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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:43 am
by Colin
Although I've lived in the countryside most of my life, I'm new to the challenges of livestock keeping. I've been somewhat shocked by the level of crime we're experiencing. Since April we've had a tractor stolen, our fence cut in 3 places, fly tipping and last night we had one of two chains on our main gate cut, the gate lifted off its hinges and our new topper stolen. The gate was left open and it is only through good luck that our cattle were down the far end of our field and did not get out onto a busy road.
Of course this also blew open our biosecurity measures which we are being very strict on.
I've been a little naive I fear in the past and we're continually having to rethink our field security.
Is this rare or all too common ?
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:09 am
by stew
we had the same sort of thing gates left open animals let free
hen house door opened had all the tyres let down on jcb and dumper electric fences turned off we also lost ove 300 laying quail when a shed door was opened during the day time at fist i thought it was me
but after i had my wife duoble check what i had done and these things were still going on
we do have an idea of who is to blame but cant do alot about it untill we catch him at it
all this was happening while our planning app was at council
the perpetraitor also tryed to buy the land but we out bid him so the green eyed monster is about
oh and the police arnt intrested at all as nothing been damaged or stollen
but i bet if a car had hit sheep i would have been in for it
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:27 am
by Saffy
Hi Colin,
I have had similar problems in the past as have most farmers around here.
It can be travellers in the area, not always that close but within 10 or 20 miles that have seen what you have and come back again and again until they move away or it can be someone who took a dislike to you.
It hasn't happened to me for a while but I have had spates of things being vandalised or nicked! The cheekiest was when I had 2 pallets of used slates, they sorted them carefully and left what they didn't want, there is only one way in and out of my farm!
I always own a large dog, not fierce, just big. Whenever anyone I don't know turns up I let him out first. He loves people and bounds at them. The dodgy ones roll up their truck window and ask through a crack if he is nasty. I reply that he is fine during the day as long as he is with me. Not only do I think he is a deterrent but also when I found some people shooting here recently, 2 guns 3 dogs, he was bigger than any of their dogs and they and the owners almost ran away!
Many people now hang their gates with the bottom pin facing up and the top pin facing down.
Stephanie
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:37 pm
by Martin
Hi Colin,
A constant battle is how I would describe security on farms today. I recently sold a stock trailer to a near neighbour and within 2 weeks it was stolen along with some other items. Three gates had to have chains cropped and a wheel clamp ground off. We are constantly left the rubbish that comes from house clearances and re-building works. I chased two guys in a transit tipper that where attempting to tip a load of rubbish on a byeway adjoining my farm I phoned the police when it was too dangerous to continue only to be told that it was not a 999 matter and to ring my local council and report where the rubbish was tipped to enable them to clean it up. A neighbour has a 25 acre field adjoining the local recreation ground that he has not cropped for the last two years as it was constantly being set alight.
We all suffer from the same blights on our lives, so don't feel alone. Be vigilant and make it as difficult as you can for any would be thief, and if we all refused the 'bargains' offered, the thief would have no market.
Martin. Medway Valley Dexters.
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:24 pm
by Broomcroft
We had our satnav knicked a few months ago from our flootlit drive despite 5 dogs very nearby, at 6 a.m. I locked my garage but left the bolt-croppers leaning up against the door! So they got in and pinched various other stuff as well.
I had a friend about 30 years ago who's car radio kept on being knicked out of his Mini. He was studying electronics at University. So he wired his fourth radio up so when they got it halfway out they got a little surprise. There it was in the monring, half out, complete with fingermarks. I'm not recommending this sort of action, it would be illegal. That was back then. 
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:27 pm
by bjreroberts
Colin,
Sounds like a nightmare. What more can you do other than fitting one the gate hinges upside down as suggested?
I had better re-think my security as well, the only thing stopping anyone taking my livestock trailer at the moment is a flat tyre!
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 4:16 pm
by Louisa Gidney
Similar up here. I've had a generator taken, Ifor Williams sheep trailer stolen, Land Rover burnt out, sheep worried & killed, geese stolen & killed, lampers making gaps in fences for their dogs & letting sheep out and so on and so forth. The curtain twitchers never see anything. Plod aren't interested unless stock on road are a traffic hazard.
