What could be eating the eggs?

[TheDuckCrew]

I thought i had some egg eaters within my flock, so i took the egg out last night so they wouldn't eat it. i forgot it by the side of the house, and when i went to let them out, it was opened and licked clean. it looked exactly how the eggs inside the coop did. the coop is predator proof. only thing that might be able to get in there is a snake, but i'd think they'd swallow the egg whole. whatever is getting in there doesn't hurt the ducks. what could it be?

 

[FrenchHen]

skunks, possum, weird neighbor kid...
Lots of options.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

possums, raccoons, skunks, dogs, cats, rats.... close your eyes and point to one.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

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[TheDuckCrew]

well some wierd neighbor kid did get into the coop the other day! destroyed the water bucket!!! grrrrr.

but i don't think there's enough room for a skunk or opposum to get in...and would there be any possibility they would hurt the ducks? they're pekins so they are pretty large.

 

[TheDuckCrew]

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would mice eat them? we had seen some mice bedding with the ducks during the winter. (free food, warmth...smart mice) but we've never ever ever had any rats. lots of mice and chipmunks. cute little things.

 

[elizwlsn]

I just came online to ask the same question. I put a new box out in chicken goat yard yesterday during the day. I put hay in it and 3 eggs so they would get the idea it is a nest box. I came back a few hours later and all the eggs were gone. No mess, no broken shells or yolk on the hay...nothing. Just gone. In the middle of the day. By that time most of the chickens were out in the front of the house in the regular yard so there weren't even but a few chickens in there. It's wooded and my little one thought maybe squirrels had gotten them. Do squirrels do that? They've been laying in the goat hut but we had kids yesterday morning and the doe didn't really want the chickens in there so I just hastily made a box to use so they would feel they had someplace to lay.

 

[nzpouter]

rats.

 

[Shanay235]

Sounds like rats or mice to me.

 

[TheDuckCrew]

no rats around here. we've been here for 8 years and have never ever ever seen a sign of a rat. we had TONS in our last house. my parents didn't know about them when they bought it...until they saw a squirrel drinking out of the pool but it didn't have a fuzzy tail. and then they saw some in the house! yikes! needless to say we got rid of them. but i've seen plenty of mice. i'm guessing they won't hurt the ducks considering they are so big. anything i can do to make them not eat the eggs? killing them is not an option. sorry.