Best Automatic chicken door made.. Chicken Guard

[vehve]

One thing about doors that open outwards, is that they're safer. A door than opens inwards can be just pushed open easily, unless you have a fairly heavy locking system. If it opens outwards, whatever tries to get in needs to figure out to pull the door rather than to just gently shove it. And if the door is close to floor level in a coop, bedding might be an issue. A sliding door works well too.


I'd love to see a US cop movie with a scene placed in Finland. It would open with two guys at a door, with their guns drawn. It would end with a lot of cursing and a broken foot, and the door still being closed. We've got a bit of snow here too, shovels usually work well for that. And roofed entrances.

 

[the43k]

Wow, yeah I don't think a garage door opening out would be a good idea lol. Not sure if that is a good comparison however, I wouldn't parallel park a tractor trailer in a 10 foot spot but my Prius would be just fine. But yes, to each his own. I don't worry about snow as I live in Florida, guess I should worry about Hurricane winds ripping the door off. Sure wish I had an easy control panel that allowed me to close or open the door at any time I guess.

ha.. I wasn't suggesting you did. My point, was that they don't design garage doors to swing out, because going up and down was better with less potential of issues. I was simply drawing a correlation between the two. Anyway, I hope your style suits you well.

 

[pbarr86]

I love my D20, have never had an issue. The "Massive flaw" you speak of is easily resolved buy getting a sunrise/sunset timer (I use the GE sunsmart timer) I set it once and it automatically adjusts for sunrise/sunset times 365 days a year and automatically adjust for daylight savings (you can even turn that feature off if you don't live in a state that adjusts for daylight savings)

 

[Davidhalpern2]

Best solution!!! dIy with an old auto antenna and a timer total cost $25

 

[the43k]

I love my D20, have never had an issue. The "Massive flaw" you speak of is easily resolved buy getting a sunrise/sunset timer (I use the GE sunsmart timer) I set it once and it automatically adjusts for sunrise/sunset times 365 days a year and automatically adjust for daylight savings (you can even turn that feature off if you don't live in a state that adjusts for daylight savings)

Don't take it personally, I used a D20 for years. And yes, I suppose you could add other devices to make it work better. But my point is that Chicken Guard has thought of all these things and it has many other features and safety devices. Its a far better product and probably cheaper when you add both of your devices together.

 

[pbarr86]

I didn't take it personal, I was just letting people know that what you described as a "massive flaw" really isn't that big of a deal. for the D20 and GE sunsmart timer I paid about $93.80 delivered. I went to the Chickenguard website the unit and shipping to the US looked to be about $159.70 (US Dollars)

I'm not sure where you got it from so you may have found it cheaper. Also with the D20 I never have to worry about replacing batteries BUT with that said the chickenguard does look to be a great option for people that don't have electrical access at their coop already.

 

[the43k]

One other issue a D20 has is that if the power is out during the time of either opening or closing, it fails… Again, had a D20 for years, but the way it operates with needing to set timer to go on and off for each opening is just a poor design. Poor because its a drapery motor pretending to be something it was never designed to do. I may have paid more for it then you. On amazon at the time, it was around 90 dollars. Thats not including the other device. Anyway, we can put this dead horse to sleep, you like the D20, godspeed, enjoy it. I've been burned about 3 or 4 times over about 3 years with a D20 and I have about 25 total dead chickens to prove it, never going back.

 

[pbarr86]

The same can be said for when the batteries have gone dead on the chickenguard and the door isn't operating.
At least when the power goes out ALL of my power is out and I know to check on the coop, I may not realize the batteries have gone bad.

Again, i'm not slamming the chickenguard it seems like a fine product, i'm glad it's working for you and you made a great review of it. I'm just pointing out to others reading that the D20 has been rock solid if you use a good sunrise/sunset timer. I do agree with you that if someone uses the D20 with a regular timer and aren't diligent on updating the time they are asking for trouble, but that isn't a problem with the D20 that is a problem with the owner using the wrong timer.

 

[the43k]

The same can be said for when the batteries have gone dead on the chickenguard and the door isn't operating.
At least when the power goes out ALL of my power is out and I know to check on the coop, I may not realize the batteries have gone bad.

Again, i'm not slamming the chickenguard it seems like a fine product, i'm glad it's working for you and you made a great review of it. I'm just pointing out to others reading that the D20 has been rock solid if you use a good sunrise/sunset timer. I do agree with you that if someone uses the D20 with a regular timer and aren't diligent on updating the time they are asking for trouble, but that isn't a problem with the D20 that is a problem with the owner using the wrong timer.

The power can go off unexpectedly or when you're not home. The battery lasts a year and has a warning device that will alert for a long period of time.

 

[pbarr86]

The power can go off unexpectedly or when you're not home. The battery lasts a year and has a warning device that will alert for a long period of time.

Conveniently the timer has an internal battery that keeps accurate time even when the power goes out and runs the door cycle when the power comes back on. It hasn't failed once, and if there ever was a problem I'm either home or if i'm on vacation the hen sitters can handle the door.

Again, the chickenguard looks like a great option especially if you don't have power to the coop already and the review you did about it was great. I will certainly mention it to anyone looking for an automatic door that doesn't have access to power. I just couldn't help but laugh at the "massive flaw" you mentioned about the D20 which has nothing to do with the D20 itself. The D20 is just a motor that does it's job well, the massive flaw comes from choosing the wrong timer or relying too much on technology to take care of the flock.