auto door

[myfarm4579]

Hi to all so I have an auto door narrowed down to the ador1 or one on autochickendoor.com: just looking for input or problems you all may have had with either. Any advice will be helpful Thanks.

 

[tcstoehr]

I don't see anything on autochickendoor.com.

I did quite a bit of research before I bought an Ador1, and I would continue to recommend it.

I've had no problems. Install a good battery (one with 'F' cells) and your good to go. Get the one that look like this one, with the same symbol. There are others just as good or a bit better but this one is widely available. Costs twice as much as cheaper model with 'D' cells inside. This one is simply more battery.





Ador1 Pros:
Self-contained power supply.
Small foot footprint installed between wall studs.
Solid stainless steel construction.
Integrated daylight sensor.
Available trickle-charger if desired.
Programming options.
Door control pins available for external switches or controllers.

Cons:
No convenient timer support. (Although that is coming)
Programming is inconvenient.
Guillotine style door may injure careless chicken. (well, it *could* happen)

You will need to be able to route a hole through the side of your coop. And if you choose the "inside" installation, you'll need to route a hole through another auxiliary piece of plywood.

The nice thing about the Ador1 is that you can just install it and forget about it, or you can customize it in several ways.

Some nice programming options are available. You can adjust the light sensitivity to either open earlier and lose later, or open later and close earlier. On top of that, you can delay the open time by various increments.

I've taken advantage of the available door control pins. I've run wires from those pins to the front of my coop so I can open or close the door conveniently, or disable the light sensor. I've also added my own custom timer controls to open or close the doors *exactly* when I want them. Here are two buttons attached to my Ador1. The first one disables the light sensor. The second one opens or closes the door.




Here's my installation.

 

[myfarm4579]

Ok great thanks. Yes I meant the autopullet door for the other choice both look decent imo

 

[tcstoehr]

Ok great thanks. Yes I meant the autopullet door for the other choice both look decent imo

You mean the Pullet-Shut? http://www.chickendoors.com/products.htm

People who own Pullet-Shuts do seem quite pleased with them. They were available before the Ador1 but I believe the Ador1 has leap-frogged them. It's time for the Pullet-Shut folks to play catch-up, and they are working on it as they have added a photo-sensor available on new units. However, electronically they are way behind. Their design should actually get a complete overhaul, they need to reinvent their product. As it is, their claim that they are "the

unchallenged BEST automatic chicken door on the market" is baloney and they know it.​

 

[myfarm4579]

Yes the pullet shut.

 

[myfarm4579]

You have a nice set up there. I think I going with the pullet shut unit. Just looks a bit smaller witch is better for my set up. And they seem to really stand behind there product.

 

[cocktail]

would have a question on the auto doors. Im not living on the same place as my checkens are so I have to drive there always after work and then home. I was thinking about a automatic door but Im afraid that some chicken could stay out...

 

[tcstoehr]

You have a nice set up there. I think I going with the pullet shut unit. Just looks a bit smaller witch is better for my set up. And they seem to really stand behind there product.

It may look smaller but it isn't. When open it sticks 90-degrees outward. My neighbor has one and she has stumbled into it several times. The Ador1 opens straight up between wall studs, completely out of the way. But given your construction, which I haven't seen, the Ador1's form factor may not be suitable. Your mileage may vary.
Furthermore, with the pullet-shut you will have to find a place to shelve the battery and deal with the wires going to it. Rod at Ador also stands behind his product and has been very helpful assisting me with my own custom electronics that I have hooked up to the Ador. Much more helpful than would be expected.

 

[myfarm4579]

Oh ok. I will have to check it out a little further. Thanks

 

[tcstoehr]

would have a question on the auto doors. Im not living on the same place as my checkens are so I have to drive there always after work and then home. I was thinking about a automatic door but Im afraid that some chicken could stay out...

Both the pullet-shut and Ador1 models have a feature to deal with this. When the pullet-shut closes at night, it immediately opens again for a minute before closing for the night. The Ador1 has a similar feature that you can enable or leave off by default. I have the Ador1 but I do not use the feature. My hens are good about getting inside and I have adjusted my Ador1 to close at the appropriate late time. So I don't know how effective this feature is. If a chicken wants to sit outside past dark I'm not sure if the door popping back open will entice her in.
If I were you and had to drive to a separate location to lock my chickens in, I would definitely get or build an automatic door.