Ration/Meal getting stolen out of a meal bin

sob1467

Have gotten meal/ration stolen out of mealbin twice now. Had two locks (on outside door and handle to discharge meal) both times and cut probably with hand angle grinder or the like. Probably lost half a tonne first time and two tonne the second time. Both times they emptied it.

The way the yard is set up, the mealbin is just out of sight of the main light in the yard. Have cameras in the shed for calving could easily and cheaply add another one in the yard, but it won't pick up the mealbin because of lack of lights over there.

Ideally I would put a camera in the mealbin itself, but I can't because have no electricity in it. I was thinking of putting some form of light alarm on it that when the door opens the light comes on, but would have to be battery operated.

The farm is relatively close to a main road and no doubt thiefs aren't coming from too far away, but really want an end put to it because have been buying bags this past few weeks and when feeding about 200kg a day, it is too expensive and backbreaking.

Any (legal😁) ideas at all to stop this carryon? It is hard enough to break even without this.

artanevilla

Could you put an airtag in the bin with the meal? You'll find out where it is going at least.

Obviously you'd have to remove it yourself if you are using it which could be a pain.

SodiumCooled

You can get wireless cameras, Wyze do a few different types some on WiFi some have a base station so will work from much further away. Can be bought of Amazon.com.

Also have night vision so while the picture won’t be as good you will still see what’s happening and get an alert that someone is there to your phone also so you might be able to get down there and catch them in the act.

Donald Trump

When somethings strange

In the neighbourhood

Who ya gonna call?

Ghostbusters Padraig Nally

Kevhog1988

Buy a trail camera and set it up outside the entrance.

Or this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bisley-Security-Burglars-Intruders-Galvanized/dp/B0049ACMC6/ref=asc_df_B0049ACMC6/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=218073864227&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12840050153006585239&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=21317&hvtargid=pla-424593922463&psc=1&mcid=9391b27bbd2e3308b3897ce52a614d53

sob1467

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490352#Comment_121490352

Thanks that is a good idea, sort of not viable though, at least I think not.

Going to get 10 tonne blown in Saturday. Only way to get it into mealbin would be to pump it in , so could well get damaged on way in. And I really don't want to choke one of my own animals by eating it in their meal.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490352#Comment_121490352

That's a good idea in theory but it would end up choking an animal if you were using the meal yourself

What the OP would want to do is to half fill the meal bin (or a relatively small amount like a half tonne), put the tag in, and continue feeding the bags until the loose ration is taken again. But it might not be taken again

artanevilla

I'm a city boy with soft hands so not sure how the whole thing works.

Donald Trump

How are they getting it out? Backing a trailer underneath it or would they be having to cart it out with a wheelbarrow? They are hardly set up with some kind of pipe and auger?

sob1467

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490361#Comment_121490361

I've two similar Xiaomi Yi cameras already in the shed for calving. They've very poor rechargeable batteries in them. You'd have to charge all day to video all night. Do you know if these Wyze ones are any better?

On the second point, it is probably better for him and me if I don't catch him or them in the act🤣

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490404#Comment_121490404

Just FYI, when it comes to self-defence (which includes defence of property), the standard is whether the force used is reasonable, as you believe it to be. It is a subjective test.

Obviously, if it came to it and an incident happened, the more objectively dangerous a situation is, the more chance you'd have of convincing a jury that you genuinely believed it was reasonable at the time.

sob1467

Trail camera could be an option if it has reasonable battery life, again there is wifi in the area so only problem is power.

Had to watch a youtube video on the second thing. Looks cool but wouldn't work on the door the way it is & may struggle to find blanks.

Donald Trump

Don't forget to buy a sign saying that there are cameras up. If it just happens to fall down the very evening that the raiders come, and you quickly reinstall it before the Gardai arrive, with all the rushing about, don't forget to mention that it might not have been visible when the raiders arrived 😉

There were due to be some changes to legislation related to cameras for illegal dumping purposes but I'm not sure of the status now. Under the old rules, you wouldn't be allowed to use camera evidence where there was no sign up.

Conversations 3

Use a trail camera, it'll only record when it senses movement.

Batteries will last a good while and the video quality is good.

SodiumCooled

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490404#Comment_121490404

I have the one with the base station. They don’t video all the time they sit in a low power standby and start recording when they detect movement (can be any movement or smart detection for people/vehicles). It also notifies your phones immediately. Depending on how often they are detecting movement you could get anything from 1 - 3 months between charges but likely you will be getting up on 2 months as my one gets triggered a lot and usually get something like 2 months.

its cloud based but you can put in an SD card (I never have). You do need to pay a sub of around $10 per year per camera to get the most out of it but well worth it imo.

893bet

Reolink Batery powered camera with SIM card? Question is do you want to catch them in the act? If you do make sure you have back up with you.

Are you seeing car tracks?

