The problem is, once they find the egg buffet, they will continue to return.
I am sure the light bulbs would work but my girls get a little clumsy getting in and out of the boxes so I could see them getting broken.
Just a note of nostalgia: a friend of mine recently went to an auction at an old farm and there was a box of old porcelian door knobs without the hardware in the barn. When she asked what they were for, she was told that in the old days, farmers put those in the nesting boxes for snake control. Sad thing is, she did not bid on them for me!!!!!!

 

[Dawn419]

Quote:
Regardless, I'll stick with golfballs and not worry about trying to clean up the bulb that got broke because of some oddball accident. I'm just a "better-safe-than-sorry" kinda' gal. I know it's a "to each his/her own situation" and I mean no offense to you Rufus.

What do you mean by golf balls are too heavy?

Dawn

 

[rufus]

The snake has to be able to manuver them down it's gullet. A golf ball may be to hefty for that. You may have bigger snakes where you live.

Dead light bulbs are free, we have to pay for golf balls

Besides, when they constrict the light bulb inside them, it would be nice if it popped.

Rufus

 

[Dawn419]

Quote:
That makes sense. We live out in the country and the snakes do get pretty good size here.

We switched to compact fluorescent lights before we ever got the chickens...don't think they'll work. DH is a golfer so we have plenty of them around.

Dawn

 

[okiechick57]

WOW thanks, I will try the golf balls first ,then the light bulbs..so far the little hen isn't laying......and will get hardwire for around the run....thank you all for the advice.as far as how large my snakes are......they get huge

around here...........wouldn't surprise me at all about them being able to ingest either of these things.....
So funny about finding the golf ball with the remains nccatnip! Thanks for sharing ! The WAR is on !

 

[nccatnip]

Quote:
It couldn't hurt and might stimulate egg production also.
Oh, yeah, my golf balls were free also, I have a friend that works in the industry. I asked her to send me reject balls but no................. she sent premium Nicklaus titanium balls. That snakes last meal was gourmet to say the least.