mystery

A friend ofmine let her girls out this morning to find one dead and two clearly in shock ... There are no visible wounds on any of them ... Would anyone know what would do this x

My first thoughts on this are rats, then maybe a fox

Any digging signs, disturbed ground ?

Any marks on the dead 'un ?

Then I thought about poisons, maybe fumes, but that wouldnt account for shock

It may have been a rat, (dam things get in anywhere)

I have used this in the past to get rid of them, it does seem to work

Drinking chocolate powder

Plaster of Paris

Something to make a small cake of it

Mix the chocolate powder with the plaster of Paris, (use plenty, it's got to smell really good)

Mix it with water, put into lids (I find they work really well)

When it has set remove them, place around the outside of the run, cover them so nothing else can eat them, but a rodent can)

Okay I know its not ethical, but scaring hens and eating eggs of hens isnt either

The rodents eat the chocolate plaster, but they cant digest it, so it settles in the gut and they eventually die of constipation  

I have heard of some that use Bi-Carbonate of sode and they said they explode, but I have never tried that

I have squirrels and birds in my garden, even the odd moggy, no foxes just yet, but they did come around (I got some beef stock ones for them)

I put out plenty of nuts, seeds, fat balls, the chocolate plaster  hasnt any interest for them,

If its been nibbled, I leave them for a week or so, keep a check on them, then when nothing else has happened I remove them

I am not saying YOU should do this, but its something I have done and it worked for me  

please do not try the method of killing rats as suggested because that causes the rats or any other creature that eats it a slow prolonged death which is illegal. Use the proper recognised methods for dealing with vermin.