Anyone else have issues with theft/trespassing?

I love all the ideas! Thanks everyone! We used to have motion lights all around the barn, but a tree fell on part of the roof and made that part collapse (fixed the roof) but we got a lot of damage inside & we were worried about the wiring so we've had the power out there shut off for a while. I never thought of using solar powered lights though! And I love some of the sign ideas! Clearly no trespassing doesn't work, but I don't mind putting up a sign about shooting trespassers.

Today we had one of our prized turkeys stolen from the coop. It weighed around 50lb and the original idea was to feed it up for Thanksgiving or Christmas but we made them so friendly by petting them everyday at feeding time especially around the kids. I'm angry that at 1000 this morning everyone was in the coop but at 600 tonight the turkey we named Thanksgiving had disappeared. We searched for hours and now my wife is so heartbroken it totally spoiled Christmas for us all.
Can anyone here suggest anyway of protecting the coop security wise? I thought about placing a security camera and a motion detector but am wondering how others manage this problem?

Thanks

A camera, or even just a big sign that SAYS that there are hidden cameras, can help a great deal.


I am SO sorry you went through that!!

Having lots of stuff happen around me 2 neighbors have installed those large outdoor lights affixed to light poles, had someone a month ago knock on my front door about 3 am and I called out who's there walked about 10 feet to the door, and they had already scrammed off into the darkness.

At my current place, the entire 3 or so acres around the buildings is lit up with 2 big old fashioned (1970s) sodium vapor street lights, it doesn't fully light up the entire area but it lights it enough so you can see even on the darkest night... Between the lights my llamas and my dogs little goes unnoticed around the property... The llamas are likely not going to scare off people but when they sound off the dogs join in...

I do have a problem with people using my drive as a turn around, wouldn't mind if they just pulled in the edge of the driveway and did a three point, but because it's a 4 lane highway they come all the way to the house to turn around and I don't like that one bit especially when the kids are outside playing or I have stuff laying around the driveway/garage area, getting ready to put up an agricultural gate across the drive to prevent that...

At my moms house growing up we used to get the random religious solicitors and scrap collectors (likely thieves) coming up the driveway on occasion, but once we started to greet them when they got up to the house with a holstered (in clear view) sidearm on the belt they all the sudden stopped coming... A few years back they started to show up again, so my step dad who is into 'Cowboy Shooting' started to meet them with his full decked out cowboy six shooter and belt full of bullets when they got to the house, and same results they all the sudden stop showing up...

Have a friend that put up a decent sized sign on his drive that read something to the effect that "Private Drive, any trespassers past this point, will be detained by force and charged with trespass" he said that worked well for him...

I have a big fence, alarms and "Tresspassers Will Be Shot" signs. And a 12 gague shotgun. Any sign of someone that doesn't belong there and a load of bird shot goes over their head.

Never have them come back!

And the word goes around!

OH! That reminds me, my baby sister lives in one of those highly populated place on the old family ranch....

she hung up a "shooting range, live fire" sign.... I think that helps.

I've seen no mention of LOCKS.... might want to give them a try.
Motion sensor lights are helpful. All my livestock are locked away at night.
Have you put up a gate and signs as others have suggested?
Drive way motion detector works too.

Lock your stuff up!