Hi, I'm Keesie and a new member.

[keesie]

Hi, I'm Keesie. I'm new to BYC and have had chickens for about nine months. I absolutely love my ladies and the two (accidental) roosters. I have hens solely for the eggs but I'm keeping the roosters bc they're just beautiful. I'm a novice with chickens so I'm moving kind of slowly trying to learn the best way to do things. I've got two separate but adjacent coops and "turn out" areas. The coops were here when I moved in 15 years ago and they seemed to be in pretty good condition. However, I'm worrying now bc I've lost six ceramic eggs and I don't know how many real eggs. At first I thought it was crows or ravens but I also found a couple of bull snakes in one of the nesting boxes - mating no doubt. We moved the snakes to the far edge of the property and I haven't seen any since but I've lost eggs since we got rid of the snakes. Now I check for eggs three to five times a day and seem to be back on track but I haven't found the cause or resolved it. I'm really perplexed by this bc I've got friends who have free range chickens and other birds with no trouble. So then I was thinking about putting up aerial fencing but since it's such a large area, I'm trying to think this through carefully. Any thoughts?? Thanks!

 

[Peep-Chicken]

I'm not too sure what your problem could be, you should try posting about it here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/13/predators-and-pests

Good luck!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - you have some great advice already from Peep-Chicken, so I'll just say hello!

All the best
CT

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi Keesie

Glad you could join us here! It could be predators as you have thought but it could also be that your hens are eating the eggs. Have you noticed any hens with egg around their beaks? Any remnants of egg in the nesting boxes? It's a n option to consider that they may be doing this. Have a read of this article just incase ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-eating-what-it-is-how-to-prevent-it-and-partial-solutions

Good luck for the future and I hope you get to the bottom of your eggs disappearing. Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat

 

[drumstick diva]

If eggs disappear without a trace, I would think the snake swallowed them. Otherwise you would find broken shell and probably some mess.

 

[7littlegirls]

Hi! welcome to BYC!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[keesie]

Thanks, glad to be here!!

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Hi @Keesie I am had you could join us make your self at home and ask as many questions as needed.

 

[keesie]

Thank you Roads Red. I appreciate that so much!