Refering to the rat and 'gecko' post above do any of you think that putting...

J

joanietoo

Well-known member
peppermint oil and or Bounce around the nesting box I have for the hens will affect them....I have had only none to 3 eggs a day from 11 hens for the last few months and today found that, infact, it appears that the eggs have been eaten by something that can take them from the nest box, across stoney ground, through a small opening into the hurricane bunker I built for them and devour them there out of sight.

The entire cage area is fenced in as we have mongeese (gooses?)that eat the eggs but they make a hole and eat the egg in the nest.

This dissappearance of the entire egg has had me puzzled and I can only think it is a rat or six...urghhh...

So I really want to try the 2 suggestions but dont want the poor hens to lay peppermint falvoured eggs or sumtin'.

Any ideas...it's costly to feed hens that lay eggs for an unknown critter to eat....darn!

 
Maybe you could put it away from the hens, in the spots you may suspect the rats are passing through

 
What about hot pepper flakes?

Make a spray by boiling hot peppers (such as dried habanero) in water. Strain and then saturate the ground outside the fence. If you overspray a bit, no worry. Birds usally don't mind a little spice smileys/smile.gif

 
We had crows that used to go into our chicken coop and . . .

carry off eggs to eat at their leisure. The next door neighbors used to think that my son was throwing eggs at their house, but then I explained and told him to look for a hole in one side of the egg. As he had seen the evidence as I described, he then believed me.

You say though that your hens are fenced, but how big is the mesh they are fenced in with? Rats and such can squeeze in through small spaces. Also you might want to make sure your hens' laying place is pretty dark; too much light makes some hens want to peck at and eat eggs and sometimes there is nothing left, not even shells.

Try the peppermint essential oil, but then work on fencing your chicks in with smaller mesh, and cover their run with the same and make sure you bury the smaller mesh into the ground, either staight down or bent outward, away from the coop for a foot or so.

And make sure you lock them in at night and get up promptly to pick eggs up in the morning or even morning and night so critters have less a chance to eat 'em up.

Another thing to think about: if you live where it is extremely how during the late summer and fall ( like it has been here in southern california) your hens will stop laying as a self-preservation thing; not laying is easier on their bodies and systems.

 
I can not see where these critters are coming in, it's a mystery. I have the gardener adding

wire to all areas I think could be openings...at this rate the coup will look like a local hut, just need a car with creeper growing through it to make it genuine..then I'll do a water colour of it!!!!

 
They need less than a quarter size opening

Their bodies are very nimble and squishy. They will fit through the tiniest of openings. You can't look for a rat sized opening, you have to look for a cricket size opening.

 
In that case perhaps you could try just one little rag with a few drops of the oil in one corner...

Then keep an eye on the chickens to see if they tolerate it. If they don't avoid that corner you could then add more to the other corners.

It's very strong, and as I said, it burns my eyes when I first put it out. (A small price to pay for no more droppings!)

 
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