This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the
house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the
house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the
house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the
house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the
house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
Can you get power or wired ethernet to it? Battery solutions are more tricky than things powered all day. POE allows running from just wired ethernet and there are cheap splitters to barrel or USB.
What spare kit do you have? An old smartphone can work as a camera to
stream to a server for example.
If this is a full time all weather thing not a 24h lashup then that changes things.
On 12 Jan 2025 at 20:10:37 GMT, Chris Green wrote:
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
I bought one of these, and set it running above the front door on 25th October.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BL31XPYG
It's still working - so going on 3 months on one charge in low light and about
as cold as it gets.
I'd imagine 24 hour recording might hammer the battery to a greater extent. The picture quality is pretty good, movement capture has been fine but has missed a few (maybe a placement issue), and the PIR-activated light is pretty effective.
You are, however, locked into their cloud phone app to access the files wirelessly or away from home (included at no cost). It does also record to an onboard SD card - I've not looked at that yet.
On Sun, 1/12/2025 3:10 PM, Chris Green wrote:
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
"Live chicken cam"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2SXDkaNOU4
That's an example of recording chickens.
When I first looked at them, they were asleep
and piled against one another (because the air
temperature is a bit low). The last time I looked,
they were spaced apart a bit and maybe waking up.
None of them seemed to be discussing plans for an escape.
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:Yes, power is easy, there's outdoor 13A sockets nearby and the
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the
house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
Can you get power or wired ethernet to it? Battery solutions are more tricky >> than things powered all day. POE allows running from just wired ethernet and >> there are cheap splitters to barrel or USB.
chickens have a photocell operated door which runs from a 12v supply.
What spare kit do you have? An old smartphone can work as a camera toQuite a few old smartphones around, I think, Moto E5 and Moto G5 if I remember.
stream to a server for example.
If this is a full time all weather thing not a 24h lashup then that changes >> things.It could actually look out through a window and thus be all indoors.
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the
house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house
LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
On 13/01/2025 09:02, Chris Green wrote:
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:Yes, power is easy, there's outdoor 13A sockets nearby and the
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the >>> house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN. >>>
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
Can you get power or wired ethernet to it? Battery solutions are more tricky
than things powered all day. POE allows running from just wired ethernet and
there are cheap splitters to barrel or USB.
chickens have a photocell operated door which runs from a 12v supply.
What spare kit do you have? An old smartphone can work as a camera toQuite a few old smartphones around, I think, Moto E5 and Moto G5 if I remember.
stream to a server for example.
If this is a full time all weather thing not a 24h lashup then that changesIt could actually look out through a window and thus be all indoors.
things.
USB webcam plugged into the computer. I used this with a Win7 laptop
(can't remember which program*) when I wanted to see what was coming
into the garden in the early hours. The program only started to record
when a change in scene (motion) was detected, so not that much of the laptop's HD was used if it was a calm night.
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the house
so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote:
On 13/01/2025 09:02, Chris Green wrote:
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:Yes, power is easy, there's outdoor 13A sockets nearby and the
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the >>>>> house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN. >>>>>
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I >>>>> guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
Can you get power or wired ethernet to it? Battery solutions are more tricky
than things powered all day. POE allows running from just wired ethernet and
there are cheap splitters to barrel or USB.
chickens have a photocell operated door which runs from a 12v supply.
What spare kit do you have? An old smartphone can work as a camera to >>>> stream to a server for example.Quite a few old smartphones around, I think, Moto E5 and Moto G5 if I
remember.
If this is a full time all weather thing not a 24h lashup then that changesIt could actually look out through a window and thus be all indoors.
things.
USB webcam plugged into the computer. I used this with a Win7 laptop
(can't remember which program*) when I wanted to see what was coming
into the garden in the early hours. The program only started to record
when a change in scene (motion) was detected, so not that much of the
laptop's HD was used if it was a calm night.
There are various apps to turn an old smartphone into a USB webcam: https://www.wired.com/story/use-your-phone-as-webcam/
and then you can run everything on the PC. Assuming it's close enough to be connected by USB cable.
There are probably also 'security camera' apps that will do it all on the phone, assuming you have enough storage on the phone (SD card?): https://www.cnet.com/home/security/turn-an-obsolete-phone-into-a-free-security-camera-with-3-easy-steps/
One difference over a purpose built security camera is the night vision may not be as good - maybe you can provide some temporary lighting?
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the
house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
On 13/01/2025 13:19, Theo wrote:
Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote:
On 13/01/2025 09:02, Chris Green wrote:
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:Yes, power is easy, there's outdoor 13A sockets nearby and the
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how >>>>>> she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to >>>>>> the
house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house >>>>>> LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I >>>>>> guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
Can you get power or wired ethernet to it? Battery solutions are
more tricky
than things powered all day. POE allows running from just wired
ethernet and
there are cheap splitters to barrel or USB.
chickens have a photocell operated door which runs from a 12v supply.
What spare kit do you have? An old smartphone can work as a camera to >>>>> stream to a server for example.Quite a few old smartphones around, I think, Moto E5 and Moto G5 if I
remember.
If this is a full time all weather thing not a 24h lashup then thatIt could actually look out through a window and thus be all indoors.
changes
things.
USB webcam plugged into the computer. I used this with a Win7 laptop
(can't remember which program*) when I wanted to see what was coming
into the garden in the early hours. The program only started to record
when a change in scene (motion) was detected, so not that much of the
laptop's HD was used if it was a calm night.
There are various apps to turn an old smartphone into a USB webcam:
https://www.wired.com/story/use-your-phone-as-webcam/
and then you can run everything on the PC. Assuming it's close enough
to be
connected by USB cable.
There are probably also 'security camera' apps that will do it all on the
phone, assuming you have enough storage on the phone (SD card?):
https://www.cnet.com/home/security/turn-an-obsolete-phone-into-a-free-
security-camera-with-3-easy-steps/
One difference over a purpose built security camera is the night
vision may
not be as good - maybe you can provide some temporary lighting?
Chickens don't do anything in the dark:-)
On 12/01/2025 20:10, Chris Green wrote:
This is as much for fun as anything.
We have a chicken who keeps escaping and we'd like to find out how
she's getting out. The current chicken enclosure is very close to the
house so is in easy reach of WiFi or wired connection to the house LAN.
There's loads of disk space available to throw recordings at though I
guess 24hrs worth should show us what we need,
What do I need in the way of hardware and software to do this,
preferably on the cheap?
Simplest solution is a wildlife camera. Amazon have several but you will
need batteries and an SD card that adds to the overall cost. Some take
Li-ion 18650 batteries.
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