Assuming they are backing under it to fill but it be possible out the AirTag up from the outlet so it’s the first thing that flies out? That way you can take it out each morning if it’s not gone and put it back that evening?

Fucking bastards anyway.

lmk123

Go to a gun shop and buy a trail camera and a box of no 4’ s

kirk.

I'd be inclined to put out a spike strip

Bust their tyres everytime they'd soon get fed up

cjpm

There was a fella in Cork having green diesel stolen.

He left a few gallons in the tank and threw in some milking machine detergent.

A few weeks later one of his neighbours had to change his car as the engine was bollixed……

There was a lad in Mayo having turf stolen. So he shoved a shotgun cartridge into one sod on top of the heap. There was an awful bang in a neighbours house shortly afterwards…..

The dildo of consequence’s rarely arrives lubed 😂

DrPsychia

...

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490466#Comment_121490466

Just make sure you get the one with non visible IR - otherwise they will spot it a mile off.

kirk.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490718#Comment_121490718

That's a fuckin terrible idea

He'd probably wind up dead

blue5000

The acorn trailcam aren’t too expensive. Get 2 so they can cover each other. They take either 4 or 6 double AA batteries, only thing to watch out for is you need a bit of wide tape over the top of them as they are not completely waterproof in our climate and the batteries can leak destroying the whole thing. The sign itself is actually a good deterrent on its own.

Good luck catching them, only problem is you might be disappointed when you see who it is.

JIdontknow

Trail cameras, one near the bin and one at the entrance to the yard, they should last a while and only activated with activity... Not sure how legal something like a spike strip would be to puncture the tyres but... Really you'd like to get footage of them in the act as opposed to just entering the yard.. Or one or two security bollard posts set into concrete near the bin that you just need to open with a key either but they may just use the grinder on them.

listermint

If its just you using it, I'd go with the airtag option as artane said above.

You could glue the tag to bit of string one end and glue a light magnet other. Pop it inside the feeder chute at night, take it out in the morning. If someone empties it the feed should knock the airtag out with the feed. Job done. No need to chuck it inside the silo itself.

Plus you'll get a direction for the guards

older by the day

I know you feel like doing a rambo on their aaass. But do you really want to waste weeks on solicitors and court.

A few signs and a camera (Even a fake one) will probably stop it. A battery operated light of some sort with a motion sensor.

A gate with a lock coming in off the main road would be good

sob1467

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490718#Comment_121490718

The guards must be quick out in your part of the country. Here these lads may be have to be held a day or two ransom to get guards out.

Reported it the first time and they didn't want to know. They were basically like you should sort out your own security to stop it happening again. So two locks isn't enough security. With that attitude didn't bother going near them reporting the subsequent robbery.

sob1467

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490813#Comment_121490813

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490921#Comment_121490921

Thanks lads, didn't know about these trail cameras, they sound ideal. Is the footage saved to an sd card or the cloud?

Hopefully the cloud as there is wifi and if they took camera away with them (they keep taking the locks, so know what they are at) they'd have sd card footage with them.

sob1467

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491078#Comment_121491078

Haha I get you, yeah despite feeling like doing a rambo. Don't have much interest in that avenue.

Just want to disuade them as much as possible from returning. So combination of sign, yard cameras, leaving another outside light and a trail camera inside and maybe some kind of motion light once you enter the mealbin will do the job.

Pricy and torture yes, but there's a good €5,000 meal going into it in a few days.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491149#Comment_121491149

Careful trailcams can be spotted too. IR used for nighttime viewing. Can steal the trail cam too.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491241#Comment_121491241

That's why I said above about getting one with the non visible ir sensors.

Just need to look out for them in the product description.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491304#Comment_121491304

Fierce difficult to get a good shot then especially this time of year and dark.

patsy_mccabe

Dog is the only job for them.

Buffman

Is it a remote yard away from the house with no one around?

If they're cutting locks they'd probably just destroy/steal any non-monitored cameras.

Have you got internet/wifi there? If so, I'd recommend plastering the place with monitored CCTV. I've used these ones and find them good, with an SD card in them or via cloud they can be set to record all activity and notify you on the phone on a free app of any movement instantly like a sensor light. You can then go and view what's happening live and what's been recorded and take appropriate action. The night vision is pretty good and good enough to get number plates in the dark.

This particular one also has built in lights which can be set to come on like a normal sensor light to alert the intruder that they're being recorded, or it can be left set to act like a normal camera. You can also record/hear audio and talk to people through it live like a video call on the app.

https://www.harveynorman.ie/computing/networking-and-connectivity/security-safety/tp-link-outdoor-security-wi-fi-camera-en.html

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491590#Comment_121491590

Easily poisoned though. And not great for the dog, either way.

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490388#Comment_121490388

You are going to be put in the meal bin, breathing straw provided, when you hear the angle grinder cutting the lock jump out and hit them with a cro bar.