One of the reasons I keep the horns on my cattle & have prominent Beware of the Bull signs. Also have a dog in the barn. Have seen some of the so & so's, when I have merely happened to be cutting thistles & have dog with me, but they scarper rapidly when I approach to simply politely point out that there is no right of way over my land.
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:58 pm
by Peter thornton
If you are having problems in, say, a yard, then you should look at fitting a CCTV system along with security lighting. These systems are much cheaper than they used to be, especially if you fit them yourself. You will still have the problem of getting the local Police interested and they may say that your images aren't good enough to prosecute, but it's a start.
You can also approach your local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) and ask for their help. This is a forum where you can discuss ways of crime prevention and possibly get the Police on board. Your local district Council should have details.
We are fortunate enough to live 3 miles down a single track road which seems to do the trick.
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 3:02 pm
by Jo Kemp
Heavens! Where do you all live? ... just so I never move there!
We do lock our doors now which we never did up to about 20 years ago (this in Derbyshire as well as Scotland). Have had a radio stolen many moons ago but nothing as disruptive as your tales of woe.
Take care all. Jo
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:01 pm
by Sylvia
I think most people who aren't suffering all those trials and tribulations are probably frightened of saying so in case it changes their luck. We had meat stolen out of the freezer once, after that put 3 sensors down the track which sound in the house. They are a bit haphazard as rabbits and other smallish things can set them off, they are better in flat areas which this definitely isn't, but if two sound at the right intervals we know someone is either walking or driving down. I expect if you tried those in a crime ridden area they would be the first things stolen though.
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 7:13 pm
by Broomcroft
Can anyone recommend a CCTV system that's not mega-bucks?
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 10:21 pm
by Colin
Thanks for all the feedback and tips. Also somebody recently suggested welding the screw thread on the gate hinges to prevent the nuts being undone. Apparently gates can also go walkabout.
The police haven't been much help. The latest theft was reported to them early yesterday morning and they promised to come back to me for the details. I'm still waiting.
Key lesson for me, as a beginner, is gaining an awareness of the crime situation for farmers and smallholders, forcing me to more actively think about how to better protect items of value and access to the land. It will of course not stop the determined thief, but will hopefully significantly reduce the volume of crime. I'm very glad we took out good insurance right from the start and I would definitely recommend that to all other beginners.
None of this of course detracts from the enjoyment of being in the countryside and working with the animals. It is just another factor to be considered.
Colin
Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:42 am
by Louisa Gidney
I'm in what was once Border Reiver country, one of the Border Ballads concerns a major sheep raid a little further up Weardale. The old reiver saying was "nothing too hot or too heavy". I find it particularly amusing that in C16th, Newcastle guilds would not accept apprentices from Hexham/Tynedale as they were too uncouth and light fingered. The same area is now very "county", whereas Newcastle resounds to wailing sirens. The trade off is the same as C16th, when I moved here property prices were extremely low so the balance is made up by the hassle, which is sporadic.
Local gamekeepers have also got fed up with the general situation & formed a farmwatch equivalent that was widely reported in the local press as a gentle hint.
Problems tend to go in waves. One spate of trouble abruptly ended when the perpetrator, who was known locally, was caught interfering with a little girl & done over by vigilantes. They all got banged up.
Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:49 pm
by happy hollidays
Louisa as a mother that is my worst nightmare. I have worked with abused children and it is horrific. I feel grateful that we have had only one visitor, who took our caravan. The insurance company paid out more than we insured it for( don't know why, didn't stop to ask either!) and I now have a fab diamond ring instead of a caravan, must have been doing something extra nice at the time of the cheque arriving! A local farmer sold a piece of land to travellers a few years ago, they have now settled there for 12 months or so and the stealings have reduced in our village which is great. They are a small group, clean, tidy and friendly and seem to be looking after their own patch now.
Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:58 pm
by louise
Today some youths were in the next door field and were moving big round bales so the would roll down the slope and smash the fence. I went out to have a word and they were of the opinion that the field was a public place and they had every right to be there.
however they did move on when I said the owner wa son his way.
cheers Louise