thief-proofing your chicken yard

[DTchickens]

i remember someone that had a HUGE chain link fence around his chicken yard (was a lot of pens/chickens because he was a breeder...) had barb wire running around the top of the fence. gate pad locked, 2 signs (Beware of dogs, and no trespassing) And two great pyrenees in the fence... No one came there

they didn't even want to step foot in the fence when he invited them in... and the dogs were actually very friendly. But when people came they would get excited and jump at the fence. causing people to think they were mean. and people are already terrified of Great pyrenees just because of their size... OR at least people were mine and she was a small one.

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
Well , we had neighborhood teenagers that would not STAY OUT of our yard . They would enter and steal our pullets and chicks . Finally , back neigh witnessed WHO they were and offered to help me . He brought me to the home of these teenagers to face their parents . WELL , naturally , my boys were NOT in your yard . I informed her , NEW FLASH LADY , I have a witness that seen your boys and ALSO , you have the stolen chickens locked up in a cage behind your house , LIKE duh . Police were called ... and oldest was arrested . WE GO TO COURT JAN. 7th. 2009 at 8:30


We had to go into the expense of installing electric wire THRU OUT ... Main fence of the yard , the whole perimeter of the COOPS AND RUNS ... everything is locked . My coops are NEVER LOCKED , but the gates to enter into the run are padlocked .... I have 2 coops and 3 runs and they are all attached . ALL entering gates are padlocked and NOW everything is HOT WIRED .. and SIGNS ARE POSTED .....

 

[Fredster]

As someone who grew up in the city hearing about all the thieving and home-invading that goes on in the country, I was a little antsy when we left the city for the farm life. Now that we're out here, it's just as grand as can be, and we've had no problems other than a pest who comes to the door asking for money from time to time.

But we're prepared, regardless.

Our house, of course, has a real alarm. For the un-padlocked sheds and main chicken coop, I use wireless door chimes on the doors. They're cheap, and work up to 300 feet.

If one of those doors opens in the night, I get a series of repeating beeps in my bedroom telling me exactly which door opened. At that point, I have several items within reach that can guarantee a bad day for someone with less-than-noble intentions.

Driveway alarms work well if you want to know someone / something is headed towards your house (or your coop in this case), while the chimes warn you when they're trying to actively get in.

We used padlocks on the coop for a while, but they quickly become a pain when it's cold and/or raining.

In addition to the chimes, we now have a pair of Great Pyrenees pups to deter thieves of the four-legged, two-legged, and winged varieties. They're friendly when you get close, but boy do they make a ruckus (a deep, scary ruckus) when they spot something out of the ordinary.

Motion sensitive lights are good deterrents - you can get 500-watt halogen lights for about $75 each. Those things will turn the night into day, and as we all learned in Sunday school, evil cannot abide in the light.

Electric fencing is also good to have (we use it to keep things in right now), and as previously mentioned, solar is a very good way to go. A 10-mile solar charger is under $200, and packs quite a wallop. I say this from experience.

One thing I've noticed over the last few months is that nearly every person who stops to buy eggs from me ask if I'm selling chickens. Some have even gone so far to follow up with questions about how many chickens we have, if they're good for eating, and so on. They might be innocent questions...but then again, they might not. I'm a paranoid city boy at heart.

I think the economy is going to get worse, not better, and I believe it's just a matter of time before some people start to think that my (or your) chickens and eggs are a better deal than the ones at the store. It's up to us to prove them wrong.