I'm thinking of buying the Pullet-Shut Automatic Chicken Door and wondered if anyone had one, and if you're happy with it? When buying online from a unknown company, I always check the company address on Google Earth to see if it's a private residence; if so, I don't buy it/give them my credit card info, for a variety of reasons.
In this case though, the videos look like a home-company product that's well made, so the Pullet-Shut Automatic Chicken Door company being located at a private residence....out in the country, seems reasonable.
I'd just like to know if anyone has one and if they're happy with it. It has good reviews.
http://chickendoors.com/products.htm
Thanks for your feedback!
Glenda
Has anyone bought the Pullet-Shut Automatic Chicken Door?
I don't have one but will be following to see what is said
LOL! :-) ....Hopefully we'll find out together, green!
If I get no replies, I'll let you know how I like it. :)
Green, if no one here has one, I found 15 reviews on this site. :) Looks like everyone is really happy with their Pullet-Shut Automatic Chicken Door, so I'm going to order one.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/products/pullet-shut-automatic-chicken-door-chickendoors-com
I would have to get 3,I have 3 doors in the summer that needs closing at night.Let me know how it works for you.I would be afraid that a lacker would be left outside so I would still have to go out and check,lol
Green, one minute after the door closes, it opens again and stays open for 10 seconds to give any chickens that did not come in to get inside before it closes. I thought that was a great feature. :)
I ordered mine today and I talked to the owner of the company for about a half hour. He's retired now but use to own a machine shop, so he knows how to build things well. I feel good about my purchase and will let you know once it's here and installed. He did caution me that with Michigan's low temps (last year we were hit -20) that it is possible that the door could fail to open or close. We're in the machining business ourselves so we're familiar with frigid temps affecting machinery.
......I'll let you know how I like it. :)
Cant wait to see how it works
We use Chickencoopdoors.com They were perfecting their design but they kept us updated and the door has now worked perfectly for years. Whichever type you buy, it's so convenient not to have to go out at night, especially if you're not going to be home after dark. Nice to know that everyone's safe and sound.
I bought a Pullet-Shut automatic door a few months ago. It is fantastic. I still go out every night to watch the chickens go to roost simply because It is one of the great parts of having chickens. But the door works very well. I did not opt for the dusk to dawn sensor and instead use the internal timer to set my own times for opening and closing the door.
I called and spoke with the man who created the product to get some of my questions answered. Very much worth the call. I would recommend this door to anyone who wants an automatic door.
--- Now if only I had automatic pullets...
Well, I've had my Pullet-Shut Automatic Chicken Door, with the photo-eye/dusk-to-dawn sensor, for 1 year and I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!! Boy, is it worth every penny! It has worked flawlessly, is high quality, easy to install, and I don't ever have to go out and close the coop door! There are few things I'd give a 5-star rating to, but the Pullet-Shut Automatic Chicken Door is one of them!! If you have chickens, you need one of these! :)
www.chickendoors.com
Now how do you convince the party-animal hens to all go in on time?
Porkpal, they go in when dusk falls. It's just a natural instinct!
Some of mine don't. They wait until they see me coming to close up and loiter about until chased inside. Mannerless hussies!
Mine seem to like the security of the coop as dusk falls! On the other hand I do have a young Black Star (hatched in mid-May) that has been determined to set up housekeeping outside the chicken yard.
I was over at the studio the other day, bringing in the hanging geraniums and the little fig tree, and when I came back out I went over to give some sunflower seeds to the hens. My doodle, Chouette, had evidently been busy; one of the young Black Stars had obviously been laying eggs outside the chicken yard, between the old outhouse/now toolshed and the winery, next to an old cement mixer in a pile of leaves. I hadn’t seen them but Chou found them and had eaten three or four. Serves me right for giving her whole crushed eggs in her dinner! I scolded her; she then went back in to the leaves and very carefully brought me out a whole egg in her mouth. I thanked her profusely and wiped it off and put it with the others I’d just collected. She definitely seemed to understand the issue!
Later I went back out to take a photo and saw where Chou was getting them from; the hen had been laying them in the farthest corner, where I couldn’t reach them. I tried to get Chou to fetch them for me but she seemed uncertain about it. So I went and got a grabber that I had bought for DH to pick up trash in the woods from our lovely neighbors and the newspaper delivery guy, and got them all in a basket. Then I barricaded the area with pallets. And that night my granddaughter helped me clip both wings on the Black Stars - a friend and I had already gotten one wing on most of them but they still obviously managed to get enough loft with the other. I hardboiled those eggs for Chou. I’m not sure whether this is the work of one hen or more, so I didn’t know how old they were, of course.
The wing clipping seemed to solve the problem, except that a couple of mornings later Chou tipped me off that someone had set up a cozy nest in a little roofed in area in the garden. I realized that the Black Star - probably the same one - had been sneaking in through a gate, so I took the egg she had laid and blocked the opening off. So far no further incursions.
I know every flock is different, but I've found that as long as a light is NOT turned on inside the coop, every bird will go inside at dusk. If I leave a light ON inside the coop, some of my chickens will hang around outside the door and not go in. :-/
I tried one. Raccoons figured out how to pull it open within just a few months. Its design is to swing out to open and close against a bolt. Unfortunately, there is not an additional bolt that raised on the outside to keep the door from being pried open. The swing out design was problematic because it left the fragile door flapping in the breeze (or in my case in danger of cattle rubbing against it). We had to recess the door so it would open against a protected wall, which provided the perfect platform for raccoons to comfortably sit while breaking in. I wound up switching to a CoopTender.