Near death auto door accident

[Angelbirdy]

Our beloved silkie Toffee spent an entire night pinned down under the auto door and somehow survived without injury. I was sure she was dead when I came down to watch the door open and saw her. The door was about a week old and it took a few nights for her to go in without my help. It was the FIRST night that I didn’t check to see if she was still outside. After that she wouldn’t go up the ladder at all, so I’ve been going down right before it closed and putting her in the access door each night. Well, tonight I didn’t check until a minute after, and she was pinned again. I thought she had gotten it this time, but we were able to free her unscathed. She must have finally decided to be brave but fell asleep in the middle again. I need help figuring out how to get her to go all the way inside! Obviously this is traumatic for her and all of us, and it’s defeating the purpose of having an auto door (my husband built it with a linear actuator that stops when it meets resistance, but it doesn’t release). Any tips on getting her to go in with the others without stopping halfway in? I’m terrified of this door now.

 

[aart]

(my husband built it with a linear actuator that stops when it meets resistance, but it doesn’t release).

Can he program it to back off after stopping from resistance?

Any tips on getting her to go in with the others without stopping halfway in?

Why is she not going in?
New bird to flock?
Coop not big enough?
Is this new behavior since the door install?

 

[Angelbirdy]

Can he program it to back off after stopping from resistance?

Why is she not going in?
New bird to flock?
Coop not big enough?
Is this new behavior since the door install?

Great questions. It’s simplistic and just closes until it hits something (it extends fully when not blocked) and opens back up on two timers, there’s no more adjusting possible as far as we know. The plywood hatch closes VERY slowly, but Toffee is a sound sleeper must not notice. While we were trying to free her last night I realized there’s NO wiggle room, I couldn’t move her at all until we reversed the door. It must be so painful, but she has full mobility and no visible injury. Or she’s a miracle chicken.

The coop and door are new as of August, the others are one batch of 3 month olds, and we integrated the older but smaller Toffee right after we moved everyone to the coop a month ago. They all get along and pretty much ignore Toffee. The coop is huge for the number and current size of my flock, 11’ by 3’ and tall. The 7 big girls all huddle together on one end of the first 5’ roost bar and Toffee lays down in the bedding wherever she stops. I think she’s not going all the way in because she’s a little slow and doesn’t quite get the concept. We trimmed her eye area so she could see what the others are doing.

After the first few nights of putting her in she finally made it inside without help, but the night that she got pinned I had gone down earlier than usual and put her inside with 45 minutes to go. It closes at 9 and the others are in by 7:45-8. I think she wanted to come back out but fell asleep since she was pinned halfway out in the morning.
After that she’d be asleep on the base of the run far from the ladder. Last night (again!) was the first time I hadn’t gone down to put her inside and watch while the door closed and that’s when she decided to follow them in, partway. The other evening I notice our golden comet coming back out, jumping off the ladder, heading toward Toffee and going back in, several times in a row. She seemed to be trying to get her to follow!
For now I have set an alarm on my phone for 8:55 so I won’t miss the door closing. I thought about adding a night light but there’s plenty of natural light in the coop until full dark.

My ideas so far:
Extend the ladder slope on the inside by a foot since she likes the top, with a gap for the door action.
Make a more attractive sleeping area well inside the coop with a small, low basket stuffed with extra bedding
Add a small lip on the outside of the door so she can’t lay under the hatch.
Get a new silkie so she will want to sleep with her
(We were going to do this anyway for winter warmth)

 

[wyoDreamer]

Can you make a low roost (like 2" above the bedding) for her to sleep on? I never had silkies, so don't know if they like to roost or not.
Maybe there isn't enough light for her to see in the coop in the evening. I have a light on a timer that goes on before dusk and stays on for another hour so the birds can grab a snack and a drink and find their place on the roost before lights out.

I like your ideas also. Good luck.

 

[Angelbirdy]

She went inside last night! We went from near record high of 89 Sunday to a record low of 37 Tuesday, and I think the cold motivated her. Of course, that’s the night we went down to bring her inside for the might since she doesn’t roost and we don’t have a silkie buddy for her yet.