Auto Coop Doors and Controls

jthornton

Free Ranging
6 Years
Aug 30, 2017
5,027
10,280
682
Poplar Bluff, MO
My Coop
My Coop
If you have or had an auto coop door
  • What do you like about the door?
  • What do you not like about the door?
  • What power source does the door use?
  • What features were important in the decision to purchase the door?
  • What brand and model is the door?
  • Would you recommend the door to other chicken ranchers?
If you don't have an auto coop door but are thinking about one.
  • What features are you interested in having?
Thanks
JT
 
I installed an ADOR1 about 2 or 3 months ago on my run. Since I let my chickens free range daily I wanted something to let them out and close them up at night without me having to go out twice a day to do that.

1) The door is well constructed of sturdy materials and easy to install. It opens and closes vertically instead of swinging open or closed.
2) There is nothing I dislike about the door itself, but the instructions for programming its various features were a little confusing to me. I think they could be written a little more clearly. This would be my only very minor complaint.
3) Mine uses a 6V lantern battery ($3 at Walmart), but I believe if I recall correctly there are other power options.
4) Being able to program it to open when I wanted it to. I don't let my chickens out at the crack of dawn so being able to set the opening time to 3 or 4 hours after sunrise was important. I suppose it would've been nice for it to be Bluetooth capable and have an app for operation. There are other doors out there that do that have that feature, but that really wasn't a factor in my purchase decision.
5) ADOR1
6) Yes, I would recommend the door.
 
If you have or had an auto coop door
  • What do you like about the door?
  • What do you not like about the door?
  • What power source does the door use?
  • What features were important in the decision to purchase the door?
  • What brand and model is the door?
  • Would you recommend the door to other chicken ranchers?
If you don't have an auto coop door but are thinking about one.
  • What features are you interested in having?
Thanks
JT
Don't have one. Want one. Will likely build from scratch. Plug in to receptacle, programmable timer controlled.
 
Don't have one. Want one. Will likely build from scratch. Plug in to receptacle, programmable timer controlled.

I've built two doors and the second is better as it always is. If you have power and either a LAN cable or Wifi nearby the Raspberry Pi 3 is a great option. I have pretty much bullet proof code for both versions of my door. Happy to share if your interested.

JT
 
I've built two doors and the second is better as it always is. If you have power and either a LAN cable or Wifi nearby the Raspberry Pi 3 is a great option. I have pretty much bullet proof code for both versions of my door. Happy to share if your interested.

JT
Interested!!
 
My code is in my github repository located here.

I used these parts to build the door:
Gear motor
Relay board
Raspberry Pi 3
Rpi breakout module used on the second door
Rpi Touch Screen used on the second door
Case used on the second door
Magnetic limit switches used on the second door

The door about to get installed in the new coop. It had been sitting on my desk running each day since October of last year. I just found my roundtuit the other day and got busy on the new coop.
pop-door-03.jpg

I made the door with simple tools, brads, glue and pocket screws. I replaced the door with a sheet of aluminum diamond plate because the door swelled up a bit when I brought it outside and that was easier than building a new frame and stronger.

JT
 
>What do you like about the door?
I like the fact that the door is well made, solid aluminum door and easy to install.

>What do you not like about the door?
I don't really have any gripes about the door. It comes with a low battery indicator, and that's helpful, but in my coop it is fairly dark due to the tree canopy providing lots of shade. It's not a normal check for me to check the LED to see the battery status. Perhaps a single beep every x seconds or something would be more useful. If I'm in the coop and doing the poop board duties, I'd hear the audible beep and know that it would need attending. That being said, now that i have power out there, I run on AC and just use the batteries as backup. But if I was only running on batteries, I'd like if it had a beep feature.

>What power source does the door use?
It uses AC with 4 AA batteries as backup. The batteries will last a good 6 months or more if they are the only power source.

>What features were important in the decision to purchase the door?
The biggest selling point to me was the automatic adjustment of the open/close times. You program in your longitude/latitude and how much of a delta you want in time between open (sunrise) and close (sunset) - two separate deltas. For example, if you want it to open 15 minutes after sunrise, your delta would be "15" for sunrise. If you want it for 10 minutes after sunset, your close delta would be "10" for sunset. After that, it automatically adjusts the time that it opens and closes. This has to be the single best feature, and for my daily schedule, I was like "TAKE MY MONEY!". It's been a great feature that "just works".

>What brand and model is the door?
Advanced Coop Auto Door (www.PetAutoDoors.com). It can be bought at Flemming and Premier 1 Supplies for a bit lower price than the website.

>Would you recommend the door to other chicken ranchers?
If you have a busy schedule where a set routine is not easily achieved, then I think this is a great purchase. It has solar add-on if you want to go that route. It also has a 2nd chance feature to let any dawdling birds get another chance. It's not a cheap door, but it's never failed me, and it has the options that I really need with my schedule. I also have a fully secured run, so this is really just a second level of safety for the birds. A predator would have to first get through the secured run, and then they'd have to deal with the door. It's not a gear driven door, so it isn't as secure as those with locking gears. However, I think it would be non-trivial to figure out how to lift and slide it up given that the door rides in a channel up and down, and closes all the way at the bottom. I certainly don't lose sleep at night worrying if something could penetrate given that I have two levels of protection.
 
I have advanced autocoopdoor from Fleming Outdoors. The best feature is the changing of opening & closing with sunset or a certain time before or after, based on location. I never have to change the time. It's electric, but you can use just the battery backup or a solar setup. Been going strong for 4 years. I only got the module, as I had my own door.
 

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