Has anyone ever ordered automatic coop door from this place?

[Hegatha]

I wanna order one of these coop doors but want to see if anyone has ever ordered from them?
http://www.automaticchickencoopdoor.com/

 

[dbounds10]

Yep - I installed mine last week and so far so good. The girls are not out there yet but it is in and works just like it should. The only thing I am trying to figure out is how to secure the door at night without having to go out there (the reason I got an auto door) When it comes down, you can get your fingers under it and pull it right up.

BUT - my coop and door is inside a secure run (I hope) so maybe I wont have to worry.

 

[SandRun]

Installed mine yesterday. I ordered mine on a Tuesday and had it by the following Saturday, which I think is pretty good; however I'm also in Ohio and it came from Indiana. I only researched these things very minimally, but I couldn't find a more reasonably priced unit anywhere else. The installation was pretty straight forward. Mine took a bit longer to completely install since my coop is three years old and I had to deconstruct the interior wall panels, and remove the insulation, then install the unit, and reconstruct my interior wall panels with cutouts for the automatic door. Total time to install was a little less than three hours. I noticed the same issue as dbounds10 the door is easily slid up from the outside. My guess is there is no way to avoid this since the door needs to slide easily in order for the motor to pull it up, and let it down. My run isn't so secure (it doesn't have a top) and my biggest concern is racoons, so I could have an issue. I installed it because we are going on vacation in July and I didn't want someone to have to come let the chickens out in the AM and return to lock them in again in the PM.

While in general I'm happy with my purchase and would recommend it, I do have complaints. I am only moderately handy, and anything electrical is not my best friend to say the least. There were absolutely no written instructions included with the kit, aside from the timer. While the installation video is very good and quite helpful it's not very convenient when you need to refer to it while completing the install. I can't use my laptop in my chicken coop, so I had to come back inside to reference the video once, which obviously added to my install time. This morning I got up and all my chickens were outside, and all was right with the world. That being said, tonight I went out to check on the door to be sure it closed at the scheduled time. It didn't. I fiddled around with the timer for 45 minutes and still can not get it to go down at the scheduled time. I followed the timer instructions which refers to turning on/off a lamp. Unfortunately turning off the door does not make it come down. I tried every configuration I could think of on the timer, but to no avail. Thankfully I happened to have a higher quality timer on hand, and I believe that is doing the trick, but only time will tell if I actually have it fixed. I haven't contacted automaticchickencoopdoor.com to address this issue yet. I was actually looking on here to see if anyone else had the same problem when I ran across your thread. Hopefully my experience can be somewhat helpful to you.

 

[Hegatha]

I am gonna have to order the one thats just open and closes the door bc I already installed my door. I just want to make sure there were a for real site and not a rip off. Thanks!

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
I have this auto system & I had the same problems. The door on mine lifts easily as well. So, I added hot wire around the coop & run.

 

[AlienChick]

I was going to order this door, too.

It's an awesome idea!

However, I want a door that swings open and cannot be lifted up from the outside, so I will be getting the door from Chicken Doors.

They're all great doors!!

Good Luck with your choice!

 

[jed1154]

Someone explain to me how this unit is 'easily opened from the outside'?

Is it not opened and closed with a fixed rigid arm or rod of some sort that will only allow the door to be opened with the electronic unit?

 

[dbounds10]

no, the door is run on a motor that is attached to a cable, so when it come on the motor pulls the cable and up goes the door. When it is closed, you can get your fingers under it and pull it open.

My girls have been out for a little over a week and we have had no issues yet

My run is I hope somewhat secure as we almost killed ourselves getting it completed. It is covered 3' up with 1/4 HWC and the top is completly covered.

 

[SandRun]

Well after 2 1/2 years of chicken keeping I lost my first chicken. I can't help thinking it had something to do with the automatic chicken coop door. I'm guessing a racoon since it drug the chicken under the fence and the fence isn't all that bent up. The fence used to be buried but with all the rain this year quite a bit of erosion has occurred. Without knowing for sure I think the racoon lifted the door form the outside. We'll see what happens tonight.....