Is the fence on? Is the coop door closed?

[PennysHennys]

I live on a rural property in the neighborhood of most predators in the southeast.
Although I check on my girls and gather eggs several times throughout the day, it makes me feel better for their wellbeing to do one last check after dark. (I have been known to forget to push the button on the fence charger .) Since my coop and run are over 100 feet from the house and the charger cannot always be oriented to view the flashing light when it is powered up, I devised a way to "see" the flashing button from my back door. I glued a shiny CD to a paint paddle and pushed it into the ground at an angle to reflect the flash back toward the rear of my home. The image shows the path of the reflection. When I move the fence it is a simple matter to re-set the reflector.

Then there was the problem of my paranoia over the auto pop door. Did it shut? Was there a problem? To solve that my DH gave me a clear bicycle reflector that I secured to the pop door. Presto! Now I can peek out the back door, watch for the fence flash, then shine my LED flashlight toward the pop door
, see the reflector, and at last I can rest!
Gluing a reflector to some pop doors may interfere with their operation; but, reflector tape would work dandy. I hope this helps others!

 

[LittleCheepers]

Very cool! I can relate to the paranoia, unfortunately.

 

[Abriana]

Wow! How creative!

 

[sourland]

Necessity is the mother of invention.

 

[Grits&Eggs]

I am with you - I go outside twice if not more after dark just to be sure the food is secured, the door is indeed closed and the lights are off, lol....will need to steal your great ideas!!

 

[PennysHennys]

I am with you - I go outside twice if not more after dark just to be sure the food is secured, the door is indeed closed and the lights are off, lol....will need to steal your great ideas!!

I would be proud if you could use these ideas! This is a wonderful forum for sharing!

 

[aart]

Valid concerns with great solutions!

 

[Shadrach]

Good idea.
I close all the coops up at dusk and then do a check round before my bedtime.
I quite enjoy doing this now, even in the bad weather. It takes 20 mins or so to check all the coops, sheep shed and donkey shed.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

It never hurts to double check. Good habit to develop. And great ideas you have.

 

[aart]

It never hurts to double check. Good habit to develop. And great ideas you have.

I often need/want to double check.
I rigged a small light for my heater, that I can see from the house.
Might think about applying a reflector on pop door.