Missing Eggs

[OkieRunner]

For about a week i have been missing eggs from my nesting box. I have the nesting box in a 6'x10' old chain-link dog pen convereted to chicken coop. The nesting box is about 6" off the ground. All of my barred rccks lay in that one nesting box (5 eggs). I have an enclosed coop right next to the converted dog pen coop that some of my other chickens lay in as well. The eggs in the dog pen coop (5 eggs a day) come up missing every day! I suspect a snake, but would a snake eat that many eggs? The eggs in the enclosed coop are never gone, and a snake could very easily get in there. There is no egg shells or anything remaining. The other day i accidently left a banty egg ontop of my enclosed coop, that sits 5' off the ground in a upside down treadle feeder. I went to collect my eggs the next day and that egg was gone. Is there any sort of bird that would get my eggs? The only way to get into the dog pen coop is through a 3' wide door. The top is blocked off by sheet metal. Im confused. HELP!

 

[Wrooster]

Egg-eating chicken.

We had something similar. Seemed like we were losing several eggs a day but were never sure. Once in a while we found traces of raw egg or some shell, but not consistently. It stopped when we eliminated one of the hens.

 

[OkieRunner]

I set my deer cam up and got photos of the culprit....a stupid ol crow! I set up a scare crow. Waiting on my results.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Crows are super smart, so unless your scarecrow moves alot, it may not do much.

Can you put a scrap of fabric over the entrance to the nest box? That would probably keep the crow from entering. Of course, you may loose a few days worth of eggs while your chickens figure out how to use it. Another option may be to just throw a handful of scratch somewhere the crow can see/get to it (but well away from your coop). Good luck!