Automatic Coop Door Opener - Suggestions?

[Meyer Hatchery]

We don't currently offer one, but would like to add one to our line of products. What brand do you currently have and would you recommend it?

 

[GardeNerd]

I have been using "Add a Motor" drapery motor for about 2 years. It normally works fine and I am generally okay with it, but it recently broke and I had to replace it. After lots of shopping around online, I settled on the same company's newer model designed for coop doors for $80. Price wise, it is the cheapest motor on the market, and it is easy to come by. However, I would have liked to been able to easily buy the the "Chuxaway," from the UK. http://www.chuxaway.com/page1.aspx

A lot of folks don't have coop openers and would like them, but due to the lack of electricity out to their coops, just don't.
I was especially interested in Chuxaway because it uses AAA batteries and doesn't need to be located adjacent to an electrical outlet. This one has an integral timer and manual override. There are lots of times, I would have liked that feature to temporarily confine one of more hens to the coop. The "Add a Motor" brand doesn't have any special features and is only very basic. To get the Chuxaway, via ebay bidding, it would have been at least $120+another $25 for shipping and a long wait to get across the pond. If a U.S. supplier carried the Chuxaway, even at a bit more than the "Add a Motor" at $80, I probably would have bought it in a heartbeat.

Glad to here you will be carry some kind of motor for your customers' coops. I look forward to seeing on what you settle on. Thanks.

 

[Meyer Hatchery]

Thanks for the imput! None of us here at the hatchery currently have this feature on our coops, so it's great to hear what users think of theirs.

 

[Chuxaway]

Hi there,

Thanks for the kind comments about the Chuxaway product. For information, we do ship (from UK) and we send via air so typically delivery to the USA is within a week.

Best regards,

Lynette

 

[The Lazy L]

I don't know which is the "best".

I bought a http://www.automaticchickencoopdoor.com/ because it was compact, totally enclosed, used minimal space with few parts to break.

Installed easily and works as advertised.

 

[morsekathan]

Do you still like it? I know it's only been a few months, but we really need to get something so I am looking for input.

 

[Kjf18]

We have and really like the Pullet-Shut door. It swings open like a conventional door, rather than sliding up and down like a guillotine. It seems less fiddly and prone to error. It runs off a battery that can be trickle-charged from line power or a solar cell. It uses a light sensor to open the door at dawn and close it at dark, or you can program other opening and closing times. So far, it has been bullet proof.

You can see the door in this photo:



KJF