Automatic Coop Door Opener Recommendations - Ontario

[SayChicken]

From those who use them in extremely cold winter climates, please give me your recommended automatic coop door opener brand. There seems to be a few that i could order so let me know which one you are using and if you are happy with it. Thanks

 

[bill3607]

I use a Coop Defender Gold but I do not live in an extremely cold climate. However, I do not think there would be a problem with it in those conditions.

I love mine. I have had it close to a year with no problems except for a small hiccup when I first got it. And, I still have not even had to change the batteries.

The initial problem I had was when the door closed it would get stuck in the tracks. It is like the tracks are just a little too tight fitting. I solved this by connecting a little extra weight with some metal washers. Then, it worked like a charm. There was someone else on here that had one and had the same problem. I told them what I did and they did the same and it worked for him as well. And, he was in a cold climate, Canada if remember correctly.

 

[Kyatesw]

I have both the chicken guard extreme (on my run) and the run chicken model t50 (on my coop). I love the run chicken, it works really well. I haven't had it over the winter yet, but you can plug it in instead of using batteries. I like that it stops if here is something in the way, and that if it's interrupted it reverts back to it's normal open and close. The chicken guard extreme sometimes just doesn't work and the rails for their self locking door are really hard to get to line up properly. I continue to use it because I needed a door that would automatically close, but that I could set to only open manually.

 

[SayChicken]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Hadn’t heard of the Run Chicken brand. I’ll have to look it up. I’d like a self locking. I do believe the Chicken Guard Extreme also can be plugged in; I’ll have electricity in the coop.

 

[SayChicken]

I use a Coop Defender Gold but I do not live in an extremely cold climate. However, I do not think there would be a problem with it in those conditions.

I love mine. I have had it close to a year with no problems except for a small hiccup when I first got it. And, I still have not even had to change the batteries.

The initial problem I had was when the door closed it would get stuck in the tracks. It is like the tracks are just a little too tight fitting. I solved this by connecting a little extra weight with some metal washers. Then, it worked like a charm. There was someone else on here that had one and had the same problem. I told them what I did and they did the same and it worked for him as well. And, he was in a cold climate, Canada if remember correctly.

Thanks for replying! I’ll look up Coop Defender Gold. Hadn’t heard of it either. I do know for sure that my choice will be one that can be wired up to electricity.

 

[Kyatesw]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Hadn’t heard of the Run Chicken brand. I’ll have to look it up. I’d like a self locking. I do believe the Chicken Guard Extreme also can be plugged in; I’ll have electricity in the coop.

Yeah you can plug the extreme in as well, but it did fine just on battery over the winter. The issues with it failing to close happened over the spring. Run chicken can be purchased on Amazon and the mechanism is such that when it's closed it's locked.

 

[SayChicken]

Yeah you can plug the extreme in as well, but it did fine just on battery over the winter. The issues with it failing to close happened over the spring. Run chicken can be purchased on Amazon and the mechanism is such that when it's closed it's locked.

I just went to the RunChicken website and I love the look of it! It looks less heavy and cumbersome and I love the fact that you can buy colours! Very happy to hear it’s secure too. I’m wondering though about the holes in the door panel over winter. To me that would let in drafts would it not?? I think I’d be sold on it if it had a plug in option.

 

[Kyatesw]

I just went to the RunChicken website and I love the look of it! It looks less heavy and cumbersome and I love the fact that you can buy colours! Very happy to hear it’s secure too. I’m wondering though about the holes in the door panel over winter. To me that would let in drafts would it not?? I think I’d be sold on it if it had a plug in option.

I have the red one and I love it! In their FAQ they suggest putting tape over the holes on the inside if you are worried about drafts. My roost bars are high enough that I don't think it will be a problem. For some reason I really thought it had plug capabilities.

Another one I looked at was the omlet door, but I didn't get it for my run because it doesn't have a manual option. And it opens sideways so it won't work for my coop.

 

[bill3607]

Thanks for replying! I’ll look up Coop Defender Gold. Hadn’t heard of it either. I do know for sure that my choice will be one that can be wired up to electricity.

Mine does not plug in but runs off of AA. I cannot remember how many, but I think 2. It has been almost a year and I have not had to change them. I am not sure if the brand makes one that wires in or not.

However, they do make cold weather AA batteries if that is the reason you are wanting a wired one. I know there are AA batteries that are rated for minus 50 C. It certainly does not get that cold where I am, however. We were in the low teens to high single digit F a couple times this past winter.

Good luck finding what you want!

 

[Faerhii]

We have RentACoop door.. I'd link but I can't remember if Amazon links are allowed. It eats batteries like crazy and froze shut 3 times last winter.. It's a cool idea, I can set by daylight or timed, but overall I just eventually sealed my run and jammed it open.. The daylight setting didn't work well, girls got trapped outside.. And I got sick of having to constantly adjust the times for changes in sunup/sundown.