And here's the latest news from our Farm Correspondent, the Farmer's Daughter.....
Well, thanks for that introduction. It's raining ....again. Outdoor chores are called off for the day. But earlier in the week, Cowboy and I found ourselves in the midst of a puzzling situation. Let me start at the beginning. Early this week Cowboy asked me how many eggs I'd just gathered.
"21," I answered.
"Don't we have more hens than that?"
"Yes. I'm afraid we have a problem."
I went on to explain that we should be (but weren't) getting at least 3 dozen eggs daily and that I'd been finding at least one messy egg a day....messy, like covered in yolk. But no broken shells scattered about, no guilty-looking, egg-sucking weasels lurking in the shadows.
Weird? Maybe, but I had a theory...
A serial egg killer
I decided to conduct a stakeout......Operation Egg Basket
Day one: Even before I set up the stakeout location, I caught Mrs. Leghorn in action! The young white hen was witnessed carrying a freshly broken, partially eaten egg in her beak. Wow! That was easy!!! She was promptly removed from chicken society. The details are too graphic to mention.
Back at the station I decided to do a little detective work. I researched the internet for information on egg-eating hens. I learned:
Fact #1 Hens will eat an egg that has been broken in the laying process or eggs with shells that are too soft.
I made a note: make sure nesting boxes have a thick layer of wood shavings.
Another note: be sure to offer calcium-rich oyster shells when I feed.
Fact #2 Hens can pick up the bad habit from hanging around other hens who commit such a crime.
I made another note: You think the problem is solved with the elimination of Mrs. Leghorn? Think again!!
Day two: I planted a decoy. A brown ceramic egg, looking just like it came from a Rhode Island Red, was placed in an empty nest. I sat on an overturned feed bucket and watched from the shadows. Chickens came in and out, in and out. Suddenly, in strutted the small, black Mrs. Sumatra. She hesitated at the door, nervously looking about the room. She jumped into the box containing the decoy. My pulse quickened. I kept my focus on her every jerking movement. She situated her body over the decoy and sat on it. Perhaps it's too life-like?
Oh well. I let her be while I observed the behavior of the other cackling hens. One Rhode Island Red hen in the one of the top nesting boxes raised up, plopped out a glossy egg and cackled loudly. Just then an Ameraucana hen rushed into that very nesting box with obvious intent to do egg-ily harm. I jumped up and snatched her by her legs and dragged her from the scene. I felt very confident that she was indeed the perpetrator and that the serial egg-killing would stop.
Day three: No stakeout....but there should have been! We had a report of egg yolk in a nesting box on the lower west side.
Day four: Stakeout. No decoy. My neighbor was assigned to sit in the stakeout with me (well, she volunteered). Several suspects matching the description were seen in the vicinity of the yolk-soaked box. We noted nothing unusual about their behavior however, and watched several hens lay eggs. We broke for lunch. After lunch we found the remains of yet another broken egg. We set up surveillance (a trail camera with video capabilities).
After going through all the surveillance footage we've gathered to date, we are still not able to identify any suspect. Evidence is inconclusive at this time. But rest assured, we will get to the bottom of this.
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| file photo |
Have I been watching too many police shows?
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