To tell the truth, I’ve never seen it open in the morning. During the week, it’s light out but before sunrise when I go to the coop in before I leave for work and the door is closed still. It is light enough that the girls will get off the roost to see me (and start eating whatever I’m giving them). On the weekends I’m never up early enough, it is open and they are in the run when I go out in the morning.
The sun rises usually about 30 minutes into my commute this time of year, so I’m assuming that’s about when it would open. If you open your door 10 minutes before sunrise now, it should work perfect for you.
Also, if your door were on a timer, you would have to keep changing it during the year to coincide with the changing day length.
One thing I noticed, when I had lights in the coop last winter, is that they didn’t affect the door at all. I had 2 sets of white Christmas LED lights. One with a timer, it would come at 5:30 AM and shut off at 8:00 (after sunrise), and again at 4:00 to 6:00. I had another set that was on a light sensor that would come on at sunset and turn off around 8:00 - 8:30. This set wasn’t as bright, so it was nearly dark when the main set shut off. Light enough for them to see and walk around, but dark enough that they would get on the roost. It’s not good to have lights at night shut right off and go to darkness, so the second set was to give a transition period for them to go to bed. But neither set would have any affect on the door, because they were LED.
The sun rises usually about 30 minutes into my commute this time of year, so I’m assuming that’s about when it would open. If you open your door 10 minutes before sunrise now, it should work perfect for you.
Also, if your door were on a timer, you would have to keep changing it during the year to coincide with the changing day length.
One thing I noticed, when I had lights in the coop last winter, is that they didn’t affect the door at all. I had 2 sets of white Christmas LED lights. One with a timer, it would come at 5:30 AM and shut off at 8:00 (after sunrise), and again at 4:00 to 6:00. I had another set that was on a light sensor that would come on at sunset and turn off around 8:00 - 8:30. This set wasn’t as bright, so it was nearly dark when the main set shut off. Light enough for them to see and walk around, but dark enough that they would get on the roost. It’s not good to have lights at night shut right off and go to darkness, so the second set was to give a transition period for them to go to bed. But neither set would have any affect on the door, because they were LED.
