It's been asked more than once if the use of hens eggs in traps for stoats/rats etc poses any risks to native avifauna through through transmission of disease.
An analysis of the risk was done for DOC by a consultant poultry and in summary;
The options to control the contamination inside and on the surface of the egg are:
- using commercial eggs from a chicken layer farm or
- using eggs from a broiler chicken producer.
Extra control could be achieved through egg washing or microwaving.
The overall comment on using eggs from reputable chicken layer farms was: "Risks from using eggs in traps and breaking them over rocks can only be assessed as low, and further management can only be justified in the most risk-averse situations."
