Automatic chicken door training period

[Bliss57]

Just installed the Happy Coop door yesterday. The problem is that the hens and especially the rooster are wary of the change in doors. Yesterday they came out but were too afraid to go back in. Today they just won’t come out. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how long does it take for them to get used to using it?

 

[bill3607]

They should get used to it after a few days more or less.

Chickens do like change, but they will adapt. You may can speed it up a bit if you can pick them up and manually put them through the door a couple times or so if necessary so that they see it as safe.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Yes, we've experienced this to a degree, but our chickens' curiosity always seems to override their fear of things new....... for better or worse, right?

If you can, operate the doors manually for a few days, maybe a week or so, they should get used to the new door and you'll see a different result. It might be the sounds of the motors that scare them.

Does this automatic door have an "auto-reverse" feature (like a garage door) if it closes with something in the opening? If so, great. If not, be sure the door ONLY goes down or closed while the chickens can see it moving and see to get out of the way of the door.

 

[Bliss57]

Apparently my chickens aren’t as curious as yours! They will only do what the rooster deems to be ok. There is a manual button, but it only will stay closed or open for 3 minutes that way. I’m hoping that they will get tired of hanging out in the barn and the will to go outside will prevail. I know I need to give it time, but it’s frustrating

 

[Bliss57]

Not sure how to disconnect the door, I will ask my husband if he will take a look at it and see if we can try that.

 

[perkolator]

I am not sure that is dumb, though. I think it is probably that not one of them really wants to be first, because there may be a chicken eater out there lol

I mean everything wants to eat chicken and they seem to know it

I get that. But this is like a full hour after the door opened

 

[Bliss57]

When I installed our auto door the chickens were hesitant....until I tossed a handful of BSF grubs on the other side, then they were fighting to get through it. My chickens can ALWAYS be bribed with treats

Haven't noticed any issues with them using the door at night - however in the mornings I've seen all of them inside the coop as if the door was closed - nope, it's open, they're just dumb and once one goes through all of them will, lol

Today I sat outside the auto door and bribed them with some scratch and mealworms. After about 30 minutes of playing peekaboo I managed to lure them out. About noon or so they went back in, but were out again by 4. It is now 7 and they are still out. If they go into the roost tonight on their own, I will feel like I won the battle

 

[Swbertrand1]

I set mine to close when it's obviously dark (so if sunset is around 7:30 PM, I set it to 8 PM). I'm less concerned about predators skulking around just after dark, compared to ones at daybreak.

I manually adjust timer based on season, to compensate for lengthening and shortening of daylight hours.

GREAT questions! There are really four (4) settings that you need to be concerned with:

1) morning lights on/off
2) morning door opening
3) evening door closing
4) evening lights on/off

Before getting to how to set the doors/lights, think about what you're trying to do:
MORNING:
In the morning the chickens wake up like we do. We turn our lights on in our house. Chickens can't turn their lights on, so we have a timer that turns the lights on for them. Then we go outside by opening our door. Chickens want to go outside too, but they need someone to open their door for them. Our automated system opens their door and turns the lights off a few minutes later for the day.
EVENING:
Nighttime is the reverse: About 1-1/2 hours before dark, we have a timer that turns the coop lights ON much like you'd turn house lights on in anticipation of needing light later (and some of our chickens like to go up early, so they have light when they do). We want to close the doors of our house while we can see the doors, so we close them when the lights are on. Once we're buttoned up for the night, we turn the lights off. Same goes for the chickens' "house".


Here's how we determine which time settings to use, and BE VERY SURE OF THIS ONE POINT: THE CLOSING OPERATION OF THE DOOR IS THE MOST CRITICAL PART OF SETTING THE LIGHTS AND TIMERS, especially if your door does not discriminate in closing like, say, a garage door that will go back up if something is in the way of door when it comes down. Our doors do not have that auto-reverse feature, but it's not a problem with the timers are set correctly. Here's how we do that:

We adjust our timers manually each month to account for the change in daylight hours as the months roll and the seasons change, creating longer days in the spring/summer and shorter days in the fall/winter. Evening darkness can start anywhere from 5PM to about 9:00PM where we live, so the timers get adjusted accordingly. We also found it easier to play along with DST (daylight savings time) rather than try to remember if we were adding and hour to our timer display or subtracting an hour. In other words, change the time setting on your timers to match the time of day...

Here are our setting guidelines right now:
MORNING:
1 - Lighting timer set for lights to come on at 7:00AM; lights to go off at 7:10AM
2 - Door timer set for door to open at 7:02AM; door opening operation stop set at 7:03AM
This setup turns the lights on a few minutes before the door opens, then opens the door (power to the door opening circuit), then turns the lights off for the day.

EVENING:
This operation is more important than the door opening because the closing of the door is where chickens can get hurt, so be very sure of your settings for closing operations!
1 - Lights come on 90 minutes (an hour and a half) before total darkness with some wiggle room. In other words, we're totally dark at 9:00PM here in North Carolina, but we move the "door down" and "lights out" operations until about 20 minutes PAST total darkness to give everyone a chance to find their way TO and INTO the coop before doors start to close - there are always some stragglers...
Right now, July 23, 2021, our evening timers are set for lights to come on at 7:45PM; lights out at 9:15PM
2 - Door operation closing starts at 9:10PM; door closing stop set at 9:11PM.

Here's another tip, but this takes a year to figure out exactly and good note-taking/record-keeping helps keep it all straight (we do it on a spreadsheet):

Months when the days are getting longer: From late December to late June, you'll want to set your timers for the LATEST clock-time during the month that you'll need the door to go down and the lights to go out. This is because your "full dark" time gets later each day. In the beginning of the month, the chickens will just have more lights-on time in the coop, but that time of "lights-on" will decrease as you approach the end of the month.
Months when the days are getting shorter: From late June to late December, you'll want to set your timers for the EARLIEST clock-time during the month that you'll need the door to go down and the lights to go out. This is because your "full dark" time gets earlier each day. At the end of the month, the chickens will have more lights-on time in the coop, but that time of "lights-on" will increase as you approach the end of the month.

NOTE: We find that for June/July, the timers really don't need to be adjusted if you've allowed enough of a time window to cover both the beginning of June and the end of July because the length of daylight hours is reversing. Same goes for December/January: if you've covered the windows of time for both months, the timers can stay the same since the daylight hours are reversing again...

 

[Bliss57]

Unfortunately the rooster prevents me from doing that. He gets riled up if he feels like his hens are in danger. He is a little over a year old and has challenged my husband and I a few times. I am having a house sitter come over in a couple of weeks, so I really hope this door works out. I greatly appreciate your advice and will give it a week or so before I give up on it. Wish me luck!

 

[Swbertrand1]

There is a manual button, but it only will stay closed or open for 3 minutes that way.

I'd remove the electronic aspect from the equation. Disconnect the door from the arm or actuator that moves it, then move the door manually yourself (don't rely on the manual button).
It could be the sound of the motor that's alerting him, or it could be the visual of the different looking door. I really think that if you take the sound and automation out of the equation and give them time to get used to the new look, they'll adapt to it pretty quickly.
EDIT: sorry, didn't finish this comment yesterday....