Automatic Chicken Coop Doors

[BillT]

Quote:
Here.s a picture of ours. We use plexiglass for the door.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/54259_inside_coop_3.jpg

 

[gryeyes]

Well, here's mine - it's one of the Foy's models - with a light sensor. This is just as I completed the coop, so that's why it all looks so nice, without the shavings on the floor or anything.

It's been in use since early April on the same set of batteries which I expect to last at least a year. Works like a champ, too!

 

[Green_Eggs_and_Ham]

Quote:
Here.s a picture of ours. We use plexiglass for the door.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/54259_inside_coop_3.jpg

I don't have photos... sorry. But ours is much like this one. We opted for the add-a-motor over the more expensive ones. We didn't need a whole door setup, just the motor. I looked around online and found it on three sites. One was the company itself. Found it cheapest at Discount Automation. http://www.discounthomeautomation.com/Add-A-Motor-Chicken-Coop-Motor-AAD20

I am thoroughly happy with our coop door. I set it a couple months ago, and have not had any problems.

Best $90 I could have spent.

E/

 

[coberdor]

I also use the add a motor. I cut my metal sliding door out of an old washing machine. The metal is painted, rigid and it was easy to cut with my jigsaw. I just sanded the edges then. I found it cheapest at $86.99, here:

http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByManufacturer/Add-a-Motor/Item/800DR/

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I have the door from http://www.chickendoors.com/ and absolutely love it and believe it is the best door on the market. We just got back from an 8 day vacation an our neighbor only needed to come over every few days to make sure the water and food were topped off and eggs collected. Other than that, 100% self sufficient and secure. Prior to the auto door I hated asking neighbors to come over every morning and night.

Prior to the fully auto door I had made my own which worked great for closing the door: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/auto-coop-door-prototype.php

 

[midget_farms]

I have the pullet-shut from chickendoors.com.

It was expensive, but you get what you pay for! $180 plus shipping plus the $80 deep cycle battery.

Despite that - I love it. I used to hate going out in the morning as I left for work & having to walk through the run with my dress shoes on. And on more than one occasion I forgot to close the door. Not good! I lost the entire flock 3 times to raccoons getting in. Again - not cool.

So now with the door - its set & forget! I don't worry about them getting in or out - they free range all day, every day & I have not lost or locked out a single bird since installing.

Besides - I spent almost $1000 building my 8x10 coop. The addl $300 was hard, but not out of line for my needs and desires.

The only issue I have with the door at all is the battery doesn't last more than a month. The instructions said 6mos to 1yr per charge. I have electricity in the new coop - so I bought a trickle charger & now only use the battery when the power goes out (so far hasn't happened).

I totally agree that when asking others to watch the birds on vacation this totally saves the day. None of my friends are farmers! Collecting the fresh chicken berries is the max I can expect them to help with. Coming in every am to open the coop is not an option.

 

[Crack N' Egg]

bayareapilot wrote:

Quick question: I've seen the automatic chicken doors that can be programmed to open and close at preset times; but nowhere in the FAQ of the products I've looked at is there mention of some safety feature to prevent the door from closing on a chicken. Is their a fail-safe built into the commercially available auto chicken doors? Since I have my chicks on closed circuit tv, I've entertained the notion of a remote operated door.

Hi,
I actually sell automatic chicken doors. They do sell well, but I always caution my buyers that there is no fail-safe. It really cannot be used in shaded areas because it will not recognize true dusk and dawn. Everyone that I have sold them too are very happy with them. But again, I fully disclose the cons of having it as well, ie: closing too soon, leaving someone out of the coop.​

 

[NurseDr]

Quote:
I to have a pullet-shut door and love it. I bought my battery from cabela's for $30 and have it charged with a solar panel from Bass pro shop that was also $30. It has run for 6 month now with no problems. They are on a timing mechanism so no problem with shade closing the door. It was a significant portion of the cost of my coop, but worth it. I have the door close at 9 Pm and only once one girl was out when it was closed.

It was easy to install and does not require the vertical clearance that other do, so it fits in the 3 foot tall coop.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I don't really like the light based door openers. I was talking to an electrical engineer about one and you'd have to really cover a lot of veriables to ensure it doesn't open or close when it isn't suppose to. The only improvement I'd make to the Pullet Shut door is to somehow have it compensate for the annual changes in the seasonal light. Optimally it would always close about 30 minutes after sunset. Any earlier and some chicks may be locked out. Any later and the coons may have come out for their nightly snack. There may be a way to use advanced circuitry to use a light sensor and a timer in conjunction, but that would add to the complexity and the cost. Right now we simply reset the open and close times about every 3 months.


Quote:
Ironically enough, I was outside checking on things this morning and saw that the door was only 1/3 of the way open. Turns out the trickle charger I have going to an old car battery was unplugged and there wasn't enough juice to open (or close) the door all the way. I'm not sure how long it was like that, but I'm glad I caught it in time. It couldn't have been unplugged for more than a week, so either my charger doesn't put out enough juice or my battery doesn't have the capacity it use to have.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

We have the one with the remote light sensor on a probe. The door is installed on the inside. We haven't had a problem with it. The sensitivity is adjustable and we tweeked it the first couple of days, to get the timing right for our needs.

It doesn't close on cloudy days or anything like that. It's really close to the house, but the door is facing away from the house. It doesn't open when our outside lights are on. We have the run covered next to the coop right now, but I don't think we did in the beginning. It gets some late afternoon shade at certain times of the year, too, although I don't think that makes any difference now that the run is partially covered. None of that has made the door close.