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Fred's Fine Fowl
09-26-2008, 12:57 PM
Hi everyone,

I was just reading in one of the other topics, that some folks have been raided by night predators.

I have been using red flashing lights at night here at Fred's Fine Fowl for many years. They run on solar powered batteries, automatically come on when it's dark (not just at night) and have been effective in deterring night predators like Owls, Raccoons, Opossoms and Weasels...

If your chickens are secured in buildings, then they are probably fine as they will be inside after sunset. However, if you have open runs and areas where a masked bandit has time to come and work on getting in, then nite quard is a great non-chemical protection system.

You can read about them at this site: http://www.niteguard.com/

Remember, this is only effective for night predators. I would love to hear from people who have problems, then install nite guard, and report on the results.

I have had zero night predators for the past five years. Prior to that, I could see raccoon paw prints on and around all my chicken coop doors and hen doors where they had been, but not gained successful entry.

The high risk birds were my ducks, which remained outside through the night often. They also seem to work at protecting my apiary (bee hives) from black bears, but you probably don't have that problem in the cities?

RogueAPBT
09-28-2008, 12:03 AM
Fred, interesting idea...I'd never have thought of that. I actually have an LED setup that would be perfect for this, leftover from a Halloween project. I wonder if it would scare my old cat, though...

Cheryl

Fred's Fine Fowl
09-28-2008, 08:18 PM
Hi Cheryl,

I don't think it would scare your cat, young or old...

The flashing red lights simply give an animal the sense that "something" is out there and since they don't really "know" what it is, they tend to avoid the area.

My dog ignores them, but then he's not hunting anything. It is disturbing to owls apparently... they immediately left the area when I erected a 12 ft. post that had one light on each side.

I still can hear them hooting down in the wetlands. I've also attached one on each side of my portable chicken coop... very effective there.

I dont' know if l.e.d. type Christmas lights would do it? The lights may have to blink to be effective? Can't say for sure, certainly worth experimentation.

RogueAPBT
09-29-2008, 12:09 AM
These aren't Christmas lights. The ones I have are a set of, I think 15 (?) pairs of "blinking eyes" red LEDs. The blinking effect is surprisingly realistic in the dark. I bought them to use in a prop for halloween, but changed my mind about making that prop, so the lights have been sitting in a box, but still work, I think. I'll have to dig them out and see. I'll be interested to see if it scares off the raccoons and possums that wander in from time to time.

Cheryl

Fred's Fine Fowl
09-29-2008, 12:21 PM
I can't wait to see what you come up with Cheryl... hope it works!

In my setting, the advantage to the solar lights is, they can be put anywhere... even several hundred feet from my home. Your idea will of course, require wires/power. I hope to see some photos!

Sinfonian
09-30-2008, 06:39 PM
Great idea. I've got a wetland behind my home and a family of raccoons that use my yard as a road. My garden is takeout for them on the way home. I've been using preator urine to deter them with mixed results. So far I've lost some corn and my last broccoli to the suckers. If it wearnt too expensive I'd consider it.

Thanks for sharing.