- Jul 6, 2010
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When I built my 12 X 12-foot chicken coop 50 yards below the house—we live on a hill—over 30 years ago I had no trouble getting to and from it. Things change. Now shoveling a path in the winter and negotiating the mud during thaws is a bit more challenging. Not that I mind nor find it especially physically tough, at 80 years of age, there are times that I’d just as soon not do it—especially when rain and/or snow are falling.
The coop backs up to an 80 by 100-foot fenced in chicken yard with a pop door in the back. It’s that pop door that was really the problem. In order to let the chickens out or lock them down, I had to walk to the coop, around the side, through the gate and open/close the door. Not a problem in good weather but no fun when precipitating since in order to get to the gate I had to walk under the eaves. This meant getting drenched by water coming off the roof or wade through piled snow that slid off.
The pop door was solid, one-inch pine and hinged on top so it fit very tightly (or did) which could sometimes make it difficult to open. Many times, especially when it was damp or frozen, I had to go back inside the coop and kick it open. To keep it open I just used a hook and eye at the top. That was until a very industrious rat chewed a corner off the lower edge—I reinforced it with sheet metal—but made it less tight. This allowed a family of coons to figure out how to open the door and get into the coop. I lost 6 chickens before I identified the problem, trapped the coons and screwed the door shut. From that point on I just let the few birds I had left go in and out the front door so they could range around our yard.
Which brings me to this spring.
In an effort to make the coop more predator-proof I decided to remodel the interior. This meant covering any openings with sheet metal, lining all the walls with hardware cloth and covering it with quarter-inch plywood. It also meant moving the pop door to the front where I can see it from the house. (Also, it meant addling an ell-shaped section to the chicken yard to bring it around in front of the coop.) Since I was redoing it anyway, I began researching automatic operating pop doors.
Now the area where I live has just about every kind of chicken predator that is commonly found in the Eastern US. Consequently, I’m careful when and at what time I release my birds to forage as well as lock them down as soon as they are back in the coop. This means they are usually not released until late in the morning, never on foggy /snowy days, or when we are not going to be home for any length of time. I not only do this for their protection but I prefer to wait for them to be mostly done laying. In short, they are not on a schedule and may be confined all day—sometimes for several days if we’re going to be out of town.
You also need to know that I’m a gadget guy. I have a lot of lights and appliances in our house that operate using Alexa and my iPhone. Not only does this let me turn them on/off by voice when I’m home but remotely where I have access to the Internet. I figured if I could find a pop door that operated on just an on/off switch I could install a WiFi outlet and control it remotely. However, on my search for automatic pop doors I couldn’t find one that did this.
Most use one or all of three types of operation: manual, dusk/dawn photo eye or timer. Since manual is exactly what I already do that wouldn’t be an improvement nor worth the expense. Dusk/dawn would mean it might open too early on some of the days. Also, this kind of automation plus the timer would mean the door would operate when I didn’t want it to. None, as far as I could tell were adaptable to on/off = open/close operation that would lend itself voice or remote commands.
But never underestimate the power of the Internet. Using Google Search I located a company that not only manufactures a pop door than can be adapted to remote WiFi operation but got glowing reviews from those who own one. While it wasn’t cheap—I didn’t expect it to be—but it offered the convenience I was looking for. I ordered and installed it.
Fortunately, I have a good router that carries my WiFi signal as far as the coop. I now can open/close the pop door from any place in my house using either my computer, iPhone or iPad. (Unfortunately, is it not Alexa capable.) Additionally, I can do it from places other than home. For example, this morning while waiting for my wife to get done with a doctor’s appointment at an office 10 miles away, I let the chickens out with the push of a button just before we started home. This gave them an additional 20 minutes or so of outside time.
The only problem I can see is making sure all the birds are in before closing. Mine tend to roost fairly early, so once it is dark, I can be pretty sure they’ll be in. Also, I’m hoping there won’t be a computer glitch that either opens or closes the door prematurely. The door does have a 48-hr battery backup and my router is also on battery backup so a power outage should not be a problem. Of course, if the Internet should go down it will mean walking down and shutting it manually but I hope that won’t happen in a blizzard or thunderstorm. Or, if it does, the door will be closed prior to the outage.
