What did this??? UPDATE - post #19!

[Miss Lydia]

I don't think a snake could eat that many eggs, we have a 6 foot black snake that lives here every summer and he eats the muscovy duck eggs I leave out for him as a gift for taking care of mice and rats, well duck eggs a pretty big and it's quite a while before he gets it down just can't imagine a snake eating that many eggs. Probably rat.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

If you think it's rats, set some traps inside boxes where the chickens can't get to them

If you think it's a snake, loosely roll up some "deer netting" and lay it around in the coop.
Snakes get tangled when they try to crawl through it

 

[hinkjc]

Squirrels will take eggs too.

 

[pslane]

Usually a snake will eat maybe a couple of eggs and then they go and sleep until it's digested, but like someone else said, snakes don't roam much in the winter unless it's a warm sunny day. Do you have possums in your area? They love eggs. A rat couldn't eat that many eggs either. A possum could not only eat a few, it could take the rest back to it's family, with those little paw fingers. It's definitely a scary predator to make the hens afraid like that. You may have to get a trap.

coldwetnoz

 

[PunkinPeep]

My first thought was dogs. Can your dogs get to the nest boxes?

In another note, i was also getting 14 eggs a day until about two weeks ago when it dropped drastically. I think we're starting to make a recovery, but i'm definitely not getting the same numbers i was.

 

[drumstick diva]

I think it sounds human - a half mile away is nothing at all. Dogs aren't alert every minute of the day. One of the neighbors has a big st.bernard who barks at everything. I think the only exercise he gets is barking and lunging at me when I pass by (he's in a small dog run). But when he is sleeping ,no matter how loudly I yell "Hey Dumbo"", he doesn't wake up.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Thank you for all the input!!!

I'm still not sure what it is... Today I'm collecting the eggs every couple hours, and so far no signs of a predator of any kind. Total count so far today is 14, with two hens currently in the nest boxes. The hens all seem to have calmed down. I'm gonna keep my eyes open for what ever stole those eggs.

I just talked with my nearest neighbor with chickens (about a mile away), and she said that she didn't get any eggs Thursday either! That's the same day I got no eggs! She's been getting 3-6 eggs a day for the last couple months, and Thursday she got none. This is REALLY weird...

I have two flocks of laying chickens, and I got the normal number of eggs Thursday from the other flock, otherwise I'd maybe blame it on the weather or something like that...

ETA: PunkinPeep, yes, two of our dogs can and have gone into the coop. But I would think that a dog would make a lot of mess?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I had a black snake take 4 eggs out from under a broody at one time. It was probably around 3 feet long. It came back about three days later and got the other two real eggs under her and left the plastic ones behind. That was about 4 months ago so it was a lot warmer.

I would not dismiss the human theory too fast, but since it has happened the way you described, it is not real high on my list.

I had an egg eating hen. Mine left a mess and did not eat all the eggs, just a few.

I fed a dog a whole boiled egg with a pill inside the egg to get it to take its medicine. I could not just use the yolk as the yolk would crumble when I put the capsule in it. The dog weighs about 45 pounds and ate the egg whole. I've never had an egg-eating dog so I don't know know how much of a mess they might make, but this one is a food glutton and would not have left any mess from what I saw when she ate the boiled egg. I think she would eat a whole bunch too if they were available. Now I did peel the egg before I gave it to her.

My first thought is a dog, but fox and coyote are not entirely off my suspect list. I've seen both active during the day around here. A raccoon might carry them away to eat them, but I would not think they would eat that many. I'd really suspect a possum and raccoon would probably eat them on the spot. The hens could clean up any egg shell left behind, but mine usually did not with the egg eating hen.

I really can't tell you what it is. I can only wish you luck. Any possibility on borrowing a game camera?

 

[Cowgirl71]

Coldwetnoz and Ridgerunner were right! It was a big fat possum! He won't be bothering the poor chickens anymore, LOL.

 

[LeezyBeezy]

nasty tree rats, I hate those things.