Lost my first hen to a predator

[WthrLady]

After 2 yrs of no problems with predators, I lost my BA, one of my favorite hens, night before last. She was, more or less, gutted and the carcass was left behind. Found no signs of digging or destruction of the fencing. Of course, winter has finally set in so I can't have my windows open at night so that I can hear any disturbance outside, So, I'm wondering, first, what may have attacked and killed my girl. My guess is a stray cat that I have often had to run off. The second thing I'm wondering about is has anyone used, with success, something on the line of a baby monitor in their coop? A trail cam, at least the ones I've seen, will only tell me what was out there, but will not alert me when the predator is present and active. Have a feeling if there is one that would tell me that, it would be more money than I can afford. Secured the hen house more effectively last night with no loss of life. Of course, I don't know that the predator came back last night. I'm still guessing it's the cat since no effort was made to break in last night. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry

I use an arlo camera hooked up to my cell phone. It has night vision and motion detection and immediately sends an alarm to my cell. Ask the fox how well it works. Oh wait, you can't, he's dead.

 

[cmom]

I have seen them online. Curious about the nighttime pictures. Can you post some pictures?

 

[sassysarah]

I'm so sorry for your loss! You need to predator proof your coop ASAP before you lose more of your hens!

 

[cmom]

WOW! Big difference! So, what camera did you use in the first picture?

The drawback is that it takes the tiny SD cards. There are manufactures that make the same camera for different companies. I have seen the same camera with the standard SD card slot. This one was $77. I was pleasantly surprised how good the nighttime picture quality was. I have had some Primos cameras for several years and I think their nighttime pictures are good, at least the ones I have and have had. I bought a couple of cheap ones and the nighttime is poor quality. Most cameras have decent/good quality daytime pictures. The predators here mostly roam at night, especially during the summer months.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N10WVL7/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[cmom]

I recently bought another one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N10WVL7/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[cmom]

My coops and pens are very protected. A coyote.

 

[Haydog03]

We put a motion detector light. Whenever they detect movement... BOOM! Blinding light! Opossum are easily ran off by the light. We’ve had cats dart away to escape the light, as well!

 

[cmom]

I tried them years ago but the critters here would set them off quite regularly. We do have a yard light that goes on at dusk and off at dawn so it's on all night.

 

[cmom]

I know the cameras only capture pictures and not the critters, but then I know what I'm dealing with because once they make a kill they usually come back. It might not be the next night but they usually show back up. I had a bobcat kill some birds. It didn't come back the next night but did the following night.

 

[RoosterML]

Sorry for your loss. Good luck with your choice of protection. Personally I say an eye for an eye. Nothing works as well as lead poisoning!! That may be a cavemanish approach but I will tell you nothing works better. The game cam is great to know what time you need to be around to take the shot it saves alot of needless waiting.