Now at this point I should probably give you the name of the company but, since it is not one of this forum’s sponsors, I’m reluctant to do that. They are easily found using a search for “WIFI operated chicken pop door” if it seems like something you’d like to have. I just want you to know there is at least that kind of option is out there. Check it out for features and price if you’re interested.
The coop backs up to an 80 by 100-foot fenced in chicken yard with a pop door in the back. It’s that pop door that was really the problem. In order to let the chickens out or lock them down, I had to walk to the coop, around the side, through the gate and open/close the door. Not a problem in good weather but no fun when precipitating since in order to get to the gate I had to walk under the eaves. This meant getting drenched by water coming off the roof or wade through piled snow that slid off.
The pop door was solid, one-inch pine and hinged on top so it fit very tightly (or did) which could sometimes make it difficult to open. Many times, especially when it was damp or frozen, I had to go back inside the coop and kick it open. To keep it open I just used a hook and eye at the top. That was until a very industrious rat chewed a corner off the lower edge—I reinforced it with sheet metal—but made it less tight. This allowed a family of coons to figure out how to open the door and get into the coop. I lost 6 chickens before I identified the problem, trapped the coons and screwed the door shut. From that point on I just let the few birds I had left go in and out the front door so they could range around our yard.
Which brings me to this spring.
In an effort to make the coop more predator-proof I decided to remodel the interior. This meant covering any openings with sheet metal, lining all the walls with hardware cloth and covering it with quarter-inch plywood. It also meant moving the pop door to the front where I can see it from the house. (Also, it meant addling an ell-shaped section to the chicken yard to bring it around in front of the coop.) Since I was redoing it anyway, I began researching automatic operating pop doors.
Now the area where I live has just about every kind of chicken predator that is commonly found in the Eastern US. Consequently, I’m careful when and at what time I release my birds to forage as well as lock them down as soon as they are back in the coop. This means they are usually not released until late in the morning, never on foggy /snowy days, or when we are not going to be home for any length of time. I not only do this for their protection but I prefer to wait for them to be mostly done laying. In short, they are not on a schedule and may be confined all day—sometimes for several days if we’re going to be out of town.
You also need to know that I’m a gadget guy. I have a lot of lights and appliances in our house that operate using Alexa and my iPhone. Not only does this let me turn them on/off by voice when I’m home but remotely where I have access to the Internet. I figured if I could find a pop door that operated on just an on/off switch I could install a WiFi outlet and control it remotely. However, on my search for automatic pop doors I couldn’t find one that did this.
Most use one or all of three types of operation: manual, dusk/dawn photo eye or timer. Since manual is exactly what I already do that wouldn’t be an improvement nor worth the expense. Dusk/dawn would mean it might open too early on some of the days. Also, this kind of automation plus the timer would mean the door would operate when I didn’t want it to. None, as far as I could tell were adaptable to on/off = open/close operation that would lend itself voice or remote commands.
But never underestimate the power of the Internet. Using Google Search I located a company that not only manufactures a pop door than can be adapted to remote WiFi operation but got glowing reviews from those who own one. While it wasn’t cheap—I didn’t expect it to be—but it offered the convenience I was looking for. I ordered and installed it.
Fortunately, I have a good router that carries my WiFi signal as far as the coop. I now can open/close the pop door from any place in my house using either my computer, iPhone or iPad. (Unfortunately, is it not Alexa capable.) Additionally, I can do it from places other than home. For example, this morning while waiting for my wife to get done with a doctor’s appointment at an office 10 miles away, I let the chickens out with the push of a button just before we started home. This gave them an additional 20 minutes or so of outside time.
The only problem I can see is making sure all the birds are in before closing. Mine tend to roost fairly early, so once it is dark, I can be pretty sure they’ll be in. Also, I’m hoping there won’t be a computer glitch that either opens or closes the door prematurely. The door does have a 48-hr battery backup and my router is also on battery backup so a power outage should not be a problem. Of course, if the Internet should go down it will mean walking down and shutting it manually but I hope that won’t happen in a blizzard or thunderstorm. Or, if it does, the door will be closed prior to the outage.
Now at this point I should probably give you the name of the company but, since it is not one of this forum’s sponsors, I’m reluctant to do that. They are easily found using a search for “WIFI operated chicken pop door” if it seems like something you’d like to have. I just want you to know there is at least that kind of option is out there. Check it out for features and price if you’re interested.
