Missing eggs

[chuckschickens]

Hello Folks,
Tonight I went out to feed and check on my girls and found that I am missing five eggs and one fake ceramic egg that a hen was setting on. I have never had a problem with preditors before and I check on them daily if not multiple times a day. Do snakes eat five + eggs at a time? What else could it be? The chickens are not harmed in any way. I read in another post where someone suggested spreading flour around the coop and looking for tracks, unfortunately it is supposed to rain in this area for the next four or five days. The coop and yard are out in the open or in other words whatever it is, it is having to cross open, low cut grass for about twenty feet before it can reach the coop. Thank you much!

 

[CoopCrazy]

I would have to guess Snake.. just because of the ceramic egg dissapearing as well.... Coons wouldnt take it and I wouldnt think a weasel would ...

 

[The Egg Bandit]

Could it be a two-legged neighbor? If so, I like the image of them trying to crack open the ceramic egg.

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

Magpies steal our eggs all the time. They made off with all but one of our wooden eggs and now they steal the real ones as well. The chickens are not bothered by them at all anymore and don't even pay any attention to them when they are in the coop and run.

I have read on BYC that crows will do the same.

I don't know if your coop and run are open for a wild bird to fly in, but that is a possibility as well.

 

[CoopCrazy]

Quote:
Tahts a very good idea as well... Had that happen to me last year, actually caught the guy and it was a neighbor tht had always been kind to me, i asked him why and he said he didnt think we would mind.. UUUHHHH???? As IF... I kindly asked him to stop and ask me for eggs and promptly put a padlock on my coop.....

 

[cutiecochingirl]

A snake I would think. But I have a neighbor that threw rat kill in by yard and my little dog named Sweetpea ended up dying.

RIP Sweetpea.

 

[chuckschickens]

It amazes me that a snake could eat five + eggs at one sitting, but I don't know much about snakes. A hen has been setting on these eggs sinse May 4th. If a human took those eggs they got a surprise when they cracked them...hopefully straight into a skillet! This really stinks because we have two hens that really want to be a moms. Some of you may have seen the post in the egg hatching section of the forum where I was seeking advice about having two hens setting at once. At any rate, whats the chance of the ceramic egg killing the snake if that is my culpret? The little egg was about 1" in diameter and about 2" long.

 

[tammyd57]

A large snake could easily eat 5 eggs at one time. Last Spring a snake got in my brooder and ate 5 chicks that were a week old. Found the snake the next morning with 5 very obvious lumps. These were Buff Orpington chicks and a week old, not small.

ETA: The ceramic egg will most likely plug up the snake and kill it. Good enough for him!