Automatic Coop Door Opener: Your Experiences Please!

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I'm still in the process of getting one together. I have I think it's fir that doesn't seem to be as sensitive to moisture and other wood I've used. I took my table saw and cut strips and cut channels in the strip for the guide. The best thing I've found to use for the door is a fiberboard/plastic cutting board that is 12 X 18. It certainly is not bothered by wet and stays straight and is heavy enough to stay down and slick enough that I don't think any critter can get a hold to so as to lift it. I don't have a motor yet cause I have to use solar. I do not have electricity in the coop. I'll get a pic so what I'm saying can be understood. I don't have the money to just spend $220 for a door.
 



Nslangton said:
Installing one this weekend. We gave it a test drive last week and it worked fine. We wanted to test it out before we installed it. Seemed to work good with the timer. I got the one from Fleming outdoors. It is made with aluminum to prevent rust and rot and the frame is made out of decking material not wood so that will not rot either. The timer is not the best on the market, so we are using a different one. (we are electrical contractors and my husband doesn't like that brand) The door cost $220. with shipping. My husband said he could have made one for a lot less. So if your handy that could be an option. I don't want to rush home or get up to close the coop door every day. I am currently watching the neighbors chickens and she has a manual door. The chickens seemed pretty unhappy not getting out as soon as the sun came up. I will post again after we have used ours for a while.
Click to expand...

Installed the door. A couple of notes. The door itself is mounted to the wall and is 5" deep. I am not sure if the chickens will try to roost on it. It is supposed to be mounted to the wall and floor. If you have concrete, or tile as we do, you will have to drill through. I wanted to mount it about 4 inches off of the floor to prevent the bedding from being pushed outside and that took a little finagling because it is designed to sit on the ground. The framing for the door is thin so you have virtually no room for error in making the opening in the wall. There is also no exterior framing for the outside opening. If your exterior wall is thin like a sheet of plywood it would work great. Unfortunately ours are about 1 foot thick with plywood, insulation, more plywood, and then siding. We had to make another frame inside the wall and that was not an easy task because of the extremely small opening you have to work with to keep the inside of the walls protected from moisture the weather. The outside opening will have to be wrapped with metal and then framed again with siding. So the installation that was supposed to take 5 minutes turned into a 5 hour project and it is still not done. It will cost about an extra $75 in additional materials. More if you have to figure labor into the equation. The cord is also pretty short so you need an electrical outlet nearby. I will post the outside pictures to give a better idea of what I am talking about. This is the inside of the door so you can see the thickness and space needed for install. I will post again when we start using the door.
 
I have the opener from discount home automation for my chickens as well. It is the solar powered battery timer kit they sell. For my next project (duck) coop I will be looking for something different. I have several problems with the dha opener.

1. The timer isn't consistent/accurate. Over time it loses time so adjustments have to be made monthly to correct the time of day.

2. Adjustments to the time of day aren't that easy to make

3. Several times the mounting/adjustment strap has slipped so that the door closes, so far always locking the girls inside the coop rather than outside... But still an issue.
 
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We bought our automatic door opener/closer for about $80 on the internet and we love it. However, I do check, on occasion, to make sure they made it upstairs safely--especially, when the times/seasons change and the days get longer/shorter. The door will shut and open according to how it's set, but, if the chicks are a little bit off because of the longer/shorter days, they might miss it and wind up sleeping downstairs. They have a roost downstairs and their coop is 100% predator proof (at least, it's built as safely as we could build it) and they're pretty comfy up or downstairs (unless it's cold and/or rainy out). It's easy to adjust and once we get the settings right, everything goes like clockwork!
 
The Poultry Butler arrived today. It looks good and was well packaged. It is time to cut a hole in the front of the coop!
smile.png

Check out my coop construction page https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/rendezvous-coop
 
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I've had a 'pullet shut' door for 3 years and couldn't be happier with it, the frame is aluminum bar stock, the door is metal and the timer/motor is well sealed. I set it up with a radio shack 12V battery and a solar trickle charger. Based on the muddy paw prints, it is tested by the local raccoons all the time.

http://www.chickendoors.com/
 

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