Camera in chicken coop?

[kat2]

My son wants to put a camera in our coop so he can watch his chickens. I was hoping to find something that would enable him to watch on his ipad. We're not looking for anything that saves images, just live-streaming, then it can be gone. I don't want to break the bank on this, but need something that can both withstand cold winter temps and run on batteries. Anyone have suggestions for a economical option? Thanks in advance.

 

[Kiki]

Would an extension cord be out of the question....to power a camera?

 

[IZZYBELLA]

I use a Dropcam (now owned by Nest) in the coop and love it. Chicken TV is addicting! I don't know how much it cost, as it was a Christmas present. It does require electricity, though. We don't pay for recording, so just have the live feed.

 

[kat2]

Would an extension cord be out of the question....to power a camera?

Well, we could if we had to. However, we currently only run an extension cord in the winter to heat our waterer. I was hoping we wouldn't have to power multiple things in the winter. If our only option is a corded camera, we'd probably do it.

 

[Kiki]

You could look into solar powered game cameras.

 

[ChickenFajita6]

I want to do the same. We bought a wireless, wi fi enabled "Ring" camera (you know, like the doorbell cameras) so I could watch anywhere on my phone but it wouldn't actually work IN the coop. It couldn't hold the connection. We could have mounted it outside in the yard and just pointed it at the coop, but I wanted a coop or run cam. I think the tin roof and hardwire cloth killed the wifi connection once it was brought inside.

I still plan to get one eventually, we are going to have security cameras installed around our house and will have at least one in the coop/run area.

 

[henchook]

See our LIVE ChickenCam feed from sunny northern California.



Watch LIVE from sunny Northern California: as the daily lives of 6 chicks and 2 adult chickens unfold before your eyes.

We built them a nice, big coop and and an awesome chicken run (off camera, to the left).

They have an automatic waterer (the vertical white PVC tube in the middle of the picture). If you look closely, you can see them pecking at the nipples (Yes, there is such a thing as chicken nipples) to get a drink. The waterer is hooked up to the sprinkler system, so they never go thirsty. There is also an automatic gravity-based feeder system (the black ABS pipe to the right of the waterer) so that they don't go hungry.

Sometimes they have a Boxer guest that likes to stare at them.


The camera is an Amcrest IP3M-943W ProHD Outdoor WiFi Security Bullet Camera.
It runs on 12V DC, so I spliced the cord from the power adapter and ran a long wire into the chicken coop.

The camera can only be viewed on the mobile app, dedicated software from the manufacturer, or with installation of a browser plug-in. It doesn't support web streaming out of the box, but it does support RTSP protocol. I set up ffmpeg transcoder on a PC which pulls a live feed from the camera, and streams it to YouTube live.

 

[kat2]

I use a Dropcam (now owned by Nest) in the coop and love it. Chicken TV is addicting! I don't know how much it cost, as it was a Christmas present. It does require electricity, though. We don't pay for recording, so just have the live feed.

I should have added in my OP that whatever camera we get would be ~4' off the floor in a 4'x5' coop. Do you think a Dropcam would give a good visual of that small an area?

 

[kat2]

See our LIVE ChickenCam feed from sunny northern California.

View attachment 1033516

Watch LIVE from sunny Northern California: as the daily lives of 6 chicks and 2 adult chickens unfold before your eyes.

We built them a nice, big coop and and an awesome chicken run (off camera, to the left).

They have an automatic waterer (the vertical white PVC tube in the middle of the picture). If you look closely, you can see them pecking at the nipples (Yes, there is such a thing as chicken nipples) to get a drink. The waterer is hooked up to the sprinkler system, so they never go thirsty. There is also an automatic gravity-based feeder system (the black ABS pipe to the right of the waterer) so that they don't go hungry.

Sometimes they have a Boxer guest that likes to stare at them.


The camera is an Amcrest IP3M-943W ProHD Outdoor WiFi Security Bullet Camera.
It runs on 12V DC, so I spliced the cord from the power adapter and ran a long wire into the chicken coop.

The camera can only be viewed on the mobile app, dedicated software from the manufacturer, or with installation of a browser plug-in. It doesn't support web streaming out of the box, but it does support RTSP protocol. I set up ffmpeg transcoder on a PC which pulls a live feed from the camera, and streams it to YouTube live.

That looks like a great setup. The camera is decently priced also. I should have mentioned that the camera we get would be ~4' off the floor in a 4'x5' coop. Do you think the camera you use would give a good visual of that small an area?

 

[henchook]

That looks like a great setup. The camera is decently priced also. I should have mentioned that the camera we get would be ~4' off the floor in a 4'x5' coop. Do you think the camera you use would give a good visual of that small an area?

This one is 7' off the ground, and the coop is 8'x8', so it should probably be fine.