Chicken Counter

[Max Pringle]

Sometimes we decide to free range the chickens and get them out of their coop. I love that door that can be raised and lowered on a schedule but sometimes chickens haven't gotten back into the coop and I need to go out and get them put away. Here's a solution... I want to do is put a sensor on the automatic door to count chickens going in and out, then tap into the code for the automatic door and close it when the sensor says all the chickens are inside. Thoughts?

 

[BDutch]

I suppose its easier to get a auto pop door with an adjustable light sensor.

Counting chickens doesn’t work if one chicken goes out again.

What works best for me is to get the chickens in a run before or around sun-set. I call them for a treat. Scattering mixed grains on the run floor. All chickens come home for it. I close the run door, and some time later after roost time the auto pop door closes the coop. So they are all safe for the night.

If I forget to lock them up, they are inside after dark too. There was a time when a few wanted to roost in a tree. ^^ this method made it possible to break that habit.

 

[RoseHawke]

It's a good idea, but it's something I suspect would take some pretty stout AI. If they were all wearing an RFID chip on a leg band for instance, and the software was aware of which side of the door x number of birds were on, along with an alert to your phone if after a certain amount of time not everyone was in. It's something that definitely sounds doable, but pricey.