How complicated to install an automatic door?

[aart]

After a bit of poking around, I believe I found the auto-door the coop company uses.

Might want to search the brand and model here on BYC.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

After a bit of poking around, I believe I found the auto-door the coop company uses. It got some mixed reviews on Amazon, so I think I will probably just pick one out and install it myself. Thanks everyone for all the links, pointers, and websites, I'm going to spend some time reading through everything, and looking up the other threads mentioned.

I don’t know if you already bought and installed your door, but if you go to the website Flemings Outdoors, they have a video of the installation of the door that they sell. I installed mine myself and it was really easy.

 

[Tsheaby]

Could anyone tell me how complicated/involved it is to install an automatic coop door?--A brief look at the websites isn't giving me a lot of info on installation, and I have to decide quickly if I want the builder to add one to my coop. Do you have to cut a new chicken door and install complicated wiring, or can you just screw it over the existing door and use batteries/and or an extension cord to power it?

If it's complicated to install or involves cutting, I'll let the builders do it, but if it's easy to do I'd rather wait until my checkbook cools down (haha). I won't have the chickens for a while, so I won't need it immediately.

I work about two 12-hour night shifts a week. The first morning I sleep in so I can stay up all night, and the other morning I don't get home until 0745 or 0800. Hubby isn't too interested in chicken-tending, so I imagine with my work schedule it would be wonderful to have an automatic door. Thanks for any insight.

Check out my tutorial on a DIY Automatic Door. Works awesome and sounds like it would be a good fit for your schedule

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-diy-automatic-chicken-door.1295391/

 

[Rasputin66]

I have one from Titan that I got on ebay for $80. Installation was not hard. It runs on 4 AAs. I used Rubbermaid shelf brackets for the track and a piece of scrap oak for the door itself. Took me about an hour because I installed it in the dark and kept dropping stuff. Probably could have done it in 20 if it weren't in such an awkward location.

 

[TwoShepherds]

Thanks everyone! I got one that's the right size to go over the existing door if I choose, but I'm thinking I may just cut out my own door. It may be nice to have two doors if I ever want to split the coop and the run for any reason, or if the auto-door stops working, and I need a back up. I'll have to spend more money on a saw, but it doesn't look terribly hard to install, and tools are almost always a good investment I've found.