Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[Burtie14]

Hello everyone,

 

As regular readers will know, I've got a bit of a problem with our silly chum Jim. Her back and botty have been getting steadily balder over the last couple of months, with one small episode of bloodiness. Two of our other chickens - Ginger and Dusty - also sometimes sport the odd bald patch and ruffled feathers. The finger of suspicion is cast firmly on Betty, whose perfectly intact, sleek and bushy feathers are a bit of a giveaway.

 

The trouble is, I never, ever see anyone feather pulling any more. I used to - but for about 8 weeks I have sat for hours with them, and barely seen a single pull. I really cannot believe that Betty is clever enough to wait until the moment my back is turned before pouncing.

 

SO... my question is, could the pecking be happening INSIDE the Cube? Probably not at night, but in the mornings, when they've woken up and are waiting to be let out? I'm starting to think that with them all being confined, hungry and a bit restless, it might not take much for Betty or Ginger to have a little nibble.

 

Additionally, Jim has been wearing a saddle recently to protect her, and having worn it all day, I found she'd somehow taken it off overnight. She surely couldn't have done that without help?

 

The only flaw in my brilliant theory is that they don't particularly look pecked-at in the mornings - it does seem to be when I come home in the evening.

 

I am genuinely thinking of setting up CCTV (Chicken Camera TV) to see what goes on when I'm not there. Is this a step too far? They all get on really well 99% of the time - so it baffles and upsets me when I see poor Jim looking like he's gone 12 rounds with Edward Scissorhands.

 

Anyone else had a night-pecker?!?

[Patricia W]

I have similar problem. Two moth eaten one and one pristine little lady. I'm resorting to Ukadex - if that doesn't work, I'm taking madam out!

 

Let us know how the CCTV goes - sounds a brilliant idea

[grb944]

Have you considered leaving the cube door open all night..

I do and I read here many others do too !

It might give your girls a chance to escape

[Burtie14]

Have you considered leaving the cube door open all night..

I do and I read here many others do too !

It might give your girls a chance to escape

 

Great minds think alike. We're giving it a trial run, starting last night. I'm just balancing up which is the lesser of two evils - a pecked chicken, or noisy chickens whinging and papping at 5.30am... I guess it'll at least narrow down the options.

[Burtie14]

I have similar problem. Two moth eaten one and one pristine little lady. I'm resorting to Ukadex - if that doesn't work, I'm taking madam out!

 

Let us know how the CCTV goes - sounds a brilliant idea

 

For reasons I can't fathom, Ukadex didn't seem to work that well. It helped a bit, but we found that unless you absolutely coat the whole chicken, the others simply go for another bit. Coupled with the fact that it stains the girls a funny colour, and before long everything you own starts to smell of burnt tar, I don't think we'll hurry back to using it!

[Lydia]

We have Chicken Cam in the cube and in the run. When they're all in the cube there's always one that stands in front of the camera like your gran in front of the telly at Christmas when you were a kid

 

It's good to watch morning egg laying and activities in the run though. And I can confirm that chickens snore.

[Burtie14]

We have Chicken Cam in the cube and in the run. When they're all in the cube there's always one that stands in front of the camera like your gran in front of the telly at Christmas when you were a kid

 

It's good to watch morning egg laying and activities in the run though. And I can confirm that chickens snore.

 

Really??? Wow! That's brilliant! How did you do it? Do you need to be a technical whiz? (because I'm not, but I can find someone who is!)

 

Simple set of instructions would be great! What, where from, how!

 

Thanks!!

[Dolly]

I feel your pain Burtie 14. We have a little pecker too, who's currently spending her daytime hours in her own accommodation! We tried:- Johnsons anti peck spray, ukadex, beak rings, bumper bits, water squirting and general shouting but got nowhere, hence the separation. However, when I mentioned this to our hen holiday people, they asked if the hens always sleep in the same place and facing the same way as yes, they do pull feathers at night, so it might be worth checking if the suspected pecker's beak matches up with the peckee's bald bits!

