Is it a predator or a person?

[stormrobin]

about one pm today I had nine eggs, I went to gather at 9 pm I only had two. It was still light at 7 pm. What predator(because I'm assuming it would be after my girls went to bed) could steal 7 eggs in under two hours? Im guess closer to an hour and a half. My girls go to bed 7:30-8 pm. Or did a person come take my eggs while I was away from my house? My girls were out at 7 pm they all acted fine not scared. One hen was asleep on top of the nest box the rest were in the roost. I didn't do a head count tonight I will in the morning but no feathers or evidence of one of them being harmed. I don't want to be paranoid that a person is taking them but I do t know what could take seven eggs that quick and not leave a trace or hurt my girls. Please tell me it's an animal. I can do more predator proofing.

 

[Top Rooster]

It could easily be a snake, snakes won't go after your hens but they will go after your eggs. Since the snake took 7 eggs it won't be back for a while because that's a lot of food and will take time to digest.

 

[stormrobin]

It could easily be a snake, snakes won't go after your hens but they will go after your eggs. Since the snake took 7 eggs it won't be back for a while because that's a lot of food and will take time to digest.

Is there any way to tell if it was a snake? And will snakes take eggs out of multiple boxes? Any way to prevent snakes from stealing your eggs? Temps around here have been i. The fortys and fiftys and wet, lots of rain. I don't know if that makes a difference.

 

[AlleysChicks]

about one pm today I had nine eggs, I went to gather at 9 pm I only had two. It was still light at 7 pm. What predator(because I'm assuming it would be after my girls went to bed) could steal 7 eggs in under two hours? Im guess closer to an hour and a half. My girls go to bed 7:30-8 pm. Or did a person come take my eggs while I was away from my house? My girls were out at 7 pm they all acted fine not scared. One hen was asleep on top of the nest box the rest were in the roost. I didn't do a head count tonight I will in the morning but no feathers or evidence of one of them being harmed. I don't want to be paranoid that a person is taking them but I do t know what could take seven eggs that quick and not leave a trace or hurt my girls. Please tell me it's an animal. I can do more predator proofing.

Why didn't you gather the eggs at 1pm when you seen the 9 eggs? Why wait so long?

 

[stormrobin]

Why didn't you gather the eggs at 1pm when you seen the 9 eggs? Why wait so long?

I wait until I lock them up at night to gather because some of my girls still try and lay on the coop floor and outside. So I leave the eggs to encourage them to lay in the boxes.

 

[AlleysChicks]

I wait until I lock them up at night to gather because some of my girls still try and lay on the coop floor and outside. So I leave the eggs to encourage them to lay in the boxes.

Hmm do you have any ceramic eggs or golf balls you could put in the nests? Those work very nicely and you can leave them in the nest. Although you may want to mark the ceramic eggs. A few of those have ended up in the cartons at my house lol

 

[stormrobin]

Hmm do you have any ceramic eggs or golf balls you could put in the nests? Those work very nicely and you can leave them in the nest. Although you may want to mark the ceramic eggs. A few of those have ended up in the cartons at my house lol

I have golf balls in some of the nest. I just have a couple persistent EEs that keep laying on the floor or under the bush.

 

[Zoomie]

If your coop and nest boxes are open to the outside, where anything can get in, then it could have been anything. I've had magpies steal fake eggs, which alerted me that I needed to be sure they were kept out of the coop - magpies or crows being able to get in, means that just about anything can get in there.

I doubt it was a human. A human would have taken ALL the eggs.

 

[stormrobin]

If your coop and nest boxes are open to the outside, where anything can get in, then it could have been anything. I've had magpies steal fake eggs, which alerted me that I needed to be sure they were kept out of the coop - magpies or crows being able to get in, means that just about anything can get in there.

I doubt it was a human. A human would have taken ALL the eggs.

Yea your right a human would have taken all of them. I think I was just pissed last night that my eggs disappeared. I will have to put a net on top of the run. I have eight foot fences but I didn't know birds stole eggs.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Do neighbors live near you? What a deal - free eggs. And, no, a thief would not necessarily take all eggs. Even if they did, your hens might have laid some afterwards.