two legged pests

[hennyandpenny]

hi guys,
so here is what happened, someone tried to steal my chickens about 7 of them

and has been stealing my eggs about 6- 4 eggs a day,

at first we thought it was heat, new batch so home sicknes.... noooo... lice? mites? nope! i came home monday after noon at 5:20 ish and went my way to the chickens after sitting in traffic for well over 45 min. im not used to traffic i hardly ever see it. so hold and behold on my way to the coop i found some bikes! i booked it to the coop and some kids were playing with my chickens in a pen(not one that i authorised mined you!) and one was getting the back way gate open. needless to say the cops were called but those rascals got away, now all i need to do is set trap cameras(hunting cameras or game cams) andd wait for sopmeone to show up that isnt part of my family... or animal... sigh.... it all starteed when my cockeral sheldon started to crow. any thing like this happened to you guys? eggs stolen or birds?
thnks for your time
elizabeth
ps. how would you prevent something like that from happening? i want gaurd dogs that arnt aweful with chickens or have a trap line that sets of an alarm if you trigger it....

 

[jeepguy982001]

the trail cam is a good idea. Also since their local kids start asking around cuz if their bugging you they've probably bugged others who might know who they are or about where they might live.

 

[hdowden]

if you can add locks to the gates of the coops

 

[hennyandpenny]

the way we have it is that the coop is in the barn and we made an enclosed run adjacent to the coop. the front of the barn is always closed and locked unless its a really hot day and we are working in the coop or at the barn. the door that leads from the run and into the barn can only be locked from the inside and it isnt a really good lock. its an old horse barn, at the time it was built they werent really expecting people to steal things.... but anyway the city ordinance just placed a law that properties that or below 5 acres can have hens but not cockerals/cocks. luckily my property is 5 acres... so i can have them both (mwhuhahahaha

) but back to what i was saying the run door's lock is supperficial.... meaning its a screw driver stuck between two peices of mess... we had no problems for almost a year! but my brother was saying the same thing padlocks but the nails are so flimsy that i could ripp the "door" off. or the nails that held it in place. right now since its so hot we leave both doors open to create a breeze and have put up tarps to create shade. we even had to lock them up in the run (someething we normally dont do because they get their water mainly from the pond and we wanted to free range them) and put up two waterers. fans are going in next.

 

[hennyandpenny]

but the kids say they moved up from a farm and spit of the reg. animals that u have on a farm and then when i was talking to them about it one of them said " i stopped collecting the eggs because i ddidnt know witch h=where the baby chick eggs and witch where for eating." patatah patoto. (by stopped collecting them i think she ment stopped working with the chickens and instead with something else and someone else started to work with them)

 

[hennyandpenny]

we were hhopping to get pics of faces so we can give them to the cops if it isnt my brothers my parents or my face.

 

[the outdoorsman44]

Was it Bigfoot?

 

[Oregon Blues]

Lots of stories out there about people stealing eggs and birds. So it happens.

 

[dainerra]

 

[TeamChaos]

If you caught kids at the coop, and they KNEW they had been caught, I can't see them wanting to come back anytime soon. But, to be sure, I'd definitely post No Trespassing signs by every possible entrance to your place and I'd look in to getting one of the cheap fake security cameras if a trail cam is out of the budget right now. Eek, how scary- I cannot imagine coming home to find strangers in my coop!