Chicken coop automation, Your thoughts?

[kesali]

My 8-week old chickens will often perch on the edge of the door and look around outside even after dark. I would not want an auto door to shut down on a couple who were perched there.

 

[navychick]

Our chicks don't arrive until next week but we are almost finished with our coop. We have really learned alot on this site and I never even thought there was such a thing as an automatic coop door until I was introduced to BYC. I bought our "automatic chicken coop door" on ebay for 185.00 + 22.00 shipping, (it arrived today). I hope to install it tomorrow. I am looking forward to spending time with our "girls" but not at 6:00 am. It will also be reassuring that if I am not at home they will be locked safely in their coop every night.

 

[bryan99705]

In the long run it's just cheaper and smarter to build a big bulletproof run and put the coop either inside the run or make it part of the run. That way you don't have to spend big money on fancy pop doors and if the coop is inside securing both a coop and a run. Most people already build a good run, skirt it, surround the base with small opening wire and put a wire top on it, so why not either expand the run or elevate a inside the coop and not have to worry about spending money on securing the coop too. Plus the birds can come and go as they wish and there is no worries of a locked out bird or power / battery failure locking them in or out.

A well thought out plan before building eliminates the need for expensive pop doors. For a lot of people with 6-12 birds it's just plain logical

 

[HarryBun12]

I've used an automatic door for 3 years now in one coop and a full year in another newer coop and have only had one "incident" where the door didn't open because the timer got messed up. I check on our chickens multiple times throughout the day and sit with them when they free range but in the dead of winter it's a real blessing not to have to go out in the freezing cold at 6:00 to let them out. I still go out later in the morning with warm mash so I'm able to make sure everyone's okay in the winter. Is it a vital piece of chicken-keeping equipment? Nah. But it not only is a real convenience when you're busy living a life outside of chickendom, it's pretty fun to watch the door go up or down all by itself when you are by the coop! But I'm easily amused that way...

 

[pawsplus]

Quote:
This sometimes happens w/ my girls, esp. in summertime. If I were to have a door that closed automatically at 7 p.m. or even 8 p.m. they might well not all be inside! I can see the run from my front porch, so I go out and check, sometimes a few times, b/f they are all indoors--then I go out to close the pop hole. In wintertime they are usually all inside by 5 p.m. but in summertime, esp. on nice days, it's highly variable.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
I agree!!! I build three sided coops now I eliminated a whole wall & no pop door. Only, have one door. But I do have a coop with an auto pop door & I like the auto door.

 

[Green_Eggs_and_Ham]

Oh My GOSH! Yes, I love the automatic door! Best thing I bought for my addiction, besides my girls.

I did a lot of looking around and found the Addamotor one was best suited for my needs. I already had a door, and didn't want my coop designed around someone else's specifications. We had a piece of scrap metal and build the sliders. The motor took less than a couple hours. It's hooked up to a timer I bought at Lowes.

It's worked every morning and every night since DH installed it over a year ago. I only change the timer for daylight savings time.

I didn't know what I was missing, but I highly recommend them. If you just want the motor, I recommend the addamotor. The best price I found was at Discounthomeutomation . Easy order, easy setup.

There is a solar kit you can hook up as well. It's designed for the motor.

Enjoy!

E/