Automatic Chicken Door Opener
by chris - June 30th, 2009.Filed under: Uncategorized.
I just finished up building an automatic chicken door opener. This will open and close the coop door automatically so we don’t have to go out twice a day to do it. The chickens are still getting used to it, the sound scares them a little bit. I’ve posted it on the blog as a page so the link is up at the top of the screen, or you can just click here to see the whole story and directions for building one yourself (should you be so inclined).
I also posted a short video of it operating on youtube which you can see below.
July 28th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Hello Chris and Keri
I’ve been researching some of the automatic chicken coop door designs on the web and have concluded this one is the best due to it’s low cost and your easy to follow instructions.
I made a post about it on my little farm blog today titled “Best automatic chicken door design” in an effort to spread the word on this nice page of directions.
Good luck with your flock.
Mark Hamilton
July 29th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Nice write-up on the chicken coop door. THANK YOU for sharing. I just ordered all the parts and will let you know how it goes. My dad who is a retired electrician is likely to get pulled into the implementation, so if we have any suggested improvements (he is always improving things!), we will let you know. Looks pretty straightforward to me!
Liz, Sarah, and Sam will be very happy chickens. Put together with the chicken ladder and chicken tunnel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkRc-Qz_bMY - the gals will have a lot of freedom!
August 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
cool design, I’m no electrican (although I do have the butt crack thing going sometimes) but it looks like with your instructions I could pull it off. thanks
August 19th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
got the screwdriver on sale for $9.99 and all the other parts arrived today, sweet, I’m a cabinet maker and this will be exposed to the elements, so I’m gonna make some kind of cover to keep it dry, if you like I could submit a picture, won’t be till next weekend though.
August 22nd, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I somehow pulled it off, I did it right and it works, I wont be installing it till tomorrow, because I am still frustrated from trying to solder those tiny wires and posts by myself, but I did it.
I got a peice of corian left over from a job and will try to make a shelter for the motor
October 24th, 2009 at 5:29 am
Just curious you said that it opens and closes depending on wether the coop lights are on or off is this hardwired into your light swicth or can it be pluged ito a timer or better yet a light sensor? I am fairly handy but need direction when it comes to elecric circuits. Thanks
October 30th, 2009 at 4:01 am
This is a wounderfull post. Keep it up…
October 30th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Hiya, your plans are brilliant!
I’ve just found all the supplies needed online to do this, but I have a question. My coop is in a place where it has no chance of a power supply, so I was wondering how to hook your plans up to a timer with power only available from the screwdriver battery? The only electrical experiance I have is changing fuses and replacing parts where everything else is already setup and works.
Great blog! I’m in love with your goats. Peanut is gorgeous.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Shane: I already had the lights in my coop wired to a timer to give them the right amount of daylight, so I ran an outlet off of that line to plug the transformer into. It could also be rigged up to work with a photo cell, though you might need a relay to get it to open at morning. Most photo cells turn on power at dark and you’d want this to be on at light.
Anna: you’d need some significant modifications to the plans to do this. First, you’d have to make the battery removable and then build an adapter for it so you could plug it into the mains power to charge it. It’s not a very large battery so I don’t think it would last that long. I think the type of timer you’d need to do it would be called a battery operated latching timer.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
i love your design! i’ve been tryinr to do something similar for years. I want to add a light sensitve switch so it opens at first light and closes at dusk. where would i add it into the circut? when i get it working i’ll send some pics.
this is the switch i’ll use http://www.fabiens.org/ckblog/?p=113#comment-1117