monitoring system anyone?

[MimiEggs]

Our new coop/run, (a converted horse stall) is about 75 feet from my back door facing in the opposite direction. There are also two other buildings inhibiting my view of the girls. I am out there 3 or 4 times a day feeding, watering, gathering eggs, giving treats and so on. At night however, ya know it's kind of dark out there. Occasionally our dog runs to the back fence barking at boogers in the night so I am always concerned about raccoons, coyotes and other night creatures. This may sound silly, however I would like to install a wireless security camera or monitoring system so I can see whats happening inside the coop. Has anyone done this and can y'all recommend a good inexpensive camera or monitoring system? Am also concerned about the functioning of a camera in a high "dust" area as either chickens create a lot of it, or it's just because it's outside.

 

[VI KING RANCH]

I have done this but will warn you its not cheap at all. I have two infared cameras in my run and have them hooked up to my computer and when anyting moves it sounds an alarm. It also always is recording so I can go back and see if theres anything that was hanging around when I am not home. I only did this system because of 1 weasel that was killing my very expensive show birds, If I where you just get a motion sensor light as they generally do the trick to spook any night critters.

 

[MimiEggs]

Okay, so I actually "have" a system, I'm just not entirely happy with it. Technically it is made for "inside use", however reviews on this unit showed that some customers were using it for dog runs, porches and even chicken houses. Made the purchase because it has the ability to pan and tilt, something I could not find in an "outdoor" camera for a reasonable price. I also have an iPhone app.

Foscam Wireless IP Camera Model: F18910W Cost: $100

My issue with this model is that it is slower than molasses to pan and tilt and I am forever having to reset it. I purchased the long range antenna as they assured me it would pick up the signal from my router some 75 feet away. It does, but again, it is as slow as molasses. Plus it looses some appeal when it needs to be reset at 1 am in the morning, sort of defeats the purpose, ya know.



Snapshot of the left sode of our coop.




Snapshot of the right side of our coop. It took over 25 minutes to "pan" this small distance. LOL, I could have walked the distance from the house to the coop in less time.



This shot was taken yesterday with my iPhone. These are our brooding pens that double as storage spaces when not in use. The camera is currently located on the side of the first brooder pen, and connected to an extension cord. We have since installed some electrical wiring to enable us to relocate the camera where needed. It will be plugged into the white electrical box in the upper right hand corner of the coop and set to view a shot that will include picture 1 and 2. Each of the brooder pens now have their own electrical plug and the camera will be relocated as necessary.

I have this same camera in the bedroom that our grandchildren sleep in when they are here. It is awesome, especially when they are taking a nap and I need to go outside. I can pan and tilt in seconds, and of course it alerts me to movement and sound. As far as it's indoor application I am thrilled. It is a little disappointing in the coop. I knew that putting a camera into a small space would prohibit it from seeing everything and that the ability to pan and tilt would be beneficial, as it has in fact shown me. The camera works, just not consistently or fast enough. At this point I am wondering if I need to purchase an antenna booster, a better router or an entirely different unit.

I know there are others out there that use a monitoring system. I was/am really just looking for a comparison, what are others using, is there a better option, and so forth.

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[ChemicalchiCkns]

I have longed for such a System, but cannot Justify it.