Why Would You Buy Fake Eggs?

On her way to the feed store on Saturday to get three 50 pound bags of chicken feed, I asked milkmaid Tricia if she would mind picking up some fake brown ceramic eggs while she was out.  Why would we purchase fake ceramic eggs?  There are several reasons, but I'll tell you ours - SNAKES!

Tricia came back with a package of four eggs below along with a funny story from the owner of the feed store.

The feed store owner is a very kind and out-going lady with a great personality.  When she saw Tricia's purchase of ceramic eggs, she asked, "Are you having trouble with snakes in the hen house, too?!"  She was very animated with hand expressions in her description of finding THREE snakes in the last week.  She had a dull shovel and it made the job of snake-killing hard.  She killed two of them, but had to call her son-in-law to come with a gun and shoot one down off of the rafters.

Yes, we've had the same problem lately.  When the rat snakes get in the hen house and begin eating eggs, we kill the snakes.  I hate to do it because they do a mighty fine job of keeping the rat population down, but they have an affinity for the eggs and that won't do.  When we catch them in the act, a shovel or a pipe or a board quickly and humanely dispenses of the offending reptile.

One other way we thin the population is with ceramic eggs.  We place a ceramic egg in the nesting boxes and when the snake gets in the box and swallows a ceramic egg, it has a fatal effect on the snake.  Unable to digest the egg, it gets an incurable case of constipation that kills him.  Over time our inventory of ceramic eggs disappears.  Sometimes we retrieve the egg from the snake's skeleton and we'll recycle them.  This time, with only 1 egg remaining, I had Tricia get four more.  The first thing I do is take a Sharpie and mark a big "X" on the ceramic eggs.  They look so real, if you aren't careful, you'll collect the fake egg and try to make an omelet with it.  The "X" alerts you to leave it in the nesting box.  It's for snakes to eat - not us!

Here is the last of the ceramic eggs alongside some fresh-laid REAL eggs.  See how real it looks?  It would be easy to confuse, and you can see why the snake eats them.

I stepped into the hen house to deposit a ceramic egg in each of the boxes on the side of the hen house that is adjacent to the woods.  Some of the hens had already laid their eggs and some were in the process of egg laying.  They fluffed up their feathers and made irritating noises to shoo me away from my task.

Hens like their privacy when laying and I was an intruder to their peaceful place.  It wouldn't take long.  I just needed to drop four eggs in four boxes.  This Aracauna let me know in no uncertain terms that I needed to leave.

My job was done and I was out the door.

Now, each box had a fake egg in it, and this will help with the snake problem.  There are five boxes on the other side, but the snakes always are on this side since it's closest to the woods.  I need to get the machete and clean out the ever-encroaching woods.  When it gets all grown up, it encourages snakes, possums, rats and other critters to visit Our Maker's Acres Family Farm.