Best Automatic Chicken Door Openers???

http://www.discounthomeautomation.com/Add-A-Motor-Chicken-Coop-Motor-AAD20?gclid=CNac2Mju-KICFZNo5QodzV7imQ

or

http://www.automaticchickencoopdoor.com/

The pre built one uses the same motor as above, they just built it into one unit for you. I use the pre built one. It requires power though. You can hook it up to a timer or hook it up to a holiday remote light swith and plug and just open it from your house with a remote (which is what I do).

I use this one - been perfect but the cold seems to have caused it some issues.

Expensive - but I love it. Saves me having to get up early & open the coop & I don't ever forget to close it!

http://www.chickendoors.com/

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What issues in the cold and at what temp? Does it come with everything you need, including the actual door? Is it an adjustable timer? Does it work off battery or need eletrictiy?

Quote:
What issues in the cold and at what temp? Does it come with everything you need, including the actual door? Is it an adjustable timer? Does it work off battery or need eletrictiy?

It comes with everything but the power & you get to decide if you want it to run off a battery or plug.

I run mine off a deep cycle marine battery & plug in a trickle charger. All of that because I didn't want to take a chance that a power outage would stop the door from opening / closing.

You can just as easily plug in a 12 volt adapter & hook it up.

Its a very high quality item & I'm very happy with it.

The timer is internal. You use a magnet to reset it & then use the magnet again to open it. The door will forever remember the time it opened & will open the same time every day.

in the evening you use the magnet again to close the door & it will forever remember the time to close. It even re-opens the door for a minute some time after it closes just in case some birds don't make it by the first close.


I have just recently had cold issues - it was in the teens when it started acting up. It was only an issue for a couple days, but they were days the girls didn't want to go out anyway. We had 4 inches of snow & they thought they were on Mars.

I thawed it out & it seems to be fine now - but I'm at work now & leave before its supposed to open. Since we free range we like to keep them locked up until reasonably late in the morning so the rooster doesnt dance around under the neighbors bedroom window & wake them up.

I've only had 2 issues with the door.
1. Cold issue mentioned before (but the door is exposed to the rain & ice)
2. If I don't have the trickel charger on the battery it will only last 30 days or so. The instructions say it will last 6months to 1 year w/o recharging - but mine (brand new huge battery) only lasted 30 days.

Also the door itself opens & closes very slowly so no cutting birds in half.

I made my own with a motor that cost $99. Its fool proof all except for really humid days. occasionally the wood will expand on humid days and the door doesn't slid down. Ive heard really good things about the foy auto doors

I have one like they sell at Foy's and Wells. It's mounted on the inside and has the external light sensor. You can also get a timer version. It runs on 4 AA batteries and cold hasn't been an issue for it. We've had it since mid-2007, I think. It gets down to -20 F here in a normal winter.

I, too, have a Foy's automatic door; I use the light sensor. It uses batteries for power - the light sensor is just the trigger. There is also a timer, if you are really concerned about grey days, but I don't think you have to be worried about that issue. If you were using solar power to run it, maybe. But you're not: plain old AA or AAA batteries, I forget which.

I also have the one from http://www.chickendoors.com/

Construction wise it is definitely the best door on the market. All the other doors are either made out of wood and/or just use gravity to keep the door closed... that's not safe enough IMHO if you've got coons around (that are strong and very dexterous).

The circuitry is very cleverly built and housed in a box that is suppose to be totally weather proof. I live in a pretty temperate climate, so I haven't been able to test it in the crazy heat or cold. There are times that the door seems to studder just a tiny bit that sometimes makes me nervous, but I've had it running for 9 months and never had it fail to open or close.

Mine has main AC going through a trickle charger to an old car battery and then to the door. I use the battery just to cover my bases if our power goes out (which it has about 3 times since) and then I don't have to worry about resetting the unit.

midget_farms, when your door has problems in the cold, does it just fail to open? I wouldn't mind that so much, but failing to close, or the timer getting reset (so it could open in the middle of the night) would be a HUGE issue.