[jaykay]

The number of eggs I'm getting has gone down drastically. The henhouses have light. The red mite population is minimal.

There are rats about. The reason I think they're stealing eggs is that my neighbour, who has a few chickens and is in all day, says there were two eggs in his henhouse and when he came to collect them they'd gone.

I'm out all day, so can't collect through the day. Apart from poisoning the rats (which I am doing, but what if they prefer eggs to poison  ) what else can I do?

[travis]

Are you sure that its not just the onset of the dark evenings? I believe that a rat can roll an egg away, but most laying box layouts would not allow this. Difficult to see how they could surmount an obstacle with an egg in tow!

[doganjo]

I though rats were stealing mine till I saw a jackdaw in the shed - it had gone in the pop hole and had an egg in one claw ready to fly back out!  The proof was when my painter found about 30 empty sheels in the guttering when he was painting the soffits!  

[jaykay]

Well there are jackdaws about too, though I don't know if I've ever seen one in the yard where the henhouses are.
So - how to solve the problem. I have perhaps 15 hens of laying age and am only getting one egg some days  Shouldn't be darker nights cos the henhouses have lights on a timer, so 14 hours light.

[aaronsundin]

We had a huge rat problem during the summer of 2010 , We actually saw rats running around near the chooks during the day . I laid poison each evening in tunnels where the chooks couldn't get to it and in a matter of days they were killed off . We found a few dead ones laying around . They seemed more interested in the chook corn rather than the eggs , none went missing as far as we were aware . What springs to mind reading about this problem is stoats rather than rats , stoats are excellent eggs thieves - I have actually seen them exiting the hen house  with fangs sunk into an egg , we even had a fake egg go missing ! I could be wrong but I think it would be difficult for a rat to carry off an egg in this way .  Have you ever seen stoats around ?

[Hermit]

A tale about rats and eggs.
My father used to work at a huge mill in Halifax called Dean Clough. A stream used to run under the mill showing at different places. He used to put an egg at the side of the stream and then watch two rats appear, one would hold the egg with all fours and the other would pull that rat into the stream tunnel! they are very clever creatures. It was break time entertainment at t'mill.

[jaykay]

Yes, there are certainly stoats about 

[Cinderhills]

I have actually seen them exiting the hen house  with fangs sunk into an egg , we even had a fake egg go missing !

We had a marble egg go missing once!!!  I have no idea how anything could have taken that heavy thing in their mouth!

[Anke]

My money would be on crows in the first instance - I have been collecting egg shells from my fields for a while. There wasn't a problem in the summer, but now they are sitting on the fence posts and waiting! It is always the (same?) two, and I am not a good shot... so now I am collecting three times a day.

[SallyintNorth]

And I can add magpies and hedgehogs to the list of known egg thieves.  The hedgehogs take baby chicks, too.

I vaguely remember reading about laying boxes where the eggs rolled under a lip, which would reduce the number of thieves who could steal them.  Not sure if it would stop rats, though, sorry.

[SallyintNorth]

I've never used artificial light but I did read up about it, and remember reading that it's not just about the number of hours of light, it's about increasing day length.  That they stop laying when they moult and start again as the days begin to get longer.

Probably wrong and/or irrelevant - but I recalled it and just thought I'd pass it on. 

[doganjo]

Yes, that's right, Sally - 14 hours a day is what I remember, but Rosemary will know.

[Penninehillbilly]

I heard a noise in my shed where a couple of hens had made nests, there was a stoat trying to pull an egg out of a tub. I shut the doors and we got it later.

Could the hens be eating eggs? They could be bored in the house with the light on?
Try filling some blown eggs with mustard

[jaykay]

The eggs are checked for still when the hens are still out and about, ie henhouse doors open.
Yes, use lights to extend day to 14 hours.

Interesting about the stoat ( need to set up cameras and find the culprits )

[tazbabe]

i've been pondering the same question. there are rat holes in the goose run (they have indoor and outdoor facilities) same with the ducks, and often there is a bit of a commotion in the early dawn, and i am guessing that it is the rats annoying them.

the hens are shut up into their shed, overnight, so the eggs they lay first thing i collect when i let them uot. i have 11 hens, and production has been quite scanty lately, which i was putting down to the time of year. although only one is in moult, the rest of the right agegroup look like they should be laying. 4 of them are young, 2 of which are now in lay, so production is better, yay!

one of the older hens was in the habit of laying under a tree, i deliberately left an egg there ofernight, and it was gone in the morning, so something is definately stealing! we have witnessed crows flying off with eggs, but not for a while, the population is reduced, can't think why! (bang bang)

so, the rats don't have access to the eggs at night, the ducks are not laying, and the geese lay during the day and i collect promptly. but i would like to set traps, get rid of them, need to devise a way of putting traps near the holes without the ducks and geese getting caught in them!