Coop automation

[Kusanar]

I'll have a run. I distrust the plethora of dogs and cats that my nieghbours have...
I think I am fine with laying being a sesonal event at this point. But come summer, they will have a fit...the summer never sets for a period.

Greger

In that case, I would still light the inside of the coup for at least 4 hours per day, to ensure that they actually wake up and eat something, maybe center the lighting around noon, that way as the days get longer, they push the lighting out from the center if that makes sense, the mornings will get light earlier than the lights come on and the afternoons will stay light longer.

I am curious as to what they will do in the continuous light. You'll have to keep us posted on if they lay REALLY well or if they actually stop due to TOO MUCH light mid summer.

 

[SGL70]

Yeah, I think I will have your suggestion of 4 hours of lighting as a starting point and take it from there.

 

[SGL70]

Waiting for parts to arrive is boring, so after reading up a bit, I started drawing the Coop-to-be using Sketchup:

Work in progress....Sketchup is fighting back, every step of the way....

Greger

 

[SGL70]

I wonder if a PIR (Passive InfraRed) sensor is flirting with disaster...it could be a neat feature, but a predator could be handed the keys to the kingdom...

The known predators around here are Cats, Dogs and the occational hawk et al.
The animals I am most afraid of are mice and rats, though

SketchUp might be a useful tool, but....it does as I wishes, but only reluctantly (The first time I have felt like the software has human properties....gah)

(The yellow stuff is to suggest insulation. Floor area: 2.5 x 1.2 m (8'x4'))

EDIT: It dawned on the that the roof has to be changed, so that it covers the run. It lessen the need for showelling snow...

Cheers,
Greger

 

[SGL70]

After some rought treatment by SketchUp (Still no doors, windows, ventilation, panelling)

 

[WILIFORD]

I don't know if my plans will work, as I know too little about chickens (fixin' to change that, though)

The door will be controlled by a light sensor - during winter it will hardly ever open and in the summer it will never shut. I was thinking to turn the lights on in the coop, some time before shutting the door...assuming that the chickens prefer the light indoors over the dark outside. However, I don't know if the birds see it the same way

Greger

FYI I made a auto door opener with a windshield wiper motor and micro switches. I did find the photo cell will activate the door to early in the evening. As the previous post had pointed out, sometimes chickens are a little slower getting back to the coop. I put mine on a timer so it closes about 30 minutes after sun down.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

FYI I made a auto door opener with a windshield wiper motor and micro switches. I did find the photo cell will activate the door to early in the evening. As the previous post had pointed out, sometimes chickens are a little slower getting back to the coop. I put mine on a timer so it closes about 30 minutes after sun down.

Where did you get the w/w motor? What model is it?

 

[WILIFORD]

It was just a cheap wiper motor from amazon. Pretty much any of them will work. The motor has a high & low speed terminal on it. I wired to the low speed terminal and installed a 12V rheostat to slow it down even more. Then use a 12v timer and 2 micro switches, to set my open and close times.

 

[SGL70]

@WILIFORD I will use a motor from a 18VDC cordless drill that will be hooked up to a H-bridge....I hope anyway. Good to know there are options.

The use of an Arduino (ATTiny85, if possible) is not really needed, but it makes my inner geek happy