Stealing eggs and leaving poop! Mystery!? UPDATE

[growingabunch]

Hi everyone, this is my first post though I have learned so much from these forums.

I have two coops with a total of 18 chickens. This is the mystery I've been unraveling in my large coop that holds just one rooster and three hens, all one year old and healthy.

- missing eggs
- I get two eggs per day
- also eggs with very thin shell and broken
- giant black cat sized poops int he nesting boxes
- eaten eggs in nests
- my rooster crowing his head off routinely at 5 am

At first I was confused and thought a hen was eating her eggs but I think it's two separate issues. I think one hen is laying eggs with thin shells or not laying at all, I have made a point to provide more calcium. Btw everyone is very free range on lots of land with very diverse gardens etc

And I'm guessing the other issue is something - a weasel? - getting in the coop at 5 am and eating eggs? We've closed up some holes and rooster was quiet last few mornings and no additional poop. But if what I read on these boards is true we have a million ways for a weasel to get in and he will soon find another way.

What do you all think of my theories or am I totally off base. Do weasels make giant black poops?

 

[GitaBooks]

Raccoons, skunks and opossums all make giant droppings, but weasels don't tend to like eggs as much as chickens, and their droppings are pretty small. The skunk that raided or place usually left most of the shell and a big mess of yolk, and skunks also can't climb well. Broody hens leave giant droppings, but not usually in nest boxes.

I hope this helps.

 

[growingabunch]

This is very helpful, and after some googling it does look like skunk droppings. I should have mentioned - we have at least two skunks who come to the porch each night around 9:30 looking for crumbs of cat food. But the house is a little way away from the coop so I didn't really connect the dots. I recently had an 8 week old duck go missing and a hen killed in our bushes on the same morning, none of the hen was eaten. Does that sound like a skunk too?

Last question- isn't a skunk pretty big to fit in a coop? We found maybe a two inch high gap under part of the door and blocked that off. Are skunks squishy like mice and rats?

Thank youuuu!

 

[GitaBooks]

Skunks are related to weasels, and are extremely flexible, so it is possible. However, skunks don't tend to chase down prey. They prefer chicks or eggs, perhaps a pullet, but they don't hunt adults because they are very slow and don't have good gripping claws or jumping legs or grasping teeth.
Still, you never know.

 

[growingabunch]

Well whatever is is, it dug a hole under the door last night. And squeezed through the chicken wire in the floor.