Is an Automatic Chicken Door Worth $225

[wayneh]

Just got my door the other day. have not installed it yet, building new coop. the door is very simple and built very sturdy of aluminum. does not look very difficult to install. installatiion nuts and bolts included. going to hook mine up with a solar panel to keep the battery charged. like it being 12 volt. paper work with the door said it would run several months just on a fully charged battery. My wife said it was the best $200 bucks I ever spent. check on the net for "puttet-shut door". fast shipping also.

 

[MakNugget]

Quote:
Yes. Yes. Yes. It is a lot of money, but it's an investment. The girls appreciate not having to wait for me if I want to sleep in on the weekend.

My second one is still in the box, sitting in the doorway waiting for me to build the second coop.

My initial set up with the first coop was no, I didn't need a silly automatic door. I have an indoor (top slider) door that I can raise from the outside, and I had a flap door on the outside. I was fine just the way it was for a few months, just as long as I got up early to let them in and tuck them in at night.

This all works until you find yourself away at these times. Poor chickens are stuck inside in the hot weather? It's dark outside at 5pm and the door is wide open and you can't get to them until late at night? They'll probably be fine, but after a while I didn't like playing against the odds.

I did my research and plunked down money for this unit. It's solid, one piece, and relatively easy to use. The door consists of a strong aluminum frame, a door that opens outwardly to the left (if looking from inside). The door cannot be pushed in due to a pin. The motor/timer is in a sealed container at the top of the frame, and a single wire (long lead) that goes to a battery.

Installation is simple. My opening was larger than the actual unit, so I closed the gap with wood and secured the door. All you need are 4 long screws or bolts that go through the aluminum frame to secure it. The door is mounted on the outside, so nothing sticks in to the coop.

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You can see the pins on the right to stop the door. The little shiny nob on the right is my magnet stuck to one of the frame screws.

There is a safety feature to avoid injuring birds in case they get caught in the door somehow. Details are here: http://chickendoors.com/quality.htm
This is the same site but different web page set up. Very wonky. The door opens up one last time very briefly for a second chance. I find that making sure that you set the door to close at a proper time depending on season to be key. The chickens won't go inside until 8:30-9pm right now because it's so light. During winter I'll have it close as early as 5:30pm

You'll need a 12v 5ah battery but I understand that it can be connected to power as well. The battery lasts a good while, but you can tell when it's losing power as the door doesn't open as far as it was originally set. You should get a Battery Tender Plus to charge the battery fast. I had a solar charger attached to it, but I can't say for sure how much it actually helped due to the lack of sun here, and being in partial shade. Now that I have my second door, I bought two more batteries so that I can always have one ready to swap. Wayneh, I don't know about "several months"... I failed to actually document how long, but I would say 2 months is pushing it. Maybe more if you have a big enough solar charger.

I still tuck the girls in for the night though, just to make sure I have the proper head count. I haven't been gone more than a day yet, but if you plan on being out, make sure the door stays open well past normal shut in time to allow them to go inside themselves. For me, right now is 9:30pm.

The downside of the door has to do with one of it's key features of simplicity. The motor/timer box is a sealed unit that you interact with a single magnet. The door operates in two modes: program & manual. Manual operation can be done at any time after the door has been programmed by using the magnet. The program mode occurs when power is applied, and stores the first open and close times. Any time the battery is removed, the door needs to be programmed. So instead of say, a regular light timer where you can set the on off time in one sitting, the door timer must be done live.

I'll use today as an example, since I'm in program mode right now. Last night I cut the power and plugged it back in, and made sure the door was closed. This morning at 6am, I used the magnet to open the door (you leave the magnet on the box to determine how wide the door should open each morning). Now the open cycle is set. Tonight, at 9:30, I'll go out and make sure everyone is in and program the close time. Now the door is programmed and can be operated automatically or manually. Tomorrow, the door will open at 6am, and close at 9:30pm. I can manually open or close the door at any time during the day as well.

 

[pinkyglory123]

If I can install it, believe me ANYONE can install it. I too had a pop door that dropped down. Removed that. Screw driver would have worked but so old I just twisted it off.My pop hole was too big so I fastened a piece of wood to make it smaller. Door opens outside, motor is at top of unit outside. Two wires to connect to a battery and I am using the solar thing so you connect the two wires from battery to that. Thjis is truly idiot proof. You literally screw it to the wood of the door. connect two wires. Using the magnet, set your open times. It moves so slowly that i find it difficult to imagine it would close on a chicken. Excellent customer service-almost immediate email response. Well worth $200 bucks and I am as tight as bark to a tree.

 

[Krunchy]

I thought this one was awesome minus all the stuff to open automatically you could probably get away with a timer and drapery motor.

http://slinkyx.blogspot.com/2010/10/first-closing.html

Here's a video of it working.

and heres one with a drapery motor.

One of the problems I can see with using plywood is warping which can be fixed by using plastic like they use for cutting boards.

 

[serenityNH]

Quote:

YES! It is well worth it. I have the one from Foye's all though I bought mine from Europe because it was about $40.00 or so cheaper. I absolutely LOVE it and can't imagine anyone would regret making the purchase.

Roosterlane- It is very safe, at least I know the one that I have is. I can't even pull it up myself from the outside when it is closed, I can't imagine a snake would be able to or anything else for that matter! The door comes down so slow it would be impossible to hurt a chicken and if there is resistance it stops. Just the other day my chickens were all trying to get in while the door was closing (this is when they were still learning to go into the coop at night) and when they snuck under the door the door just pushed up with their backs. I can not imagine a chicken could get hurt with the door

 

[Green_Eggs_and_Ham]

I think an automatic door is definitely "required" for a coop! Yes. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

That said, $250+ for it was out of our budget.

Besides, we already had a door. We got the Addamotor one from the folks advertising on this site Discount Home Automation .. Between the motor and a $10 timer at Lowes, it was less than $100. Never failed in over a year. Best money I spent (besides my girls).

And someone mentioned the solar kit?? Have you tried it? I want one!

So I think the answer to your question is, YES, an automatic doors is the way to go. But Is THAT one worth $250? IMHO, no.

E/

 

[Schroeder]

I have the Foy's opener which is fantastic. I also have ther Pullet Shut on a second coop because I wanted it under a window, so it had to open side ways. Since I often leave for work before it gets light and return after dark, I couldn't enjoy my hobby without them. Installation on both is a breeze although the Pullet Shut is a bit easier in my opinion. I like the photo sensor option on the Foy's. You never have to adjust the open/close times. This isn't available on the Pullet Shut. I think they both are highly reliable. If you can afford one by all means go for it. That being said, I know it is a lot of money. From what I read here you can get essentially the same peformance with the Add-A-Motor opener, for about half the price, but there is no photo sensor option.

 

[hcppam]

here is the one I framed my coop for, so in the future I could get it. http://automaticchickencoopdoor.com/easy-installation.html

 

[NewOldMotherHen]

I bit the bullet and ordered the $$Pullet-Shut$$ one. With shipping the total was $245. Good thing Wal-Mart has Banquet dinners on sale this week for 88 cents.

But hopefully, soon my chickens won't have to wait in the mornings to get out. Now I need a bumper sticker that says: "I'm Spending My Children's Inheritence on My Chickens"

 

[featherz]

Quote:
If you want to save money, it looks they built a nice frame around the $70ish motor from discount home automation or ebay. The frame is very nice however, better than mine.

Here's mine:

inside of theirs: