The mystery of the Missing Ceramic Eggs

[wild chick]

I love the fox painting on your coop

Thanks @aart - the proverbial fox leaving the hen house... I should post it on the coop thread.

 

[aart]

Thanks @aart - the proverbial fox leaving the hen house... I should post it on the coop thread.

Do you have a coop page/article?

 

[John Taylor]

I use golf balls in the nest boxes to keep my hens in an egg laying frame of mind.

 

[wild chick]

Do you have a coop page/article?

no, I'll have to make one. I'll pm you when I do, I'm short on time right now...

 

[JenniferKrull]

The same thing happened in our coop... and then the egg came back after a few days. I think the hens are doing it themselves. I've heard they can carry eggs kind of under their chin. I checked with everyone in the family, and no one accidentally took the fake egg and then put it back. I'm not sure where my girl chickens put it or why, but they did return it!

 

[Chipper Chicken]

We are in rural community in the PNW - OR

I’m sorry, but I live in a rural part of Oregon too, and we most definitely have raccoons here. West of the cascades.

 

[cluckcluckhens]

We have not seen any coons or opossums since we moved here in 2012. Doesn't mean there isn't any we just haven't seen them.

 

[Cryss]

Those critters usually come out at night so you may never see them.

 

[Stockpilejoy]

A week ago I changed girls nesting material and put a wooden egg to encourage them to try out the the hemp bedding. I failed to remove the egg after 2 days and when I went to gather eggs all were gone. Earlier there were 2 eggs. I looked around coop and in run saw a rat snake going out the door with a lump about 13 inches from his tail. I was devastated. This black rat snake has been with me for approx 3-4 years and is non aggressive and hangs out in my shed. The thought of my laziness in removing wooden egg devastated me. At the time it was vet after hours and I did not have a snake grabber to capture it. I have taken many photos of it over the years eating eggs and am sad that it is gone. Since then a smaller rat snake has visited twice but has not taken any eggs. It is very shy with my flock and curls up and hides. RIP Rat snakePicture below as it was going into woods.

 

[Member 482121]

Mystery solved! This morning I found a big grey rat snake coiled in one of the laying boxes, trying to digest its meal. There was a big bulge in the middle of its body. I knew there had been no eggs in the coop yet, and the lone ceramic egg was missing from the box the snake was in. I prodded it with a stick, and he didn't react much. It appeared sick. Ceramic is hard to digest, even for a snake. So I telephoned my wife who brought me the S&W revolver cal. .44 Special loaded with CCI shotshells, and dispatched the poor beggar. It would have died anyway. It was 5 feet long, if not even longer. I hated having to kill it. I do not kill non-venomous snakes. I don't even kill venomous ones if they are out in the woods where they belong. But around my house, coops, and horse stall if I see them they die.
A note: The CCI shotshell worked very well, shooting at about 4 feet from he snake. Head and neck were totally riddled. But when I tried to swing out the cylinder and eject the empty case the cylinder would not move. Under recoil four the payload (a plastic tube full of shot) of the remaining five shells had separated from the casings, and was blocking the cylinder. I finally opened it and capsules and shot fell on the ground in the run. I shoveled the shot I could see, but I know that there is some left on the ground inside the coop and in the run and that the chickens will eat it. No vinegar in the water for a month, now, as this will dissolve some of the lead and allow it to be absorbed. I will let CCI know about this. Those shells are very expensive. Now we will have to carry only one at a time in the gun. Well, if my wife or I miss a snake's head from four or five feet away with a little swarm of shot we have no business carrying a pistol, either for snakes or for predators wearing fur, feathers or clothes...