I need a chicken detective

[sewingca]

Two of my girls are broody, Sunny and Shimmer. Shimmer is a little banty and I don't want more, so I placed a Wyandotte egg under her marked with today's date. That was about 2:00. At 4:00 or so, I noticed the girls had switched nests, so I checked under Sunny for the egg to return to Shimmer. It wasn't there. I checked under Shimmer. It wasn't there. I removed both girls and couldn't find any evidence of any eggs. I checked in my refrigerator (in case I was losing my mind) and no, it wasn't there. The gate in the picture is open during the day and the entire wooded area is chicken wire fenced. The wire is also buried. Do raccoons steal eggs in the daytime? Can a snake get up in the chicken door? No one else collected eggs today and I have noticed that I don't always get as many as I think I should. Any other thoughts?

 

[shellz131]

I took it!

I do not know..It is a mystery isn't it?

 

[theoldchick]

Rat or snake?

 

[drumstick diva]

Hen that is an stealth egg eater??

 

[sewingca]

Well, rat is a thought. There's no evidence of shell, so it had to be carried off or swallowed by a snake on the spot. If one of the girls rolled it off, she'd have a long haul to get to the fence. Maybe I should set up a survelience camera. Our neighbors, who are hunters, have one for night-time. But, gee whiz, this was in the middle of the day!