Can you buy small GPS devices cheaply?

[thisAngelBites]

Ok, I already know this is a bizarre problem to have, but one of my chickens flies out of the electric fence and free ranges and wanders around a lot of the day. She almost never lays eggs in the coop, but instead picks some secure other place, and so far, I've always been able to find her eggs.

I guess she's tired of me nicking her eggs, because I can't find them in any of the usual places (for nearly three weeks), and when she gets a nest full she will try and sit and hatch them (I've no cockerel, so that's an exercise in futility). The problem is that when she sits, she'll be vulnerable to a fox finding her in the night and killing her. She's my favourite hen (she's quite the character!) and I am thinking about trying to find a small, inexpensive GPS device I can tape to a leg band and put on her so I can use my computer to find her when she goes to sit. Everything I have seen is bigger (like for people flying hawks and falcons), and is expensive. Does anyone know of any small GPS devices from China or something? I've googled quite a bit, but can't find anything small or cheap enough.

[Hazard]

Ok, I already know this is a bizarre problem to have, but one of my chickens flies out of the electric fence and free ranges and wanders around a lot of the day. She almost never lays eggs in the coop, but instead picks some secure other place, and so far, I've always been able to find her eggs.

I guess she's tired of me nicking her eggs, because I can't find them in any of the usual places (for nearly three weeks), and when she gets a nest full she will try and sit and hatch them (I've no cockerel, so that's an exercise in futility). The problem is that when she sits, she'll be vulnerable to a fox finding her in the night and killing her. She's my favourite hen (she's quite the character!) and I am thinking about trying to find a small, inexpensive GPS device I can tape to a leg band and put on her so I can use my computer to find her when she goes to sit. Everything I have seen is bigger (like for people flying hawks and falcons), and is expensive. Does anyone know of any small GPS devices from China or something? I've googled quite a bit, but can't find anything small or cheap enough.

At first I thought this thread may be about guy troubles..... And u need to track him. Crazy I know.....

However..... This still seems to be a..... Cock issue? Lmaoooo

[Hazard]

Okay so it's a female chicken and the joke may have been a bit fetched but I still made myself laugh :-)

[MrFreshmaker]

Ok, I already know this is a bizarre problem to have, but one of my chickens flies out of the electric fence and free ranges and wanders around a lot of the day. She almost never lays eggs in the coop, but instead picks some secure other place, and so far, I've always been able to find her eggs. I guess she's tired of me nicking her eggs, because I can't find them in any of the usual places (for nearly three weeks), and when she gets a nest full she will try and sit and hatch them (I've no cockerel, so that's an exercise in futility). The problem is that when she sits, she'll be vulnerable to a fox finding her in the night and killing her. She's my favourite hen (she's quite the character!) and I am thinking about trying to find a small, inexpensive GPS device I can tape to a leg band and put on her so I can use my computer to find her when she goes to sit. Everything I have seen is bigger (like for people flying hawks and falcons), and is expensive. Does anyone know of any small GPS devices from China or something? I've googled quite a bit, but can't find anything small or cheap enough.

I've seen a few for dogs and cats,but maybe you will find even smaller on(i don't know if i can post here the link of the website or should i pm u lol,i better pm you the link)

[thisAngelBites]

Okay so it's a female chicken and the joke may have been a bit fetched but I still made myself laugh :-)

Me too. Plus the idea that I'm like one of those crazy japanese women you read about who employ all sorts of tricks to find out where their husband went, whether he took a shower during the day, etc. Those are some wily, distrustful women.

[king6 II]

Easy way to break broody hens is to submerge them in water up to the breast. Not sure why this works. I had a black Australorp, broody as hell. This worked. As for GPS not sure about cheap, but they are out there on the pricey side.

[thisAngelBites]

I've seen a few for dogs and cats,but maybe you will find even smaller on(i don't know if i can post here the link of the website or should i pm u lol,i better pm you the link)

Even the dog/cat collars I have seen are all about £75, and then they want a £12.99 monthly monitoring fee! I just want a little thing and I'll get my husband to rig up the computer end. Maybe I need to import from the US? It's hard to justify £75 for a chicken, even if she is clever and interesting.

[MrFreshmaker]

Even the dog/cat collars I have seen are all about £75, and then they want a £12.99 monthly monitoring fee! I just want a little thing and I'll get my husband to rig up the computer end. Maybe I need to import from the US? It's hard to justify £75 for a chicken, even if she is clever and interesting.

Ive sent you the link on PM.You will find cheaper there.

[thisAngelBites]

Easy way to break broody hens is to submerge them in water up to the breast. Not sure why this works. I had a black Australorp, broody as hell. This worked. As for GPS not sure about cheap, but they are out there on the pricey side.

I have never heard that about broodies. I wonder if it works.

I currently have a big brahma that is broody and has sat on an upper perch for two days without eating or drinking. I thought taking her out of the nest box and keeping her cool would sort her out, but she is determined. I wonder if the point of submerging also has to do with cooling them down.

The problem with waiting for Rula (the hen I want the GPS for) to go broody is by then I won't know where she is.

[thisAngelBites]

Ive sent you the link on PM.You will find cheaper there.

Thanks a lot, I will see if I can find something suitable. I saw they had leg bands for birds, but they don't look like they have GPS. I'll look at cat collars now.

