where are my eggs disappearing too?

[ZoeS95423]

Okay, So I have a broody black swedish, and she only has about a week left until her eggs are due to hatch. She started with 14 eggs.. and then last week I looked and their were only ten. Then four days after I looked again, there were only nine. I have looked all around the coop, I cannot find them. There is no way for a predator to get in there, and im sure if a predator came into the coop, it would be taking more then eggs. So what the heck is happening to my eggs??

 

[Nu Chix To Cash]

Is it possible she is kicking them out and the other ducks are eating them?

 

[ZoeS95423]

Maybe? But I dont know why they would? They never bother the other ducks eggs when they lay them? And What would make her kick them out after sitting on them all for almost three weeks?

 

[NYboy]

snake

 

[MrsDuck]

We had that happen last year. It was a rat.

 

[ZoeS95423]

Do snakes come out at night?

A rat actually makes sense, it just goes in there, and takes them we she is sleeping? How would I catch the rat, without huurting my chickens ( cause a mouse/ rat trap would be very dangerous) I have one of those rat have-a-heart traps, but if my ducks tried to get in there, couldnt that hurt them? because it is so small, it could hurt their necks, or kill them? And I know that they would deffinatly eat rat poison.... How did you concur this problem?

 

[revolution rooster]

No shells left behind probably a snake. Put a golf ball in with the eggs if he eats it it will kill him. Good luck.

 

[topdogg]

no shells left behind.. its a snake.. a snake can take those eggs right out from under her.. put a golf ball in there, they cant digest a golfball which kills them

 

[ZoeS95423]

okay I will try that, I didnt think garter snakes ate eggs.

 

[MrsDuck]

There were no shells left behind for us, and we were 100% sure it was a rat. We sealed off the house completely so there wasn't a single hole any larger than 1/2", and the eggs stopped disappearing. We're using the same house now, and the hen just hatched out 11 adorable ducklings. All eggs and ducklings accounted for.

Good luck. I remember how awful it was to have the eggs disappear one by one like that!