automatic chicken door, plus' and minus'

[mandomama]

Does anyone use an automatic pop door? I've seen ones that work off of solar panels. What do people think are plus' and minus'?

 

[twigg]

Quote:
The plus is that they work well when set up right.

The minus is that they are expensive to buy, and tricky to make.

 

[whatnow?]

I've been reading about some cool home made semi automatic door openers and some automatic openers, lately. One interesting idea uses a power car antenna to push and pull a sliding door.

http://kelseyinfo.co.uk/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1203935762

and of course there is also this great pop hole closer (the latch lock is elegant)

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/automatic-chicken-coop-door.php

 

[Poison Ivy]

I have one and love it. It's worth every penny I paid for it too. I have mine on a timer which I really like because I don't want my birds out till a certain time in the morning.

 

[Livinzoo]

Do the birds learn to go in before it closes? Or do you just set the time for a bit after dark?

 

[Poison Ivy]

I have mine set to open at 7 am and close at 8:15 pm. The most of the girls go in around 7:45 pm. I have 2 girls that like to stay out later then the others so I have it stay open a little longer.

 

[mandomama]

Good Ideas! This is the one I was looking at, but my DH is a mad scientist and he will probably make me one.

http://web.mac.com/lmorris4/iWeb/Site 7/Automatic Chicken Door.html