[MrFreshmaker]

Even the dog/cat collars I have seen are all about £75, and then they want a £12.99 monthly monitoring fee! I just want a little thing and I'll get my husband to rig up the computer end. Maybe I need to import from the US? It's hard to justify £75 for a chicken, even if she is clever and interesting.

I just checked the website I've told you,they are some for 5$,weight 80 grams,maybe a bit heavy for a chicken,but for sure you will find lighter ones!
P.S. Search under mini gps locator

[king6 II]

The only GPS's I've seen that small were from companies that cater to private investigators and other wannabee 007's. They were not cheap. Maybe a full enclosure would help, if that is a possibility? I never knew much about hens, I would learn as I go. I heard about the water thing from another chicken raiser, not sure why or how it worked but it did for the australorp. Don't know much about brahama's, I did have a rooster who seemed to keep the hens functioning, he did beat the hell out of them for which I did not understand, but gave his life protecting them form a coyote or some other predator. Wish I knew more, have not had hens in a while, seems the cold hearty ones tend to be the most broody, but that's only my experience.

[thisAngelBites]

She's in an enclosure, but she flies out. :-) I've tried clipping her wings, but she still manages to get in and out anyway. She's a bloody minded bird.

[king6 II]

She's in an enclosure, but she flies out. :-) I've tried clipping her wings, but she still manages to get in and out anyway. She's a bloody minded bird.

Dog's bollocks! Quite the chicky you got there! I guess it depends on how much you want to spend on GPS. There are numerous livestock and even chicken GPS trackers out there. Some more expensive than others, seems like Rula is smarter than the average hen. This was the only company I heard of that deals with fowl, never used them or have any input. Just have heard of them. Hopefully you can come across a solution, damn chickens can become like pets I can say.

American manufacturer specializes in micro GPS tracking devices for wildlife | Telemetry Solutions - American miniature GPS manufacturer for wildlife

[kelkel]

Waterboard her or electric shock therapy.


ps: don't encourage Haz....

[RaginCajun]

Lol at Haz

Angel, know any vets?

Maybe implant a chip in her sneaky ass!

[lovbyts]

Make stew out of her and get another one

[clarky.]

Make stew out of her and get another one

...

[thisAngelBites]

It would be a meagre little stew as she is only small and very lean. Maybe Rula plus two cherry tomatoes and four beans?

And as far as waterboarding, you would need to catch her first, which I can promise you is not an easy job.

In the summertime she sneaks into the house (if a door is open) and goes into the library and always ends up by the cookery books, where she just sort of complains. I suspect she is even more clever than she appears.

[thisAngelBites]

Lol at Haz

Angel, know any vets?

Maybe implant a chip in her sneaky ass!

I could inject her with a chip, but those chips are meant to be scanned with readers close-up, to identify lost pets and such, and they don't work at a distance, unfortunately.

[tarmyg]

My daughter carries this every day: gubloos: your faithful GPS Tracker - Gubloos I get alarms when she goes outside a defined area if her driver drives too fast, so on and so forth. Very useful!

[RaginCajun]

I could inject her with a chip, but those chips are meant to be scanned with readers close-up, to identify lost pets and such, and they don't work at a distance, unfortunately.

Time to put her ass on a leash, dominatrix style!

Or do what lovbyts said, fried chicken tonight!

[kelkel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7cDQY9wVF8

[thisAngelBites]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7cDQY9wVF8

I'm fast, and a pretty good chicken catcher (and such an elegant sight dashing around in my wellies in the mud after a hen). But Rula needs to be tricked, because otherwise there is no catching her. She is lightning fast.

And tricking her isn't easy either. It doesn't feel good to have to struggle to outsmart a chicken. I think every GPS device I have looked at so far weighs more than her brain. Hey, maybe after we eat her Euro would like her for a brain transplant?

[RaginCajun]

^^^^^^^hahahaha!

why can't you just coup her up?

build a better cage?

[thisAngelBites]

Time to put her ass on a leash, dominatrix style!

Or do what lovbyts said, fried chicken tonight!

I guess I could attach something to her leg. Somehow I think it will destroy her spirit. My son calls her "the Lone Free Ranger" (after Chicken Run). She flies out and roams and manages to not get caught by the fox. One day one of my ex-battery hens followed her and flew out of the run, and barely lasted a few hours before we found a pile of brown feathers where she met her demise. But Rula sauntered out of the hedgerow just fine. I don't know how she does it.

If I tie her up I'll probably have to get her some anti-depressants.

[thisAngelBites]

^^^^^^^hahahaha!

why can't you just coup her up?

build a better cage?

She's in an electric fence run (to keep the fox out) that's about 75 metres long, and flexible and light such that I can move it to fresh grass every so often. If we built something permanent it could be taller, but then the hens would decimate the grass, and if they didn't eat fresh grass their eggs wouldn't be as nutritious. Also, foxes tend to try and dig under permanent runs where the grass has gone. But maybe I could rig up some kind of fencing with a pole at the bottom with wheels mounted or something so I could push the thing around to different spots.

[RaginCajun]

ah, gotcha angel.

i say let her be free!

[thisAngelBites]

Ahhh, I just found her nest with 6 eggs in it. I took three, and with any luck she will keep laying them there. Unless she's learned to count.

And I am going to keep thinking of ways to attach a small GPS to her.

[kelkel]

Great. Math.