sadly not that silly nowdays, when you consider the price of chickens (pure breds £15-£25 each and more for some!!) and now you even have to think of the cost of eggs !!!! We are living in strange times thats for sure. Just this last week I went down to my land (2.5 miles away) and someone had put a rope around the wooden gate into my land and pulled it in half . The actual top bar (4"x3") was snapped in half , and the vertical post at the open end which was chained to the post was completely pulled off. They left 4x4 tyre tracks in the land , but apart from turning round they took nothing . I just hope they were poachers that were after rabbits or foxes and couldn't see to reverse the 400 yard track ( very hard to do in the dark ) . The horses were very spooked when I went down there . All ok now and the gate repaired , so I hope that is the end of it . I think I may end up having to get a cctv 12volt system set up down there though , not cheap ,as it has to all be stand alone down there ( no electricity ) , so that means 12volt (no problem) wireless ( not too much of a problem ) and with it's own motherboard and hard drive
( thats the crunch bit ) ! That is the part I think I will have to just make , as I think I have seen them for sale but they were very very dear. The whole system should be able to be setup for £100-£200, but it is now the wrong time of year for me to spend that sort of money . However, if the gate gets broken again , and can't be repaired , how much will it cost to replace ? Well I now have nearly got my forge and woodwork shed setup , so I would make one , but none the less it is all time and money so to speak . Anyway Andrew getting back to your problem , cctv may be the way to go , not an in your face visable one ( it would just get smashed) but a hidden one ,or more!!! It wouldn't stop things from going, but you would at least know who the ba***rds were that took them . I hope you get your chicks back , things are one thing , animals are different , you get attatched.....well I do ....
best wishes Russ