Does anybody else have trouble keeping people from messing with their coops at night?

[Trish1974]

I live on a country road, unfortunately not as "country" as it used to be thanks to greedy developers. I'm on a private, gravel, dead end road but we are getting more traffic all of the time. There are signs at the beginning of the road, rude people proceed anyway, they want to "visit" the neighbor's race horses, like its their private petting zoo. Neighbors on the street are fed up with it yet it continues day-and-night. To top it off Google gives wrong directions here, huge dump trucks sinking putting trenches in my yard because they're looking for a gravel pit with a similar road name. I've come home from from work to find strangers milling about on my property! I ask what they're doing here, they said they wanted to check out my birds. I proceeded to tell them this is not a petting zoo for their amusement and to get off of my property before I call the cops, then they get pissed off leaving in a huff, as if I was rude to them! I've put up No Trespassing Violators Will Be Prosecuted signs. I still get trespassers on foot as well as driving, putting trenches in my yard, despite installing 25 foot wide gravel for lost morons to turn around. Signs don't work & motion lights don't work. Electric fence or a ticked off barking dog might. Now when you are a talking about night time visitors that only leads me to believe they are there with the intent of stealing. During this pandemic I guess people are hungry and they know you've got chickens laying eggs. Believe me I feel for you!

That's crazy!
I would end up in jail if I had to put up with that...

 

[Pandemic pandemonia]

Get a hot wire. 2000 volts will do.
Touch it the first time and you'll never want to touch it again.

ETA: Works to keep both predators and pesky neighbors out

I have an electric fencer we used for our horses running on a wire next to the coops. Last night I rigged some fishing cord attached to a pull type body alarm I had just bought three and some wire to the other two and laid those or put them around at various heights around the yard up by the coops so they might pull those and set off alarms. Tonight I put out a motion light but they can reach it so it may disappear over night. I had my security cam aimed up there last night too but it isn't made for outside so it was inside shooting out the window. Window glare is a problem. I watched it most of the night and didn't see anything much. I moved it outside into a pop bottle I cut for it to protect it from rain and hung it to see but it is too far to really see much except the motion light coming on at least that's something.

 

[Pandemic pandemonia]

You definitely need a camera(s). A game camera is cheap and easy to set up. A camera will identify your culprit and give you better clarity re the next action to take.

I have used cameras here for quite awhile and I found some I like that you can get live feed off of and control to turn and go up and down. They were pretty cheap off wish.com the ones I buy are inside. They do make them for outside use too but I bought the ones for inside because I can shoot them out the windows. That way they won't steal them. I did put one in a pop bottle and had it up by the coops and it showed a guy sitting next to it one day then it got to where everything was upside down like he had messed with it. I couldn't get it straightened out so I bought a new one but I haven't got it setup yet. The one I'm using is a simplisafe cam I just got with a new home security system. It doesn't move but has a wide angle.

 

[Pandemic pandemonia]

That's crazy!
I would end up in jail if I had to put up with that...

I know what you mean. I put up a sign with all the other alarms and cameras and things I have put up since finding the open coop yesterday or so. The sign says that these chickens are for breeding purpose and are being sold to people in different states and are for food production and important. It also says keep out at the top. Then it says I have been putting up with them but am losing patience with this and if they keep up I might loose my patience and treat them like I do racoons and blow their heads off. Soooo by doing that the stupid thing is the fact I am acknowledging I have guns in the house to them. So you see this is a possible backfire on me already as well as the fact they could attack my son an adult male. They may figure he put the sign up. He is totally against guns .....at his house he has been robbed three times the past month. I won't shoot anyone over chickens but it does make me mad and it's like what next too. Especially after they have been breaking into my sons home a few blocks away and taken most of his possessions from him clothes tv's etc. just gone. They have things packed to come back too. We told the police and they didn't even put it on a watch list. So I've been putting up security cams there and trying to do things as we can.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Glad to hear u are taking actions to find the culprit. Keep us updated!

 

[Pandemic pandemonia]

I know what you mean. I put up a sign with all the other alarms and cameras and things I have put up since finding the open coop yesterday or so. The sign says that these chickens are for breeding purpose and are being sold to people in different states and are for food production and important. It also says keep out at the top. Then it says I have been putting up with them but am losing patience with this and if they keep up I might loose my patience and treat them like I do racoons and blow their heads off. Soooo by doing that the stupid thing is the fact I am acknowledging I have guns in the house to them. So you see this is a possible backfire on me already as well as the fact they could attack my son an adult male. They may figure he put the sign up. He is totally against guns .....at his house he has been robbed three times the past month. I won't shoot anyone over chickens but it does make me mad and it's like what next too. Especially after they have been breaking into my sons home a few blocks away and taken most of his possessions from him clothes tv's etc. just gone. They have things packed to come back too. We told the police and they didn't even put it on a watch list. So I've been putting up security cams there and trying to do things as we can.

So far they have not taken any of my chickens but they have moved things and left the pens open then the latest was the coop door was unscrewed and left hanging .........can't have that at all!!! All the birds were there. So far. They maybe getting a few eggs from the other coop but it doesn't really look like they have taken the doors off. I think the hens are just cutting back on production a bit right now.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Your sons situation. Wow. Im sorry u r Both dealing with such a stressful (and possibly dangerous) situation.

 

[Fishychix]

I moved it outside into a pop bottle I cut for it to protect it from rain

Great idea

I know what you mean. I put up a sign with all the other alarms and cameras and things I have put up since finding the open coop yesterday or so. The sign says that these chickens are for breeding purpose and are being sold to people in different states and are for food production and important. It also says keep out at the top. Then it says I have been putting up with them but am losing patience with this and if they keep up I might loose my patience and treat them like I do racoons and blow their heads off. Soooo by doing that the stupid thing is the fact I am acknowledging I have guns in the house to them. So you see this is a possible backfire on me already as well as the fact they could attack my son an adult male. They may figure he put the sign up. He is totally against guns .....at his house he has been robbed three times the past month. I won't shoot anyone over chickens but it does make me mad and it's like what next too. Especially after they have been breaking into my sons home a few blocks away and taken most of his possessions from him clothes tv's etc. just gone. They have things packed to come back too. We told the police and they didn't even put it on a watch list. So I've been putting up security cams there and trying to do things as we can.

WTH!! Where on earth do you live?!

 

[Pandemic pandemonia]

Motion activated lights can deter people as well, they start messing around and then a light turns on and spooks them. Doesn't always work and won't work if they are determined, but maybe the light coming on will alert you that there is someone out there as well.

Maybe even a camera like a Ring brand where it records video and sends you an alert to your phone. So I would pair that with the motion lights, the lights come on so the camera can get a good view and it sends you the video to your phone. At the least if you can get good footage of them you can send it to the police.

Also, make sure your yard is clearly marked No Trespassing. If it isn't then there probably isn't much you can do about them being on your property as stupid as that is.

I have signs up they ignore but I did get another motion light up today and alarms are all around the coops ready to go off if they happen to pull a string.

 

[Pandemic pandemonia]

Great idea

WTH!! Where on earth do you live?!

I'm in northwest Missouri a bit north of Kansas City.