Automatic Chicken Door

[ariri30]

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I'm SO very sorry about your hens being killed by the door.
My automatic door goes back up if it won't close because of a chicken in the way, it's an Ador1. Plus my roosters have all the chickens in the coop right at sunset so I don't need light in the coop, only for my daily clump pickups. I think I would change the door to one that senses chickens in the way and rises. I rounded up my young chicks and their mom to go in the same time as the others and I did this daily until they 'got the picture' and they'd go to the corner next to the door with mom. Now I have no worries. Just ideas from my experience. The ADOR1 always has 10 options for you to customize the opening and closing times.
I also have five windows (one west facing) and a big old secure screen door (east facing) so all the light inside is natural. It's a big, new build coop having learned a lot of issues with my small old one.

I’m so jelly. What a cute picture. I just found a secret nest today from one of the bantam. I have no idea which one is the nutty one but I’m going to see if she sits on them. I cleaned them and put something over it so poop won’t get on them.

 

[Just Don]

Why?

I seen a automatic door opener where after all the hens are on the roost the door shuts. There was no motors just a rope thru pulleys to the roost and when the bird all roosted it there weight would shut. It's a counter balance with the roost and chickens weight. I'M looking for the post on youtube.. I'm sure I'M explaining it wrong but it seemed easy to build every time you add a chicken or delete one you'll have to adjust it

The roost is a leverage if no birds are on roost the weight of roosts opens door. When the birds are on the roost they counter the roost balance and the door will close. If one bird isn't on the roost the doo

I remember that one....was kinda cool but not very practical in most coops

 

[woodmort]

Mine works with my zip code. It changes the time depending on the season. As the day get longer or shorter the door adjust to when to close or open and I can add minutes to the open time and close time. I can also use my own time if I choose to. I didn’t get the WiFi because I have an amazon plug that works with Alexa/WiFi and I can see the lights go on and off when the WiFi signal gets weak. The coop is at the very end of the backyard and it’s too far for the signal

While mine seemed to work okay off my router,(coop it about 100 yds and on the opposite side of the house from the router) so I put in a wifi extender just to be safe.

BTW, the door speed can be set and I have mine so it opens/closes very, very slowly so the birds can get out of the way. On a nice day this ticks them off since they can't wait to get out and it seems, to them at least, like it takes forever.

Also, since there is a light in the coop it draws the birds in so if I wait until after dark to close it they're inside.

 

[ariri30]

While mine seemed to work okay off my router,(coop it about 100 yds and on the opposite side of the house from the router) so I put in a wifi extender just to be safe.

BTW, the door speed can be set and I have mine so it opens/closes very, very slowly so the birds can get out of the way. On a nice day this ticks them off since they can't wait to get out and it seems, to them at least, like it takes forever.

Also, since there is a light in the coop it draws the birds in so if I wait until after dark to close it they're inside.

Awesome

 

[BDutch]

A light coop helps the chickens to roost. This can be achieved with artificial light. But also with a window. A window needs no electricity, no sensor or any complicated device to work.

Because I have a big glass window I could make the chicken guard inside the coop. And it works on natural daylight.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

So I decided to go away for the first time since I built my coop, almost 1 year ago. Of course that’s when tragedy happens, right? I had a chicken/dog sitter staying and keeping an eye on everything. I checked my run camera while I was away, only to notice one of my hens caught and killed in the auto door. Only to find out another hen was caught on the inside too! Couldn’t figure out why this happened.....had no issues after 10 months. Next night the door closed on another hen and killed her too. There was some reason why the flock wasn’t going inside at night. Had the door unplugged until I got home to see what was going on. I was of kinda baffled........guess what happened......the timer light bulb on the inside burned out and 1/2 of the flock refused to go inside to roost as usual. I got home and saw they were just hanging out in the coop doorway. So now, flock reduced from 9 to 6 hens, I don’t want to use the automatic door unless I have a secondary light of some sort in coop......Anyone here have any suggestions/similar experiences with hens not wanting to go inside a dark coop? I didn’t think I would have to install emergency lighting system for my coop!

That’s too bad, sorry for your horrible losses! I have windows in my coop and I do not use lights. My chickens always go in the coop before it gets dark, so thankfully that has not happened to me! I always set the door to come down about 30 minutes after it starts to get dark, because before I installed my automatic door I put a teddy bear under the door to see what would happen and I was really shocked! I couldn’t get the teddy bear out and that really frightened me!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I seen a automatic door opener where after all the hens are on the roost the door shuts. There was no motors just a rope thru pulleys to the roost and when the bird all roosted it there weight would shut. It's a counter balance with the roost and chickens weight. I'M looking for the post on youtube.. I'm sure I'M explaining it wrong but it seemed easy to build every time you add a chicken or delete one you'll have to adjust it

That sounds like a great idea!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I seen a automatic door opener where after all the hens are on the roost the door shuts. There was no motors just a rope thru pulleys to the roost and when the bird all roosted it there weight would shut. It's a counter balance with the roost and chickens weight. I'M looking for the post on youtube.. I'm sure I'M explaining it wrong but it seemed easy to build every time you add a chicken or delete one you'll have to adjust it

That sounds like a great idea!

 

[BDutch]

I seen a automatic door opener where after all the hens are on the roost the door shuts. There was no motors just a rope thru pulleys to the roost and when the bird all roosted it there weight would shut. It's a counter balance with the roost and chickens weight. I'M looking for the post on youtube.. I'm sure I'M explaining it wrong but it seemed easy to build every time you add a chicken or delete one you'll have to adjust it

What happens if a hen gets broody and goes to sleep in a nestbox? Or one hen suddenly prefers to sleep in a tree? What if all you're chickens loose or gain a little weight?
It’s really a clever system but don't think it is reliable with my chickens.

The chicken guard I made between the coop and the run /garden has proven to work correct after adjusting the closing ‘time’ (lumen). It certainly is more reliable then I am. Often not around at closing time or forgetting the time when buzzy. And I am glad the pop door closes automatically if e.g. a hen decided to sleep in a nest box.

 

[trainman]

I have a new coop with plenty of light and I have a large light on a pole nearby so it never quite gets super dark inside. I also have an auto door. I'm amazed the door can crush a chicken! Mine must work differently. Mine uses a motor with a drum and winds a cord up which pulls the thin aluminum door up. It turns the opposite way and the door slides down. Both directions have an auto stop feature.

The door is 2 years old now and is starting to give me problems. This past week it is sticking part way closed at night and the cord is getting off the drum and winding into a knot. I haven't been able to fix it so far and I hate the idea of having to replace it or do without.