By all means feel free to donate and help support the hens (more information here). You can also help spread the good word of hencam by looking at our wonderful (and weird!) chicken merchandise!

I can't see the streaming video - HELP!

First of all, try waiting a few moments - the streaming audio and video has to buffer a few seconds ahead to provide the best experience, so be patient! If you still don't see video, then some browsers will automatically try and install the correct plugin if you click on the area where the cam image should be, yet others will ask if you want to install an ActiveX plugin for video - click yes if it does!

If it still won't play, try installing Windows Media Player 11. There are versions for Windows and Mac.

If you are using Firefox, install the Firefox Windows Media Plugin
If you are using Opera, unzip this file into your opera/progra/plugins/ folder
If you are using a Mac, then download and run / install this file - it should enable your quicktime to play the hencam stream - thanks to Penelope for the info!

If the streaming was working, but suddenly goes black and you get a "This Camstream is offline" message, then don't panic! It could be something as simple as me rebooting the PC - wait a minute and then refresh the page. Note that it may take anything up to a few minutes as the encoder has to start sending the stream to the server and then that has to in turn start broadcasting it to you, so you may get the "offline" message for a minute or two before the video starts playing - just keep refreshing the page!

The only time the streams will be down is if there is a power cut or I have connection problems, I'll do my best to ensure it's always up for your viewing pleasure!

As a last resort, contact me and let me know what browser, operating system and any errors you are getting (it's a last resort as I'm not too knowledgable in this area!)

Also, sometimes after installing the correct plugin the stream still won't play - this could be something as simple as your browser needing to be restarted! Try rebooting the PC and then visit hencam, and if all goes well and with a favourable wind, you should see the hens in all their video and audio glory!

Have you any information on the live streaming webcam?

The live streaming images are possible thanks to the kind people at Streaming Solutions (www.camstreams.com). The sound you can hear is thanks to Pinklefish who bought the camera and donated it to hencam!

The streaming works by my PC capturing the video and audio from the camera, which is then encoded using Windows Media Encoder, which in turn is pulled from my PC to the servers at www.camstreams.com and they then send the stream to anybody wanting to view the video! It all means I can save my lowly bandwidth as I only stream to their server, they do all the hard work streaming to all the visitors!

There is more info on setting up your own webcam in the howto pages - have a read! If it's useful to you, please consider helping us by donating!

I'd like a webcam too - can you help me with some info on setting one up?

I have had quite a few people ask for help and for details on hencam's setup, so I have created a special page and document to hopefully give you all the help you need... Why not have a read! If it's useful to you, please consider helping us by donating!

Will my browser work with hencam?

The site should work with the vast majority of web-browsers. It's been tested in Internet Explorer, Opera and Firefox, and on Mac OSX too, so you should be ok.

Why can't I see the webcam images?

If you just see a blue screen where the webcam should be, or a "no stream" message, then the likeliest problem is that you don't have an upto-date Flash plugin installed. Try the following:
- go to http://www.macromedia.com/ and find the Download -> download Free Player page
- click the 'download now' button, and select 'open from this location'
- after the download finishes, it will ask you some standard questions, just click 'next' through them
- where it asks if you want to install the 'yahoo toolbar' - UNTICK this - you don't need it

Once it's finished, your Flash plugin should be upto-date and a whole world of wasting time watching hencam awaits!

Why aren't the hens on camera?

If it looks empty, then the hens might have gone out of camera shot - they have a dust bathing area under the main coop which is quite hard to capture on camera. It's also possible they might have escaped too - if you see them running around outside the coop then let me know!

why isn't the cam updating / why are the hens not moving?

Very rarely there will be a problem with the cam - either the webcam itself has crashed, or there is a problem with my wifi network, or my pc has crashed, or my Internet connection is down. I will do all I can to get things going again as soon as possible. If ever you suspect there is a problem, email me to let me know!

Why is the webcam image black?

During winter it gets dark before I get home from work, so unfortunately the image might be black for a short while until I arrive to move the cam.

Is the cam really live 24/7?

YES! We've put an awful lot of work into this (quite silly!) site, and it is continously live 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Unless we are experiencing major problems, you should be able to watch what's happening in the coop right *now*.

Doesn't the night-vision annoy the hens while they are trying to sleep?

The night-vision is all possible due to an infra-red lamp in the nesting boxes. This doesn't actually give out any light - it's still pitch-black in the coop, it's just that the cam is sensitive to infra-red so it can record images as bright as day even in the dark!

Is there a way I can watch the cam on a small window without the rest of the site showing?

Yes! Under the main cam is an "office friendly" link to open the hencam in a smaller popup window!