"Smart" coop using "smart home" technology

[drumstick diva]

too much technology is downright scary

 

[the Gents Hens]

@Scott - really sorry to hear about your loss last night man! That is always tough!

 

[the Gents Hens]

@Drumstick Diva - I known it's a bit scary - not sure I want a smart house all wired up but have a coop wired up looks fun! Being able to see what the girls are doing from my phone seems like an enjoyable proposition- ha!

 

[dansec]

I'm going solar peeps! This will enable me to set up my coop as a "smart coop" using Smart Home Technology! Has anybody started this or done this? I'm very interested in your ideas! How wonderful it would be to use Amazon Echo and just tell it to open the coop door, see a video feed of the girls, ect. Also does anybody have any information about smartphone apps in controlling your coop i.e. temperature humidity ect. I look forward to hearing your wonderful ideas!

I currently have 2 coops and 2 flocks, it was never my intention its just the way the chickens like it. I feed, water and check on all the chickens in the evening times. I got tired of always using a flash light to check everything so i installed the ihome plugs to controll the lights in the runs
. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010ACFEI...t=&hvlocphy=9029041&hvtargid=pla-310058311901) I use my amazon alexa to turn the lights on before I go aout and off when I return to the house. So far this has worked out great. I plan on putting in some small weather station in the coops to tell humidity and temp in the winter months. If you have any automation ideas let me know.

 

[jthornton]

I'm a tinkerer so automating my coop was something I had to do! I used an Arduino Nano and a ESP8266 then the last is a Raspberry Pi 3 which feels much more reliable. I just swapped over today to the RPi3 I have a USB camera connected to the RPi3 as well as a PTZ camera on the LAN... and a few more cameras lol. The controller turns on the light 14 hours before sunset if needed and opens the pop door so they can get to the food and water in the run which is 100% enclosed with cage wire.

I feel for your loss, some dogs knocked down one of my T posts and killed my first group. I'm still looking for the one that got away.

JT

 

[aart]

We had a name for the automation folks when I worked in engineering.
I won't repeat it, but am chuckling(all in good fun).

 

[QuizMore]

Wow, this is a very cool idea. I think you should bring it to life.

 

[QuizMore]

Wow, this is a very cool idea. I think you should bring it to life.

I think you should bring it to life. I installed a smart home system two years ago and was very pleased with the result. True, like you, I doubted and didn't know where it was better to order and buy such a system. I also considered the Amazon Echo, but a friend recommended Vivint. He said this was a smarter system and would be much more reliable. I was very pleased with the result of the installation. I hope you manage to install a smart home system in the coop.

 

[jthornton]

Having a smart home is nice, the main problem is that it is costly to install it.

Did you hear about the smart homes that the electric company turned up their thermostats during a heat wave and locked them out... I'm smarter than my home.

JT