Ravens stealing eggs?

[Buddys mom]

Hi all,
I have what I thought was a pretty secure run. But twice this month I've lost eggs. The first was an eaten egg in the nesting box inside the coop. I figured one of the hens ate it but haven't had any problems like that for a couple of weeks. So I come home from the store today, went to check for eggs and found an eaten egg outside the run itself, one unbroken egg inside the run just outside the coop near the ramp going in and another partially eaten one in the nesting box.

My run is one of those dog kennel kind from TS. We put a few together to make a bigger run. Some of the openings are from 2 inches wide x 6 1/2 inches long. None larger than that. My question is, can a raven squeeze through a spot that small?? I thought maybe a crow can but we don't have any crows out here where I live. I'm going to try to attach some pics.

 

[SilverBirds]

No way a crow or raven could fit through that opening. They're practically chicken sized. It's probably your chickens eating their own eggs. If an egg accidently breaks, they'll quickly devour contents. They may have played keep away which is how some of the eggs ended up in the run.

 

[SilverBirds]

You could have a smaller invader in your coop. A mouse or rat perhaps. Maybe set up a camera and see if you can catch the culprit in the act.

 

[Buddys mom]

No way a crow or raven could fit through that opening. They're practically chicken sized. It's probably your chickens eating their own eggs. If an egg accidently breaks, they'll quickly devour contents. They may have played keep away which is how some of the eggs ended up in the run.

I didn't think so. I don't think it's the chickens because one of the eggs that were eaten was found a few feet outside the run. I was hoping it wouldn't be the ground squirrels but it seems like that might be the case. I was actually hoping it was the raven. They've been getting the neighbors eggs almost daily now. They would be easier to keep out of there than those squirrels. Thank you so much for the help!

 

[Buddys mom]

You could have a smaller invader in your coop. A mouse or rat perhaps. Maybe set up a camera and see if you can catch the culprit in the act.

It's looking like it's probably ground squirrels. I thought it might have been ravens since I've seen them hanging around the run. Thanks so much for the reply!

 

[Qwerty3159]

If you find yourself looking to be rid of ground squirrels check out the Squirrelinator trap. It’s gotta be the best ground squirrel trap on the market right now

 

[Buddys mom]

If you find yourself looking to be rid of ground squirrels check out the Squirrelinator trap. It’s gotta be the best ground squirrel trap on the market right now

I'll check it out. Thank you!