Chickens were fine while I was gone.
My coop is like at old Johnny Cash song "one piece at a time". The automatic door is on my wish list, but haven't done it yet. Built it last year over the course of several months (like 6). Summer 2013, got it painted. Next summer, may get an automatic door, or electrify the fence ( have wire & yellow holder things but no battery). Also have a second/third coop that has to have the electrical engineering done to it too (even if one door was automatic, I'd still have to walk down to the coops to open the other door). The electric fence might be a little more important...the automatic door is really a luxury. My dad didn't have one. Most of the time, I'm a homebody that doesn't like to travel much so it isn't often an issue.
Gifs, I wouldn't mind hearing more about your solar panel. What size is it, how much wattage does it produce, do you power anything else(like lights inside coop for egg laying or an electric fence) where did you get it, and how much does it cost? We thought about getting a pop door to run off solar power but so far hubby keeps telling me that they are too expensive. I 've invested a lot of money in my coop but that doesn't mean I want to continue throwing money at it.
CG
