b3ck.org I tinker. I fix. Therfore I am.
Getting up at dawn to let the chickens out, then heading back out at dusk to secure the chickens and keep them safe is for the birds. Automate this process with an automatic chicken door!
Automatic Chicken Doors
Chickens follow the sun. They wake and want out at sunrise and head to bed when the sun sets. If you’re already up at dawn and home and ready to close the door to the coop at dusk, this is fine. What happens if you aren’t an early riser, or you get stuck out one evening and can’t get home to close the coop door?
Heaven help you if you don’t open that door immediately following the sun rise, those chickens will cluck up a storm and be quite snooty to you for most of the morning. Racoons, foxes, weasels and many other nocturnal hunters would love the chance to pay an evening visit to your coop, so its important to get that door closed at night.
Who has time to keep up with all this?
This is where automatic chicken doors shine! They can be set on a timer, and some detect the level of light.
Solar Chicken Door (Timer Based)
I’ve been using the JVR Automatic Chicken Coop Door Opener with Timer on my coop for almost as long as I’ve had chickens now (so 3-4 years). It works well and I only modify the timer when the seasons change. I did have to modify my coop door a bit to accommodate the door track and the piston style arm that open and closes it. The door is aluminum and once it’s closed, there is no wild animal that is going to open it, until the timer is ready to open it.
All I need to add was a solar panel (I used a 25 Watt) and a 12 volt battery (I am using a riding mower battery) in a weather tight box.
RUN-CHICKEN Door Automatic Chicken Coop Door Opener
When I was adding additional coops for my other hens and my free-rangers, I was in a hurry. I chose one of the new style chicken doors that uses AA batteries. I meant to replace them when I got some spare time…. That was 2 years ago and they are still going strong on the same AA batteries.
The RUN-CHICKEN Door Automatic Chicken Coop Door Opener T50 has a Timer and a Programmable Light Sensor. I love these door so much that when my original Solar powered automatic chicken door finally dies, I’ll just buy another RUN-CHICKEN T50.
It’s super easy to install, and it’s pretty much ready to go, right out of the box. I have them mounted in the normal orientation on some coops, and sideways on others, giving me lots of flexibility.
If you look real close, you can see the Run Chicken logo.
The RUN-CHICKEN T50 is the one I recommend to all my neighbors and they have them on all their coops now! It looks like RUN CHICKEN has expanded their lines of doors and colors too.
I know your milage may vary, but these 2 types of Automatic chicken doors have made my chicken farm a little bit easier. Now you have a couple options, depending on how you want to use your automatic chicken door.
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