Carry a water bottle and they'll be plenty to eat.

listermint

Missing a bottle of whiskey

josip

What you do depends on what you think the cause of your problem is. Is it vermin or is it a local stray dog?

Catching might work if it's a stray dog.

But if it's vermin, since you can't kill them, you've got to make it hard enough to get in that they'll go somewhere easier.

tanko

A neighbour of mine noticed a few bales going missing from an out farm so he buried two timbers with six inch nails in them in the tracks leading to the bales. A few days later he came across his cousins tractor on the road with two flats wheels and a bale on the back. No need for a trail cam.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121492061#Comment_121492061

Just to point out that technically speaking, you have a duty of care towards trespassers not to intentionally injure them or damage their property. So be careful with how you approach such a strategy.

There was the case in England (with the great video) of the farmer removing an unwanted parked car from his lane with the help of his trusty handler and sending the drunken eejit owner of said car flying .............he was brought to court over it though (but got let off luckily enough)

https://news.sky.com/video/robert-hooper-farmer-cleared-after-using-telehandler-to-flip-car-off-property-12533088

Thargor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121490441#Comment_121490441

So you have wifi in the spot? All you need is a Blink camera so, or a million cheaper variants out there, one year battery life on standby, arm and disarm it from the app with a click (uses more battery when armed but still measured in weeks), image/video instant alerts from the motion sensor, night vision etc, I have 2 covering my house and they're great. Small little black cube of a camera, easy to hide.

It comes with a tiny little USB hub, stick a USB key in that it will record video no subscription required just the app on your phone, place the hub half way between your router and the camera site to maximize range. The hub will run off a USB powerpack if no plug socket in the area.

If it doesnt work out just return it to Amazon no questions asked.

Amazon.co.uk : blink camera

sob1467

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491590#Comment_121491590

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491619#Comment_121491619

Yeah it is a yard probably about 200 yards from house and no one around most of the time. Yeah have wifi so advice on monitored CCTV going to be followed. Thank God them cameras can be got so cheap now.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121492138#Comment_121492138

Thanks a million, just ordered two of them Blink Cameras, exactly what I was after and two years battery life is ideal.

Have two other Xiaomi Yi ones that were going to be used for another calving pen, will move them into yard as well. And sort out an extra light or two on the yard too, CCTV recording sign and battery light thing inside the meal bin. Should do the trick.

SodiumCooled

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491304#Comment_121491304

Not sure you will find many cameras with non visible ir. It’s visible on mine but you would struggle to notice it and anyway it only activates when motion is detected on any half decent one so by the time they see it your phone is triggered and a video saved to the cloud.

As an aside I don’t know why some are so against the very small subs to get cloud strange, event triggers etc with some of the systems. It’s usually only a few euro a year and generally gives a much better service/system.

This content has been removed.

OrangeBadger

https://www.camera.ie/products/spypoint-lm2-trail-camera

157 delivered

It's primarily for deer stalking and only take pictures, but it will send the image to your phone in real time, so you will be able to see when they are there.

Ideally you would get a clear video of them and post it all over Facebook/YouTube let all the locals see what thieving cnuts they are

Thargor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121492868#Comment_121492868

They're great for residential houses, will be interesting to see if you can get them to work for farmyard distances, hold on to the box and the amazon packaging anyway and its no hassle to get a refund from them.

sob1467

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121493700#Comment_121493700

I also bought a floodlight mount for one of them, only £35 also run totally by a battery too, so ideal. I will post back once I get it and see if any use.

Dunedin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491351#Comment_121491351

You just need to practice. Start off with a few tin cans sitting on a few stakes - 10 yards, move back to 20 yards, 30 yards and so forth. Start practicing in the day light and progress to the evening.

by the time the visitors come back you should be nicely trained up……!!!

Rusheseverywhere

I saw was a spate of robberies near me and hit Co-Op even who had the best of videos all they got was lads in wellies black jackets, flouresent jackets and scarfs and gloves. Black land cruiser that had false plates and a trailer, Noone ever caught. Best solution is one way in and couple of bollards.

https://www.automationgate.com/commercial-industrial/security-bollards/

kirk.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121495521#Comment_121495521

Surely the bollards would be bypassed with sledges or grinders and expensive to fit

As you say lads are wise to cameras

Length of timber buried with nails as me and another were saying

Rusheseverywhere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121495613#Comment_121495613

Good bollards are expensive (2k Plus per bollard not fitted but solid stainless steel) but you will not get past them easily. Best type is the ramp type like you see 0utside the Dail. I enquired was 8k plus Vat years ago for that type, lad who did automatic gates, could get and install.

https://www.pittman.ie/products/retractable-security-post

Not dear but how stand up to an angle grinder? Will a lad bother doubt it especially if local and signs up CCTV and Beware of Dog.

And having said all that know lad who had all the yard well secured etc but they got in through a gate over half a mile away went over farm and back again. Was local knowledge and lad found guilty on another matter was prime suspect for it.