How do I protect my chickens from human predators?

[Laskaland]

Quote:
Hi Olga:

Call the police. Report the 20 year old. It starts small with these idiots and gets worse. What if he breaks in when your hubby is gone? Sickos often start with animals and work toward people. I'm not trying to scare you, but you have to be ware that this guy will only get joy from hurting animals for awhile and then have to go Bigger to get his jollys

You have to call the police and report the guy.

Christina
PS- the kids are probably only following the idiots lead

 

[FractalFarmer]

Lots of good advice here. Definitely barbed wire at least for the section of fence where they come over, and I would probably add some booby traps (but that's just me). Be sure to post NO TRESPASSING signs around. My personal favorite: NO TRESPASSING - Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.

Also add the motion detector lights, camera, alarm...whatever you can afford. And I would also file a police report if this were happening to me.

 

[BeckyLa]

We haven't heard back, is everything ok???

 

[greyfields]

a video tape of them doing any of this will be priceless and makes good evidence in court

 

[sandspoultry]

The motion lights and the camera are all great ideas! Easy to set up and you can't lie about a camera video in court. Also, get the local PD involved, get a report filled.

I work in the security field so I'll give you a little run down on camera's

Black and white camera will show a better image in low light than a color camera plus they are cheaper but you don't get to say the perp was wearing a blue shirt.

A higher end camera will auto switch from color during the day to black and white at night. But the price goes way up for that feature.

You will need to record your video, you can use regular VHS, Time lapse VHS, or DVD, or Digital Video Recorder, or your computor if you have the hard drive space. recording time- VHS 8 hours, Time lapse 120 hours or more, DVD, DVR, your computor, the sky is the limit money is the factor there. tapes are cheap, time lapse cost more but alot more can be recorded. You can also set up a motion detector that will start the recording when it sees motion, that way you are not recording endless hours of nothing.

Another easy thing to do if they are breaking in a gate or something like that is put an alarm contact on the door hooked to a bell or horn. That will usually be enough to make them run.

Or as others have mentioned, convince them that you are not people to be "messed with" Years ago we moved to Elizabeth City, NC on the outskirts of town, there was a housing development not that far away with lot's of people always milling around. If I was working late somebody would rattle the doors, tap on the windows etc trying to scare my wife. One evening my truck was in the shop so there was only one car in the driveway like I wasn't there. The same think happened and I went out the back door when I came around the front of the house I saw 3 figures going towards the back of the house. In the dark of night a .44 magnum makes a fireball about 2 feet in diameter when you fire it, plus it's a big bullet that you can hear going thru the air when it's coming towards you. Needless to say they took off back thru the thick underbrush in the woods. It was kind of funny you could hear branches breaking, them falling, ouch's etc. I put a couple more rounds in the air to keep them moving. A few days later I did see a couple younger guys all scratched up on the face and arms but we never had any more trouble at night.... funny how that worked out.

Steve in NC

 

[abluechipstock]

break their legs, i swear i would!

 

[asa]

There are motion alarms that go on windows. My husband uses one at work on the back office door. I sounds like a car alarm. I'm going to get one of those if I have any trouble. I keep my coop locked, and all the kids in my neighborhood think my Big Barred Rocks are mean. They are afraid of the chickens.

 

[Jameberlin]

I was going to stay a lurker... until i read this post, and i just had to say something. To the OP, please, please file some sort of police report, giving them a description of the man, and maybe his name if you have it... People like that are predators, and he's not likely to be interested in just hurting people's animals for long..

At the very least, your local PD should be interested in the fact that he stole your livestock and was conspiring to destroy your private property (i know it's harsh to refer to your chickens as such, but you have to put it into terms that law enforcement will understand).

I'm sorry you have to deal with having such a creep in your neighborhood, and i'm also sorry those kid's parents don't care what kind of danger they're putting their children in. If your husband had come to me to tell me my son was hanging out with a 20 year old chicken napper/killer.... i would have shot the guy myself.

 

[Cara]

We just got a new trail/game camera, and the sales assistant pointed out a feature that might be very useful to you. Instead of having a regular motion activated flash it has an infra red flash. This is designed not to scare off the prey with a flash of light, but the assistant explained that it's particularly useful for dealing with 'human predators' as it usually goes unnoticed. Obviously you'd want to put it in an inconspicuous spot, but it might give you enough proof of trespassing to have the police take action. It is lockable to prevent tampering. This is the model we have, it was $79 at Academy and they also have 2-packs at a reduced price:

http://www.wildgameinnovations.com/products/timber-eye.html

 

[rooster-red]

I've never had to shoot anybody... yet.

I've never had to "brandish" either.

Just the sight of one of these in my holster as I ask someone what the heck they think they are doing is enough.

And if they ask I tell them "yes, its a .44 magnum, don't make me quote any dirty harry cliches"

Works for me. they don't come back.

ETA: of course this only works if you catch them in the act