Squirrels eating chicken eggs

[toya]

Hi i have three chickens and two ducks, we have neaver had squirrels in our area before untill recently when some trees were cut down nearby. A couple of day's ago our birds just stopped laying, well, so i thought! I was watching over my girls when a little red squirrel ran through the pen and into the duck house, after a little look around it then ran back empty handed. After visits from foxes, rooks, rats and weasel's or they may have been ferrets! i was shocked when i saw the squirrel. Although my husband and i have PROTECTED as best we can from the wildlife visitors, the new visitors have us scratching our heads! Apart from feeding them a supply of nuts to distract them we do not know what else todo. We love the wildlife but we also love our girls eggs. Is there anything else we can do apart from racing to the chicken and ducks eggs first? Toya.

 

[7L Farm]

Tree Rats!! Here we go. I live in a barn. I keep hearing something running in my attic I think its a rat up there. Finally, one day I walk outside look up & see this rat running around on my roof. Not a real rat a tree rat. I'm releived knowing its tree rat instead of a real rat. I've eaten a many squirrel in my life & they are mighty tastey. The squirrels have been living in harmoney here at 7L. They haven't been bothering my eggs so I've left them alone. But the day I see them rolling eggs out of my coop will definately be his last day and he will be cleaned & eaten. Sorry Charlie thats the way we play the game here at 7L.

 

[chicken 86]

I had a problem with them eating feed, so I killed 7 with a havahart trap. Then I saw one go into its hole. I built a fire by it and in an hour I put it out. There was a strange smell coming from it and the whole hill smoked(out of holes) for some days. No more problem. I have a suspicion I killed a whole family.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

If you are feeding the squirrels (unintentionally of course) eggs and/or grain, then they are yours to harvest. My mother feeds birds - and squirrels,(not by intention) and all I can think is YUM. Unfortunately, I can't shoot in her neighborhood.
But I can in mine!
All I wanted is to see the pics of the squirrel with the egg.................!
The only thing I can think of to save the eggs, would be a roll/trap type layer nest - where the egg rolls down after being laid - with free range and the door open all day, who can keep a squirrel out other than to trap or shoot it.

 

[SilkieBantams]

I vote to shoot them as they're varmints.

 

[galanie]

Yes, shoot them. I have a rat that is eating eggs now. It actually hangs around by the nest and waits for the girls to lay and walk off, then grabs the egg! I wondered how on earth I was seeing no egg after seeing a hen on the nest and then I saw the fake egg had tooth marks on it. Suddenly it clicked why I'd seen a rat in the coop during daylight hours. Next day I poked around the nest while a hen was in it and out popped that d@m rat!

I'll be camping out with my air gun today. I want to set a rat trap but I'm too afraid the girls will find a way to get to it before a rat does.

 

[FionasFam]

This thread disturbs me on so many levels. I have squirrels getting into my coop and I was looking for ways to outsmart them. I am really disappointed in the majority of responses.

 

[JanetS]

This is a older threat but to keep squirrels out of your coop you need to use 1/2" hardware cloth on all opening of your coop and run. Hardware cloth is a little pricey but its worth it. We have 4 or 5 squirrels in our yard on a daily bases but they can not get into the coop/run. The holes in the hardware cloth are to small for snakes, rats and mice to get through also.

 

[aart]

This thread disturbs me on so many levels. I have squirrels getting into my coop and I was looking for ways to outsmart them. I am really disappointed in the majority of responses.

You'll find that alot on backyardchickens.......you have to wade thru a lot of chat and crap, but there is good info here.

Have you tried advanced search, titles only, squirrel?

Good luck! I know I saw somewhere on here a very nifty trap that would catch numerous squirrels at a time...but then you need to dispatch them.

 

[FionasFam]

Thanks JanetS and aart.
We have cats and dogs but don't have them near the chickens because we worry they will kill them. Once the chickens are all full grown, we had wanted to let them leave their run to roam and then return to the coop at night (hawks and owls are my biggest predator concern), but an open run door would pretty much be an open invitation to squirrels. We only have one chicken laying at this point and they are tiny bantam eggs that I usually just feed the cats and give the shells back to the hen, but since moving them to the coop, we have not found a single egg or any trace of one. I really want to see the squirrels in the act because I think at this point, it would be hilarious. They are digging their way into the run and coop, so we will need to bury wire along the bottom or similar I guess. Squirrels are a challenge and a definite test of sanity, but they are also quite fun and amusing.