Baby Monitor?Would it alert us if a predator tried to get in our coop?

[Gindee77]

I had a wild idea (possibly a dumb idea) and wondered if anyone else has ever tried it? Has anyone tried a baby monitor in their chicken coop so you could hear if a predator is trying to get your chickens? I mean do chickens set up a racket if they are being bothered in the night? It's just a thought and if it would work, I'd start looking at yard sales and good will stores for a used one.

I'm really getting worried about putting my babies out in the new coop, what with all the reports on here about predators wreaking havoc with ppl's flocks! Predators were one of the main reasons I got out of chickens last time I had them and I've vowed to do all I can to protect my chicks this time!! (we thought we had done enough last time...Wrong!!)

 

[nccountrygirl]

I've had the thought too of using one, couldn't hurt.

 

[LynneP]

Our barn is 250 feet from the house and we used a baby monitor for years to listen to our horses. Worked great. These days I'd almost be tempted to put a video cam in there with the costs coming down. I haven't checked lately, though.

 

[speckledhen]

I've always had a baby monitor in the coop. You'll have to learn what all the growls, squeals, etc mean, then I'm sure if carnage was taking place, you'd know. The roosters crowing you out of bed at 2 a.m. you get used to, as well.

 

[SueNH]

They work very well. I had one that would work 300 feet from the house.

 

[Gindee77]

I'm so glad to know this...I'm getting one. I'll watch yardsales and tell all my friends who yardsale!! I'm going to check good will too!

Thanks everyone!

 

[HR Patterson]

We put a baby monitor in our chicken pen when we lost 7 birds last week, after the first night, but you have to basically have to stay glued to it all night. We heard the weasel on the outside of the coop, then light squaking, but what gave it away was the beating of the wings of the bird he was killing. By the time we got up to the coop he had already gotten 1 bird and was still in the coop hiding under the nest boxes. The thing that I found odd was that the other birds were completly unfazed by his presence. We took all the birds out and tried to deal with him alone, but he managed to get away. Any, listen for sound that don't belong, because they probably don't!--HR

 

[Ericasl]

I do not have one in the hen house ,but I used one when I was in 4-h and our ewes were having babies. It worked great we never missed a birth.

 

[2 Beauts]

Also check consignment stores that handle baby things.

 

[ivan3]

They are very good, with two caveats: Ya gotta be home and awake. Roo's are the original alarm clock, and if you leave the volume cranked up it is very effective (will wake you up if the coop explodes with pred. alarms and flapping wings as well). We've been using a $20.00 Safey First (Dollar General store) monitor for three years. During the summer, when the shutters are open (hardware cloth in window frames) and something is prowling nearby, we can often hear whatever it is moving through the brush before the girls start to growl.

What was more interesting than the detection/ID of preds (raccoons are particularly noisy with their chittering and barking) was discovering the range of chook vocalizations (just before it begins raining they often chortle in unison - some Jungle Fowl artifact??).

Not a cure all, but a darn useful adjunct nonetheless.