4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Steph101]

I went to order my Foxwatch yesterday, and hadn't realised you need an outside mains supply.

My husband said we could trail it througha small window, but this won't be any good for when we are on holiday. I noticed they also sell it with Duracell batteries, but I'm not how sure how practical that would be either; how long would they last? What did you all do?

Do you all have an outdoors mains supply?

[Tessa the Duchess]

You don't need a mains supply, lots of people use them with batteries. Just turning them on when the chickens are freeranging would save the battery life. Obviously it would be important to check that the batteries are still ok fairly often. I do use a mains adaptor with mine as we have a mains supply in our shed which is sited just behind the chicken run, also I am rubbish at remembering to check batteries Hopefuly someone will come along to give you an idea of how long the batteries will last.

 

Tessa

[WitchHazel]

we have two foxwatches in different parts of the garden, and initially we ran them both off batteries.

 

One of them is absolutely fine on a battery, it lasts for ages. I check that it clicks when I walk past it to get the eggs each day.

 

The other is in an area where either we or the cats are contantly going past, and the battery in this one wore down after a couple of weeks. It's near the house, so we put that one on the mains.

 

So, how long it will last depends on the traffic that will go past it.

 

Hope that helps

[StephanieSB]

Just to let you know, though -- it's not either batteries or mains (despite how they advertise it). The unit is supplied with a cubby for the battery that can be used to attach the mains adaptor, is all. So if you buy it with the mains adaptor (which we found to have a very long cord, and our purchase of the option extension was not needed), you can use that when you are home, run through a window, and pop in batteries for when you are away for a time.

 

We have the mains line running through our conservatory window and we are able to close the window entirely, as the wire is thin and very strong. No fraying or worries so far, even though we have the window shut on the wire most of the day.

[Steph101]

Thanks all, that's really useful.

[Olly]

Just to add, I'm only on my second set of batteries and I've had mine running since last autumn (and yes, it IS working!)

 

The thing is to position it somewhere so that it isn't constantly set off by the hens. I put mine behind the Cube, facing away from it - this covers the end of the garden and the place where the fox used to come through. Every time I go up to the Cube I step in front of it to check it's working, and also because I hope that if Inspector Fox is lurking in the vicinity he will clap his paws over his ears!

[Steph101]

Just to add, I'm only on my second set of batteries and I've had mine running since last autumn (and yes, it IS working!)

 

The thing is to position it somewhere so that it isn't constantly set off by the hens. I put mine behind the Cube, facing away from it - this covers the end of the garden and the place where the fox used to come through. Every time I go up to the Cube I step in front of it to check it's working, and also because I hope that if Inspector Fox is lurking in the vicinity he will clap his paws over his ears!

 

You say your second set of batteries since Autumn - do you have it on 24/7?

[Egluntyne]

I use batteries with mine too.

[Olly]

yup - unless I'm working in the garden and know I'll keep crossing its path, in which case I turn it off.

 

Can't remember exactly when I installed it but definitely before October when I got my second Eglu. I'm really pleasantly surprised because people on here say that the batteries run down really fast, but I've always positioned it as described above. It's probably only triggered a couple of times a day if the cat passes it - although I don't know for sure, as I can't see it from the house.

 

While I wouldn't rely totally on it, I am convinced that it has worked to deter the fox. He was a constant visitor before I got it.