Who did it?

[My2butterflies]

I didn’t collect eggs yesterday since we had strong storms roll through late in the day. The guineas got cooped up just as the first rain fell.
With heavy rain came the hail

and one of a couple funnel clouds. We didn’t see any tornadoes this time, but this storm dropped one in the next county over.

Back to the reason for the post... I went to collect eggs today and found only broken shells

I know my guineas don’t eat their eggs. So I can only assume a scavenger found them. We do have a lot of wildlife around, they are just really good at not being seen often.
Then when I went back to investigate I found droppings right next to the nest site.
What do you guys think? Too big to be skunk? Raccoon? I don’t think they look like opossum

 

[R2elk]

I didn’t collect eggs yesterday since we had strong storms roll through late in the day. The guineas got cooped up just as the first rain fell.
With heavy rain came the hail
View attachment 2291596
and one of a couple funnel clouds. We didn’t see any tornadoes this time, but this storm dropped one in the next county over.
View attachment 2291597

Back to the reason for the post... I went to collect eggs today and found only broken shells
View attachment 2291598View attachment 2291599
I know my guineas don’t eat their eggs. So I can only assume a scavenger found them. We do have a lot of wildlife around, they are just really good at not being seen often.
Then when I went back to investigate I found droppings right next to the nest site.
What do you guys think? Too big to be skunk? Raccoon? I don’t think they look like opossum View attachment 2291600

Raccoon

 

[My2butterflies]

Raccoon

Thanks! I guess it was just a matter of time before they found a nest before I got to it. The raccoons nest in a tree on the back of our property. I hope this won’t become a bigger problem

 

[R2elk]

Thanks! I guess it was just a matter of time before they found a nest before I got to it. The raccoons nest in a tree on the back of our property. I hope this won’t become a bigger problem

It will become a bigger problem. I have eliminated 8 skunks and 5 raccoons so far. When I walked to the mailbox this morning, I saw the biggest raccoon track I have ever seen.

 

[My2butterflies]

It will become a bigger problem. I have eliminated 8 skunks and 5 raccoons so far. When I walked to the mailbox this morning, I saw the biggest raccoon track I have ever seen.

Yikes!
We found a skin from a dead one yesterday That and a baby sticking it’s head out of the tree are the only signs I’ve seen of them this year.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Thanks! I guess it was just a matter of time before they found a nest before I got to it. The raccoons nest in a tree on the back of our property. I hope this won’t become a bigger problem

I see seeds from fruit etc in the scat, so raccoon or coyote, depending on diameter... Everything eats out guinea eggs, so I don’t even leave the marked eggs out overnight. Maybe when I’ve made 100 Sculpey eggs I’ll leave those out for our predators to play with...

As for raccoons... OK, I admit it, I am a total softie tree hugger! I see so many people killing wildlife because they need to eat and it breaks my heart. I know, this is a very unpopular position among poultry keepers. Even from a pragmatic standpoint though, I think it’s unrealistic to think that we can eliminate all predators. I would have killed our poultry fixated bobcat if I’d had a chance though, because it had determined that poultry were an easy meal and it was getting bolder. We have raccoons and opossums that live on our property, and I don’t try to eliminate those. They are mostly a nighttime predator and we have secure coops (knock on wood!) and don’t let birds sleep outside. Our raccoons don’t really seem to view our birds as worth trying to reach, which is another reason to keep existing predators. If we kill them, others will move into the open territory, and they might be more poultry focused than our current residents. Same with red shouldered hawks - we have a pair that breeds on our property but aren’t interested in poultry. They and the crows help keep other birds of prey away.

 

[My2butterflies]

I see seeds from fruit etc in the scat, so raccoon or coyote, depending on diameter... Everything eats out guinea eggs, so I don’t even leave the marked eggs out overnight. Maybe when I’ve made 100 Sculpey eggs I’ll leave those out for our predators to play with...

As for raccoons... OK, I admit it, I am a total softie tree hugger! I see so many people killing wildlife because they need to eat and it breaks my heart. I know, this is a very unpopular position among poultry keepers. Even from a pragmatic standpoint though, I think it’s unrealistic to think that we can eliminate all predators. I would have killed our poultry fixated bobcat if I’d had a chance though, because it had determined that poultry were an easy meal and it was getting bolder. We have raccoons and opossums that live on our property, and I don’t try to eliminate those. They are mostly a nighttime predator and we have secure coops (knock on wood!) and don’t let birds sleep outside. Our raccoons don’t really seem to view our birds as worth trying to reach, which is another reason to keep existing predators. If we kill them, others will move into the open territory, and they might be more poultry focused than our current residents. Same with red shouldered hawks - we have a pair that breeds on our property but aren’t interested in poultry. They and the crows help keep other birds of prey away.

I have small hands and it’s finger width. I think a bit small to be a coyote. We did see coyote tracks down the road from the farm on our walk yesterday, so they are still close by. I have yet to see one in the yard, but without game cameras setup I can’t say for sure they aren’t out when I’m in bed.
I understand your stance on wildlife. I’m the same. Since our coops(so far) don’t seem to have a way for predators to get in I don’t worry much about nighttime critters. The hawks have been putting me on edge, but they have yet to try anything. Just flying low around the farm this weekend.

 

[Sydney65]

Oppossum, raccoon and coyotte all look like dog poo, size-wise. Berries and seeds w/ pointed end-raccoon.
Bone and fur-coyotte
Tubular w/curl at end -opossum
Why do I know this ?!
Oh, yeah - scouting.