Greetings! I've had chickens for a few years and someone convinced me to livestream them

[HenHangout]

Long story short I'm an IT guy who specializes in automation and an online friend from Italy casually suggested I set up a 'chicken coop livestream' and I've slowly been setting it up since November. Its still a work in progress but I hope to be finished by the end of January.

- 2 stationary cameras
- 2 PTZ cameras
- 2 feed dispensers (allowing viewers to interact with chickens)
- run gate automatically opens and closes
- rainwater collection

I'd like to automate preventing chickens from sleeping in nesting boxes as well. If you have any other ideas i'd appreciate suggestions

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

I have coop cams. That's enough gadgetry for me. I prefer interacting with them when I tend to them just before they come off the roost and doing headcount and checking on them in the evenings.

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[Jenbirdee]

hello! glad you joined us.

 

[muddy75]

 

[WingItRanch]

Very cool!

automate preventing chickens from sleeping in nesting boxes

Hmm... maybe you can have a piece of wood blocking the nest boxes at night? Then have it open at first light.

I have a trail cam in my coop and I've seen one of my girls lay an egg at 4am well before sunrise so I'm not sure how that would work. Mine have never slept in their boxes but I blocked off the boxes when they were young. Didn't allow them access until they were 16 weeks old.

 

[Nomadicus]

Hello and Welcome to BYC. Glad to have you here with us in this fun and poultry loving community.

 

[Nomadicus]

Long story short I'm an IT guy who specializes in automation and an online friend from Italy casually suggested I set up a 'chicken coop livestream' and I've slowly been setting it up since November. Its still a work in progress but I hope to be finished by the end of January.

- 2 stationary cameras
- 2 PTZ cameras
- 2 feed dispensers (allowing viewers to interact with chickens)
- run gate automatically opens and closes
- rainwater collection

I'd like to automate preventing chickens from sleeping in nesting boxes as well. If you have any other ideas i'd appreciate suggestions

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There are rollout nest boxes with auto blocks for the nests at night. This is just one brand I'm familiar with. I don't use the added feature, I just know about it.


https://bestnestbox.com/

 

[sourland]

Good morning, and welcome to BYC. Not an automation, but raising the roost bars higher than the nest boxes, generally eliminates the problem of sleeping in the nest boxes.

 

[HenHangout]

Hmm... maybe you can have a piece of wood blocking the nest boxes at night?

Thats what I'm currently doing but I'd like to automate it. I'd replace the piece of wood with a sheet of plexiglass.

I've seen one of my girls lay an egg at 4am well before sunrise so I'm not sure how that would work

Pretty easily. My microcontroller is connected to my wifi and performs daily time syncs and recalculation of when sunrise and sunset are, and ensures the gate is open within the time range of 30 min prior to sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset. I could have the nesting box closed off say, an hour prior to sunset, and open 3 hours prior to sunrise.

https://bestnestbox.com/

Thanks but its a bit outside my budget atm. I was just thinking of using a blocking plate on hinges and simply pull it up or lower it down with a servo motor. Whilst covering all 3 nesting boxes with a single long plate would work, I'm also considering using 3 seperate smaller plates and servos for each nesting box as a way to futureproof for instances where I get broody hens.