When Should an Automatic Coop Door Close? Are my chickens night owls?

[Chicken_Bureaucrat]

My coop has the automatic Ladies First Chicken Door:

https://www.ladiesfirstchickendoor.com/products/

This thing is supposed to close when it starts to get dark, using it's solar panel to detect this. And it generally does a good job at this.

My problem is my hens never make it in before it closes. This is my first time with a flock so I don't know if something is wrong with the door or the chickens. I'll explain what is going on:

The door has a solar panel and detects when it starts to get dark and closes then. However it doesn't wait until night. It closes generally about when the sun is about a hand's breadth from the horizon. Though there are houses and trees in the way of this so it is hard for me to tell exactly. It isn't actually dark at this point though so the hens haven't though to actually go inside!

Do your hens start to go inside around then? Should they be going in before it gets actually dark? Are my chickens waiting out a stupidly long time? I've noticed that when they want to go inside it's generally dark enough in the coop that they sometimes don't make it all the way up onto the roost, choosing instead to roost on the raised lip of the poop board. Fortunately the lip of the poop board is a roost sized bit of wood and there are few enough of them that they don't poop on each other. But that indicates to me that maybe they're going to bed too late?

There are only 3 of them and they are only about 6 months old, they have had no older hens to teach them when to go to bed.

Does the door need fixing or do they need training?

 

[Yardmom]

My younger birds are often the last in. They may start to go in earlier when they are older. On the other hand If your door is closing before the sun is all the way down it is closing a bit early.

 

[lagrange chicks]

I went with a timer because when we get a storm later in the day and the sky gets dark I didn't want the door to close locking the birds out.

 

[aart]

I would think the solar panel would power it and there would be a separate device to detect the darkness to close and open.
Do you have the option of using a timer instead?

 

[DonyaQuick]

My coop has the automatic Ladies First Chicken Door:

https://www.ladiesfirstchickendoor.com/products/

This thing is supposed to close when it starts to get dark, using it's solar panel to detect this. And it generally does a good job at this.

My problem is my hens never make it in before it closes. This is my first time with a flock so I don't know if something is wrong with the door or the chickens. I'll explain what is going on:

The door has a solar panel and detects when it starts to get dark and closes then. However it doesn't wait until night. It closes generally about when the sun is about a hand's breadth from the horizon. Though there are houses and trees in the way of this so it is hard for me to tell exactly. It isn't actually dark at this point though so the hens haven't though to actually go inside!

Do your hens start to go inside around then? Should they be going in before it gets actually dark? Are my chickens waiting out a stupidly long time? I've noticed that when they want to go inside it's generally dark enough in the coop that they sometimes don't make it all the way up onto the roost, choosing instead to roost on the raised lip of the poop board. Fortunately the lip of the poop board is a roost sized bit of wood and there are few enough of them that they don't poop on each other. But that indicates to me that maybe they're going to bed too late?

There are only 3 of them and they are only about 6 months old, they have had no older hens to teach them when to go to bed.

Does the door need fixing or do they need training?

My hens were like yours until I had roos. Not saying you need a roo but my hens always just seem to care less than the boys about how dark it gets. Before I had roos, the ladies first got stuck out a lot then finally would make it in but would do it right at the last minute before pitch black. They learned the coop layout and would frequently just kind of stumble in and sit wherever not being able to see once inside. I had to set my door to close pretty late using time rather than light (I have a different door, don't know if yours can do that) and had to train them a lot. With roosters though...my boys have them all to bed roosted in a line no less than 1/2hr before dark. Go figure.

 

[Coffetym]

I have 16 hens & 2 Roos. They are all right at 17 wks old. I have a FarmLite auto coop door. (I highly recommend!) It has a programmable timer that I’m using right now. I have it set to open 30 min after daylight & about 10 min before complete dark.
This door has a photocell for dusk dawn use & the sensitivity is programmable. If the sensitivity of your photocell isn’t adjustable, try facing it more towards the sunset. It open a little later in the morning but should stay open later also. This should give your hens time to get in the coop.
I will say, I would have to research your door & solar panel. The solar panel should only be gathering sunlight to keep a battery charged & the photocell should be located on the door itself.

 

[Chicken_Bureaucrat]

I don't use an automatic door, but my birds go inside between 7-8pm every night.

I think they usually want to go in by 7:45 at the latest but the door wants to close at 7:30!

I have same problem I have 10 hens 1-1/2 years old and 7 hens, 5 months old, the young ones go in early but the older hens don't go in before the door closes so I have to go out and open the door so they can get in. I notice the young ones are up and out early in the morning and the older hens are still in the coop sleeping. I guess my older ones are night owls!

My younger birds are often the last in. They may start to go in earlier when they are older. On the other hand If your door is closing before the sun is all the way down it is closing a bit early.

Huh that's funny! Exact opposites from both of your flocks?

I have 16 hens & 2 Roos. They are all right at 17 wks old. I have a FarmLite auto coop door. (I highly recommend!) It has a programmable timer that I’m using right now. I have it set to open 30 min after daylight & about 10 min before complete dark.
This door has a photocell for dusk dawn use & the sensitivity is programmable. If the sensitivity of your photocell isn’t adjustable, try facing it more towards the sunset. It open a little later in the morning but should stay open later also. This should give your hens time to get in the coop.
I will say, I would have to research your door & solar panel. The solar panel should only be gathering sunlight to keep a battery charged & the photocell should be located on the door itself.

Oh that's a great idea! Right now it's not pointed at the sunset direction

 

[Coffetym]

I went with a timer because when we get a storm later in the day and the sky gets dark I didn't want the door to close locking the birds out.

That is another good reason to use the timer.

 

[drmolarmagic]

I last posted on this thread 6 months ago and I still have chickens that like to stay out past sundown. A few seem to enjoy the after hours in the run. So I still maintain that the automatic door I control from my phone or Alexa is the best option. Even if I’m away for a few days. I open the canera app and check the run and if anyone is still out I leave the door open and check back later. When they are all in I can close the door from the other app. Likewise if the weather is bad and we’ve had some really strong storms here this spring, I don’t open to keep them safe. It’s very convenient. Just my personal set up and opinion

 

[Chicken_Bureaucrat]

I would think the solar panel would power it and there would be a separate device to detect the darkness to close and open.
Do you have the option of using a timer instead?

The solar panel is actually the light detector:
https://www.ladiesfirstchickendoor.com/faq/

It's actually a very elegant design, a solar panel is just an electrical element that varies it's current based on how much light it sees. And since your device can measure how much current is flowing you can know how much light there is without needing a second sensor. They're getting two functions out of the same thing! So I don't mean to impute the device at all, I think it's really cool!

There is no timer option, it's supposed to be so that as the season changes you don't have to reset your timer.

The door will be fixable if the problem is the door closing too early though, I'm sure there's some resistor in there I can swap the value of to make it close later. But I want to make sure it's not my chickens going to bed too late first.