Suspect Arrested in Egg Case

To celebrate the release of my book, I’m running some “Memory Lane” posts from my years at Stringtown Rising Farm. I’m choosing some of my personal favorite funny animal stories–if you’ve been around a while, you may remember them, and if you’re new, you may have missed them. This story from three years ago is based around a recurring theme, both at this farm and at Stringtown Rising, of chickens hiding eggs. Casper was a growing pup at the time and was keeping the hens on their toes.

Stringtown, West Virginia.

A recent steep decline in egg production at a Stringtown facility was explained over the weekend when a large supply of nested products was uncovered by a farmer high atop haystacks.

Further inspection revealed the eggs, spread over two nests, numbered nearly three dozen. Investigators believe multiple hens were involved in the bootleg activity.

Previous production locations appeared to have been abandoned in the days preceding the discovery, though theft from the operation was suspected as a possible cause of the seeming decline in egg outlay. A person of interest in the case, Casper, known on the streets as Casper the Terrible, was identified early on by authorities.

Workers expressed outrage over the new egg removals, calling it yet another violation.

Speckled Hen: “I’m devastated. Now I have to start all over.”

Little Red Hen: “I’m calling my Congresshen.”

According to the farmer, the eggs belong to her.

The suspect denied all charges, though a body language expert detected deceit in his behavior.

Casper the Terrible was arrested and booked into the Stringtown Rising Farm porch penitentiary pending further questioning.

Or petting.

You can order Chickens in the Road: An Adventure in Ordinary Splendor now!