Affordable automatic coop door, suggestions?

[Toddrick]

I have a small backyard coop, you've seen the kind that are like 4x8 with a built-in run. I've decided I want to add a couple more birds and, rather than free ranging as their only excercise, to provide a 20x20 little chicken yard (not secure yet) for them to enjoy all day.

I can't justify a $300 automatic door for six chickens, and frankly I don't want to build a permanent, secure run at this time (I will likely build a bigger coop before I do that). I am a computer programmer, and pretty comfortable dabling in electronics and such, so I'm not against building my own door, but it needs to be simple and reliable.

 

[Toddrick]

I went ahead and ponied up the money for an ADOR1 unit. It is slightly less expensive and appears to be a better design than the other major brands.

I ordered from here: http://adorstore.com

Anyone have any comments about this product, good or bad?

 

[colburg]

I've had one in use for 2 years now. It's mounted on a mobile coop completely exposed to the elements on the front and back(mounted on expanded metal) and has been through just about everything but a tornado. Hail, freezing rain(1/2 ice on it in the morning), 1,000 yr flood, 70mph winds, etc.

It has never stopped working....except when the battery is low.

If you find one day that the door only opened half way, before you do anything else, replace the battery. This has been the cure both times that I had reoccurring problems with the door only partially opening. If you get a good brand of battery, you can go about 18 months. An off brand battery will last 6'ish months.

Any coops built in the future will have one of these on it. Anytime I give a cost estimate to my wife for a new coop, this door is included automatically.

When installing just make sure the frame your mounting it to is not twisted or skewed.

You'll love this door.

Cheers,

 

[Toddrick]

I've had one in use for 2 years now. It's mounted on a mobile coop completely exposed to the elements on the front and back(mounted on expanded metal) and has been through just about everything but a tornado. Hail, freezing rain(1/2 ice on it in the morning), 1,000 yr flood, 70mph winds, etc.

It has never stopped working....except when the battery is low.

If you find one day that the door only opened half way, before you do anything else, replace the battery. This has been the cure both times that I had reoccurring problems with the door only partially opening. If you get a good brand of battery, you can go about 18 months. An off brand battery will last 6'ish months.

Any coops built in the future will have one of these on it. Anytime I give a cost estimate to my wife for a new coop, this door is included automatically.

When installing just make sure the frame your mounting it to is not twisted or skewed.

You'll love this door.

Cheers,

Great info, thanks!

 

[lm84]

I have the ador also. We installed it in September and it's been working great since. We recess mounted it like the website explained, supposedly keeps ice from forming as easily. It's worked great and opened and closed every single day without fail. Rain, snow, ice storms...nothing stopped it. The first battery we bought did die after only 2 months and the door didn't open that day. After replacing the battery it's been going strong for 7 months with no issue.

 

[Toddrick]

I have the ador also. We installed it in September and it's been working great since. We recess mounted it like the website explained, supposedly keeps ice from forming as easily. It's worked great and opened and closed every single day without fail. Rain, snow, ice storms...nothing stopped it. The first battery we bought did die after only 2 months and the door didn't open that day. After replacing the battery it's been going strong for 7 months with no issue.

Wow that looks great. Nice work. Now I want to repaint my coop.

 

[ffxhomestead]

Best of luck with your ADOR. I had one for about a year and had very bad luck with it, even though the installation, mounting, battery, etc all were correct, the door never quite worked correctly. The gear on the motor would catch, it would randomly decide not to close on certain nights, and a whole slew of other issues. Even though most of the reviews on it were positive, I just didn't have the time to fuss with it after trying for a year. I eventually switched to another type of automatic coop door.

 

[Toddrick]

Best of luck with your ADOR.  I had one for about a year and had very bad luck with it, even though the installation, mounting, battery, etc all were correct, the door never quite worked correctly.  The gear on the motor would catch, it would randomly decide not to close on certain nights, and a whole slew of other issues.  Even though most of the reviews on it were positive, I just didn't have the time to fuss with it after trying for a year.  I eventually switched to another type of automatic coop door.

They didn't replace it under warranty?

 

[ffxhomestead]

I emailed the company a few times but didn't get a response. Finally just sent the whole thing back last week with an explanation and history of my issues. My hope is they honor their warranty and either refund me or replace the unit.

 

[lm84]

It's my understanding that the company is very small and it is a little hard to contact the owner. But he always tries to fix any issues and I can't imagine they wouldn't honor the warranty. Personally I think it's an installation issue most of the time when people have trouble with these doors, it's got to be installed on a nice flat surface, and cannot be twisted or warped at all. Mine is mounted on solid 2x4s and then we closed it in on the inside so when the door opens and closes nothing could get in the way of the door like bedding or a chicken. It opens and closes behind the panel. He has instructions for this on his website too. I can also take a picture of it today and post just to show you. It's definitely worth doing it right from the start to avoid problems!