rats removing eggs?

[incognito]

Hi
We have had a huge number of rats in the stable were we keep our chickens and egg numbers have fallen drastically!
The rat problem is now almost sorted and eggs are on the increase.
is it true that rats can remove eggs or do they eat all the eggs and shell to remove all the evidence?

 

[chrismahon]

They pick them up and carry them away to eat them Incognito. I recollect seeing a squirrel carrying large conkers across the lawn with them wedged under their chin. Perhaps they could carry them with one front leg? When we moved into our UK place alongside a canal, the previous owner had 4 chickens which he said were not laying. I found dozens of egg shells 20 feet away from the coop, on the canal bank, where the rats had eaten them.

 

[Chuck]

They can carry them away or they will eat them on the spot if they are unlikely to get disturbed.