Automatic door problem?

[Margiechickmom]

OK. Today I received my automatic door from Adorstore.. (a sponsor on this website). We installed it this afternoon. When I came home from dinner, all but one of my chickens was closed out of the coop. I guess because it was raining, that it recognized it as dark earlier than it should have? Maybe it will be a problem in the rain?

Anyone else have experience with this door? Does it normally close too early in the rain?

Experiences, anyone?

 

[Back2Roots]

Oh dear. Hmmm, I have no experience with this, and haven't completed our coop/run yet, but this is one of the things I have often wondered about with automatic doors ... what if the chickens aren't ready to go in at the same time as the automatic door decides it's time to close? Is there a way to train your chickens to go in to roost before the door closes? In theory there is a big benefit to an automatic door in the event that you aren't able to be home in time to put your chickens to bed at night, but your experience illustrates my biggest reservation about relying on an automatic door.

 

[Margiechickmom]

The whole reason I got it is because we're getting ready to go on vacation. I have someone coming to feed them and water them but they live 15 miles away and obviously can't come twice a day to open and close the door. Usually at the first sign of dusk, all of my chickens go in. I guess the rain fouled everyone up.

 

[FenikT]

My auto door is installed on the back of the coop and it doesn't get anything beyond part-sun during the height of daytime. No issues w/ early closure, even on a rainy day.

The default setting is #1, which closes at dusk and opens at dawn. Dusk and dawn are subjective times, more dependent on the amount of ambient light hitting the sensor vs. a specific time. On that note, is your sensor facing inside or outside the coop (meaning, did you mount the door inside or outside the coop)?

If setting #1 isn't doing the trick (after determining there were no obstructions over the sensor, etc.),change the setting to #2.

The instructions tell how to set programming, but here is a quick description:

SHOW PROGRAMMING
step 1: Open box cover and remove an alligator clip from its battery terminal. With left hand, be ready to re-connect alligator to the battery terminal.
step 2: With right hand thumb, hold in the push button switch (located behind green dome on the cover).
step 3: While holding in the push button switch with right hand, re-connect power with left hand.
step 4: Let go of switch and stand back to watch the Red LED.
step 5: In about 5 seconds, the LED will start flashing. Write down the numbers. When ADOR is finished showing all the numbers, the door will power the motor to shut the door (no matter what position the door was in).

Write down the numbers means you need to count how many flashes separated by idle time and you should get a series of numbers like: 1, 4, 6, ... etc.

CHANGE PROGRAMMING
You can only change one program setting at a time. That means you have to initiate SHOW PROGRAMMING for each setting you want to make and then pulse the button X times for your desired setting.
step 1: do the process of SHOW PROGRAMMING steps 1, 2, 3. Immediately go to the next step 2.
step 2: within about 4 or 5 seconds, you need to start setting a program number. If you wait too long, the ADOR will complete SHOW PROGRAMMING.
step 3: you set the program number "X" by simply pulsing the push button X number of times.
step 4: when you quit pulsing the button, ADOR will then go back to finish SHOW PROGRAMMING. Stand back and write down the numbers and you should see that you changed one of the settings. At the end of the "SHOW", ADOR records your settings so don't interrupt it till it is finished. When the motor starts, that's when you know it recorded your new setting.

EXAMPLE. CHANGE SETTING 1 to SETTING 2
step 1: Perform steps 1, 2, 3 under SHOW PROGRAMMING. Go immediately to following step 2.
step 2: Pulse the switch twice. The speed of your pulsing can be quite variable but just count it out verbally and pulse the button each count.
step 3: Stand back and write down the flashes. Wait till it finishes the SHOW and your new setting should be recorded.
step 4: If you want, disconnect the battery connection and then repeat SHOW PROGRAMMING to see that your new setting was remembered by ADOR.

 

[AdorStore]

OK. Today I received my automatic door from Adorstore.. (a sponsor on this website). We installed it this afternoon. When I came home from dinner, all but one of my chickens was closed out of the coop. I guess because it was raining, that it recognized it as dark earlier than it should have? Maybe it will be a problem in the rain?

Anyone else have experience with this door? Does it normally close too early in the rain?

Experiences, anyone?

I can see this is an old post... but suffice to say if you install an automatic door, you need to watch that the chickens have learned to go in. Before you had the automatic door, the chickens were bonded to your actions. Maybe waiting for the backdoor to open? Maybe some snacks? They watch the human and what they are doing. Once you have the door and the realize that the door will close, they will go in earlier. They have to know not to wait for a human being. So even though this post was 5 years ago, when given a chance, I tell new customers to watch the chickens to make sure they are ok with going in on time. If they dilly dally, you can change the program setting to delay closing or even to enable "last call". Then you may notice after a day or two or maybe a little longer, that they will go into the coop and settle in and that you can change the setting back so the door does not stay open as long. As far as "rain" being a problem.... very dark weather around sunset time may cause the door to close a little bit earlier but if your chickens are trained to go in early enough, and with the right setting, it shouldn't be a problem. There should be ample time between the time of the last chicken to go inside and the earliest time that the door will close.

 

[AdorStore]

Oh dear. Hmmm, I have no experience with this, and haven't completed our coop/run yet, but this is one of the things I have often wondered about with automatic doors ... what if the chickens aren't ready to go in at the same time as the automatic door decides it's time to close? Is there a way to train your chickens to go in to roost before the door closes? In theory there is a big benefit to an automatic door in the event that you aren't able to be home in time to put your chickens to bed at night, but your experience illustrates my biggest reservation about relying on an automatic door.

While we have so many thousands of happy customers that so often email me or call me to tell me how happy they are with their ADOR automatic door, remember that there will be some people who go to post something on the internet before they've given sufficient consideration regarding what happened. We answer the phone and text just about anytime of the day or day of the week and so if there's a problem, good advice is available if you call or text or email. In the case of the post about installing the ADOR1 and then leaving and not sticking around to check on things, I would have hoped that had resulted in a phone call to us, rather than a post to a forum where the people attending may or may not have a good answer. Please just remember that with so many thousands of happy customers, rain does not cause the automatic door to be an unreliable choice -- the reason the ADOR1 has adjustable parameters is so the customer can change the settings if needed. In our case, our chickens have always gone into the coop in time and that's what most people who report in to us, tell us. And if they don't go in on time, it is a temporary issue until the chickens become comfortable. ... or you may have to change the delay time on closing. So as I am responding to a post from 5 years ago, there are still people who read these posts and so I wanted to respond for anyone who needs to understand that when you first install an automatic door, please watch to see if your chickens are going to wait for you to come to the chicken yard... they might wait for you before they realize they need to go to the roost. As dumb as chickens seem sometimes, they seem to be able to grasp this idea pretty quick -- that the automatic door is now the boss regarding bedtime.