How did your Auto pop door work over the Winter ?

[myfavoritechicken]

I have a ChickenGuard Premium and love it. I've had 3 auto doors over the last 8 years. Seems every 3 years they broke. The Pullet Shut broke after warranty time lapsed. And the only solution was to buy another at full price. I can't remember the name of the 2nd door but the same problem. My ChickenGuard did break. But unlike the other companies that wanted me to buy another at full price, ChickenGuard folks were great and offered me a deep discount on the replacement. Plus ChickenGuard is much cheaper than the others. My winter issues have had to do with the door not closing or opening due to some ice getting in the slides. I've had the same issue with all 3 doors. You can't count on them to close/open 100% of the time. I have cameras on my auto doors, in the coop and in the run. If the door doesn't close or a girl doesn't make it in, I know. But after owning these doors for over 8 years, knowing issues with dependability with all of them, if I did not have the cameras, I would not have the auto door. Cause I'd have to go check to be sure it closed/opened - so might as well close the door. My cameras make it possible for me to have the auto doors.

So happy you like your ChickenGuard! Thank you for your business. Please let us know if there is anything you need.

 

[myfavoritechicken]

1) Name of Auto door you have, company/Brand, where you bought it .
--I use the ChickenGuard Premium. Had it for about 10 months now.

2) Inside or Outside mount ? With or Without over hang if outside.
--Inside of a chicken tractor, outside of the coop portion.

3) How long you have had it and What State You are located if not on your profile.
--About 10 months in Indiana.

4) Did it work when it was suppose to (Sensor or timer)
--Been 100% reliable.

5) If it had issues, what were they.
--No issues with the door at all. I proactively replaced the batteries just before winter as batteries don't function as well in cold temperatures and I was concerned about it not closing when it came to sub-zero weather at night.

Happy your ChickenGuard has been working well and through the winter reliably. We appreciate your business and we're here if you need us. Thank you!

 

[Living_Legend]

1) Name of Auto door you have, company/Brand, where you bought it .
ChickenGuard Premium (Amazon)
2) Inside or Outside mount ? With or Without over hang if outside.
Going to install outside the coop with overhang
3) How long you have had it and What State You are located if not on your profile.
Maryland

I just purchased this. I am knew to this ballgame. I made my Coop and run like predator proof, and i am not just saying that. 1/2 inch hardware cloth even installed 2 feet underground. (nothing is predator proof. yada yada.)


At what time can I guarantee the chickens will be in the coop? I can set by light sensor but i rather just do by time. Like open at 7am and close at ???? is 8pm a good time? I am basically closing it to keep the coop a little warmer while sleeping more than i am for predators.

 

[myfavoritechicken]

1) Name of Auto door you have, company/Brand, where you bought it .
ChickenGuard Premium (Amazon)
2) Inside or Outside mount ? With or Without over hang if outside.
Going to install outside the coop with overhang
3) How long you have had it and What State You are located if not on your profile.
Maryland

I just purchased this. I am knew to this ballgame. I made my Coop and run like predator proof, and i am not just saying that. 1/2 inch hardware cloth even installed 2 feet underground. (nothing is predator proof. yada yada.)


At what time can I guarantee the chickens will be in the coop? I can set by light sensor but i rather just do by time. Like open at 7am and close at ???? is 8pm a good time? I am basically closing it to keep the coop a little warmer while sleeping more than i am for predators.

Thank you for your business. You'll love the convenience and peace of mind it will give you! For close time, I recommend about 30 minutes after sunset. BUT, there may be that hen that likes to party a little later than the others, so you'll want to observe for the first night or so to really get a good idea of when they all have gone to roost. All our chickens are actually roosting a little before sunset.

You may consider using the Light Sensor mode because you don't have to adjust the close time every 3-4 weeks as the days get longer. That is the benefit of using the Sensor for closing. You'll want to ensure that your opener is mounted outside the coop to use this feature. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Living_Legend]

Currently Sunrise is 7:24am and Sunset is 7:09pm. My run has a roof over it. there is open light coming in from the sides of the run that will hit the door. I guess what i am asking is how sencative is the light sensor? I got the premium to have that option.

It wouldnt be that big of deal changing it. Basically looking at a Maryland daylight chart (adding 30 minutes to Sunset)

May June July 6am open, 9pm close
August 6:30am open, 8:30pm close
September 6:30am open, 8pm close

 

[Dayrel]

The ChickenGuard Premium has a light sensor built into it. If you are using the LUX settings, then you can do fine-grained adjustments on level of light to open/close. At any point, you can have it report the current LUX value and use it to adjust the defaults.

Both, the open and close settings have Manual/Sensor/Timer/LUX+ (light/timer combo) options, so you can use different settings for open vs. close if you wish.

 

[myfavoritechicken]

Currently Sunrise is 7:24am and Sunset is 7:09pm. My run has a roof over it. there is open light coming in from the sides of the run that will hit the door. I guess what i am asking is how sencative is the light sensor? I got the premium to have that option.

It wouldnt be that big of deal changing it. Basically looking at a Maryland daylight chart (adding 30 minutes to Sunset)

May June July 6am open, 9pm close
August 6:30am open, 8:30pm close
September 6:30am open, 8pm close

The sensitivity of the light sensor can be adjusted if it is mounted in the shade. But if you don't mind changing the close time going into summer, try the timer first. Whichever is easier for you!

 

[tigger19687]

The Ador1 has feature that allows you to adjust the Opening time from 20 min to 6 hours.
LOVE this feature !
I have set it for 40 min late opening since sunrise is at 7am, in about a month I will adjust to 1 hr or 2 hr so I won't be waking the neighbors

 

[Lonesome Dough]

Decisions, decisions! I really like the gear drive of the Ador kind of like comparing a timing chain to a timing belt. BUT the unit Fleming sells is meant for indoor install and requires no sensor cable to be run AND plugs into an outlet and has battery backup. time to decide.

 

[Chad Oftedal]

Decisions, decisions! I really like the gear drive of the Ador kind of like comparing a timing chain to a timing belt. BUT the unit Fleming sells is meant for indoor install and requires no sensor cable to be run AND plugs into an outlet and has battery backup. time to decide.

I ordered the Fleming unit as well and am waiting for delivery. The feature that put it over the top of others, for me, was that you can input lat/long and it will auto-adjust the open and close time based off your offsets. Other folks had posted experiences about the photo cells getting faked out. I'm hoping it will live up to my expectations, we'll see.