egg attacks

[chickenfan]

Strange, I've found eggs out on the lawn today someway from the house all with a long, narrow slit and the contents partially eaten. Although they have only appeared today, two of the eggs seemed rotten and one had black contents. What would be doing this - crows/jackdaws/rats?

 

[Marigold]

Are they chicken eggs or wild bird eggs?
Any of your girls made a secret nest?

 

[chickenfan]

Its my bantam eggs Marigold. Never happened before but I have a lot of crows about. Nobody's made a secret nest.

 

[chickenfan]

More eggs eaten today, this time in the nest box. Must be the crows I think. What a nuisance and I'm not sure how to stop it.

 

[chrismahon]

Try some pot eggs in the nest box or coop Chickenfan. Whatever it is they may be discouraged if they can't get into them at all?

 

[Marigold]

How could crows get into the nestbox?
Any squirrels or rats around where you keep them?

 

[chickenfan]

I have been wondering about crows going into the house to reach the nestbox eggs, but this house is different from the others with only 20" between the door and the nest box. Would a crow be likely to go in, or a rat or squirrel more likely? I have a flock of 8 crows, but there may also be rats there are squirrels. I didn't think of squirrels eating eggs.

 

[rick]

I know my answer to everything seems to be turmeric but if you sprinkled some around you might get some incriminating footprints?

 

[3441sussex]

In the past I have had a crows take eggs. As I could not work out where the eggs were going because there was no signs in the nestbox I set up a camcorder and I have film of a crow flying in through the pop hole and flying off with the hens egg in its beak.

I use Grandpas feeds so that no vermin can gain access to the layers pellets and so are not attracted to the run. I tried using a Larsen trap to capture the crows and used eggs as bait as I did not have a live crow or magpie to put in the trap. However, this did not work and I have found the best solution is to hang up a dead crow or magpie as this deters the crows from coming anywhere near the run and hen houses.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[chickenfan]

Thank you Sussex, Rick and Chris. I've discovered today what happened. I had a young hen laying in the hedge in the spring but couldn't reach them to get them out, and it is these eggs that are now appearing in the garden nearby. Whatever it moving them has stopped trying to eat them as they don't taste nice. I think you are right it must be a crow getting into the house and nestbox where the fresh eggs are being eaten. I will try getting some ceramic.pot eggs.