Let us know how you get on with the CCTV, I'd love to know what my little angels get up to when I'm away!

[Lydia]

Really??? Wow! That's brilliant! How did you do it? Do you need to be a technical whiz? (because I'm not, but I can find someone who is!)

 

Simple set of instructions would be great! What, where from, how!

 

Thanks!!

 

We have a couple of cameras that were designed for bird nesting boxes and were about £40 for the pair I think. We picked them up at the Ideal Home Exhibition in 2009 (while working for Omlet). I can't remember who from but I'll see if I can find the make when I get home later.

 

Our's aren't wireless but you can get wireless ones - they are much more expensive though.

 

They weren't that difficult to set up although I confess I didn't actually do it - hubby did. He had to bury some wires in the patio and tack some of them to the wall, and drill a couple of holes in the house to get the feed to the TV. We have ours linked to our bedroom TV so the wires went via the loft. Our cube is quite close to the house so that helped.

 

Ours are basic. The quality is a bit grainy but it's absolutely fine for our purposes - we can identify who is who but someone who didn't know the individual chickens might struggle. It is colour and it does have night vision. You can get ones with better quality than ours and you can get ones that link to the internet or have a recordable function etc.

 

The other use we found for it recently was to identify our unwelcome rodent visitors who were visiting the run at night and how and where they were getting in (through the cube bars, not tunnelling under) so we were able to deal with that.

 

The only problem we found is that we had to use double sided sticky tape to fix the Cube Cam to the inside of the cube and it took a few goes to get it to stick. You could drill into the cube but we didn't want to do that. Run cam is simply drilled into the wood of our WIR so no problems.

 

I'll have a look for the make and let you know.

[Burtie14]

I feel your pain Burtie 14. We have a little pecker too, who's currently spending her daytime hours in her own accommodation! We tried:- Johnsons anti peck spray, ukadex, beak rings, bumper bits, water squirting and general shouting but got nowhere, hence the separation. However, when I mentioned this to our hen holiday people, they asked if the hens always sleep in the same place and facing the same way as yes, they do pull feathers at night, so it might be worth checking if the suspected pecker's beak matches up with the peckee's bald bits!

Let us know how you get on with the CCTV, I'd love to know what my little angels get up to when I'm away!

 

That's really interesting, thanks. I'll have a good look at them tonight, and see where they sleep. To be honest it when I've looked in before it just looks like a big heap of chickens, but I'll take a closer look.

 

We have got a seperate A-frame run to potentially move a naughty chicken into, but that's really a last resort. We tried it briefly with Ginger and she was really upset and frantic, hitting herself against the bars. I felt too guilty to keep her there.

[Burtie14]

Thanks Lydia, that's brilliant! I did get a bit nervous when you starting talking about 'wires' and 'drills' but I think I can do it. I might be better off with wireless though, as they are quite a way down the garden.

 

*thinks for a moment*

 

I can't believe I'm genuinely contemplating this...! Haven't those birdbrains cost me enough?!?!

 

It would be cool though!

[Lydia]

Hello sorry for the late reply - bank holiday and life got in the way

 

Our camera came from McCam and cost £49 according to the credit card statement. However, looking at their site they don't appear to do that version anymore and do far more expensive ones It might be worth giving them a ring though.

 

Failing that google 'nest box camera' or 'bird box camera' and see what's around. It seems to vary enormously in cost and ability and whether you can get the camera on its own or attached to a nestbox.

 

Good luck with it if you decide to go ahead. It is quite fun watching the goings on in the coop.

[Burtie14]

Thanks Lydia, I've been in touch with a similar company who certainly seem to know their stuff. I think it'll be great in winter when we get home and it's dark, to still be able to keep in touch with them.

 

I have also subsequently identified our 'pecker' as being most definitely Ginger due watching her covertly during the day, so I am wondering whether to seperate her immediately and see if things improve.