Automatic Chicken Coop door for only $5 bucks with a radio antenna from a junkyard

[jimmywalt]

We started out with some cute baby chicks (5 to be exact) in late March. Well that lead to building a 4'x4'x4' chicken coop, which lead to me opening and closing the door every day to let them in and out............. It got old quick so I figured there had to be a better way.

I searched this website for options. I'm frugal (i.e. CHEAP) so I wanted a very inexpensive way to make the door open and close automatically. I saw all the $200+ options and thought NO WAY! I finally found some people and some videos on Youtube that show how to make an automatic door with an electronic car antenna.

I got an antenna (actually two of them - one for a spare) at a junk yard for $10 bucks. I figured it was worth a try. I also had a couple power supplies that were no longer in use that happen to be 12VDC (one is 1.2 amps, the other 1.3 amps). I rigged it all up as this person shows in great detail https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/automatic-pop-hole-opener

The nice thing about this is that the antenna must be able to feel when the door stops, so the motor that drives the antenna stops as well. The antenna DOESN'T have to extend the full distance. It will stop and turn off when it feels the pressure of the door stopping. You can see that in my video.

I modified his plans a bit - My door goes horizontally and my power supplies are different from his. I couldn't find any power supplies like is ANYWHERE! Fortunately I had a couple of my own from stuff that must have been thrown out or died. I cut the tip off the end of the antenna and crimped on a terminal ring connector. All the wires are hidden inside protective wire wrap (just incase the chickens decide to peck at the wires!

I made this video just a couple hours ago and then decided to make one more modification to my plan - I now have a night light plugged into the timer that will turn on when the door closes and off when it opens. Now I will be able to see from the house to verify that the door actually closes.

So at about 10PM the door should close and in the morning at about 6AM it should open.

We will see what happens............ Seems like a good investment of $5 bucks and about 3 hours putting it all together. On top of that I'm not an engineer or builder. I just looked at the other guys plans (link above) and figured out how to make this work in my coop. It's so easy ANYONE can do it!

Here's a link to my video from inside the coop:

And here's a link to the video of the door closing at it's "close time" and the night light turning on from outside of the coop:

The door worked great tonight. It closed a couple minutes after 10PM and the night light inside the coop turned on!

Looks like a winner and will make my life easier!

 

[jimmywalt]

The door worked great last night!

Here's a picture I took from inside of my house of the chicken coop this morning. You can see the night light inside the front window. The door should open in just a couple minutes to let the girls out.

Here is a picture of the schematic of my electrical hook up. I might have wrote this up wrong. I believe the GREEN is the common ground, not the black like my schematic has written on it. Unfortunately all my wires are covered so it's too late for me to look to say for sure.

Here's a picture of the Terminal Ring Connector I used at the end of the antenna after I took a hacksaw and got the factory end off. You can just crimp these on and they stay fine. I suppose you could solder it too if you wanted.

For your two adapters make sure you get the ones that have OUTPUT of 12VDC and 1.2 amp (or more amps). You can pick these up at Goodwill and other thrift stores for a buck if you don't have some laying around the house.

To connect your wires during the "trial period" (when you are figuring the wiring out) you can get these 18" Low Voltage Multi-Colored Test Leads (10 in a package - You will need 3 of them) at Harbor Freight for $3 bucks.

To connect the wires you can use the 4-flat connectors for trailers like the guy posted in the link above or just skip that (and the expense) and use these Butt Connectors that you just crimp on.

 

[jimmywalt]

Here are a couple Youtube videos of MY automatic door in action!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I added a night light after making the 2nd video so that I could see from the house if the "light is on" that means the door has shut. When the light goes out the door opens too (both are hooked to the timer).

 

[Hokum Coco]

Bump

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I just stumbled on this and am very impressed!

 

[jimmywalt]

Bumping this again to attempt to help people save money making their own automatic door vs purchasing those EXPENSIVE ones sold online.

Try this. It works. I've been using it for months! It's inexpensive and only takes a couple hours of your time!

 

[jimmywalt]

Winter is coming, and now is the time to make your life easier with an automatic coop door!!!

I know I don't want to have to go outside each morning all the way to the coop to open the door before I go to work. With this automatic door all I'll need to do is get the eggs once per day, and check the food & water once per week!

This was so easy to make. If you need help send me a PM!!!

 

[bcboy]

I like junkyards.

 

[inzombia]

Sorry to hear about the chickens jimmy. I personally would think about moving if I couldn't have chickens, garden etc. In my yard.

I wanted to give my opinion real quick on the automatic door opener. Antenna Is a great idea but if you don't counter the door weight to where its almost no load then I think you willhave premature failure. Not sure if thats even a solution really. I'd hate for someone to go out of town and chicken door fails then. I didn't counterweight and had a cheap new antenna fail after a week. Door weighed at most 3-4 lbs. (16"x14" exterior wall board). The little plastic gears inside them will not stand up to that in the long run. Some may be stronger than others but I couldn't find that info out when looking for a replacement so I went another route. Bought a linear actuator on eBay for a little over $50 and a dpdt relay $5. Used some old computer ac dc adapters( one needs to have more amperage output then your motor uses. One just needs to be able to energize the relay from timer. Most linear actuators have limit switches built in so that helps. Wiring is the most difficult part, but is doable for any motivated individual. I just finished it last night so I'll try and get a diagram and pictures on here in a week or so

 

[MtRushmoreState]

Thanks again for the ideas in this thread. Finished mine this week. Now onto a solar panel and a small 12 v battery. Then onto an arduino.