Egg thief or chicken prank?

[asher]

We have a rat that ate through the wooden floor of our barn and is enjoying our eggs. *sigh* 4 barn cats later and we still see the rat sneaking in. Cats don't see him/them. Grr!

 

[MissPrissy]

Mix up some plaster of paris with powdered sugar. Leave it for the rat but out of reach for the chickens. It and its friends won't be around very much longer to eat your eggs. It is not poisoned so if your chickens ate it they would be okay.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Quote:
Cats don't generally get rats.

 

[horsejody]

We leave plastic eggs laying around in strategic areas to encourage the girls to lay eggs were we can find them. Last summer a baby racoon found the plastic eggs and chewed them up.

 

[ruth]

I thought my chickens were having the winter egg laying blues when my eggs went from a dozen a day to 4 or 5. But then I found three separate nests, each with a dozen eggs in it - one in horse stables, one in barn, one outside in bushes. I knew mine were getting upset with me taking their eggs every day and would squawk at me. They free range (looks like yours do too) and so I guess they decided to show me and now they hide their eggs. If yours are free ranging you might need to go on a little Easter Egg hunting trip or play Sherlock Holmes and try tracking them.

 

[Josie]

These are all good ideas.
I think I am going to try putting a fake egg where they had been laying, and after this weekend, I'll try keeping the girls locked up, that way I know where they are laying. I'll check around the yard for hidden nests, but they have proven to be better at hiding than I have been at finding.