Free ranging and automatic coop door

I free range my chickens every day, all year round. I open the small coop door each morning and close it each night. The problem is that if we get delayed in town, we have to try to find a neighbor to drive out and close the coop for us so nothing gets in. The very few times we havent found someone to do this we have found racoon, and a ferrel cats in the coop.

I want to build an automatic door. I would put it on a timer to open in the morning at a certain time, and close in the evening at a certain time. It would have to be power based so that it would only open with power (so in case we lost power while out of town, it would not open at night ect).

Does anyone have any suggestions for this? I am really motivated to do this, and I know there has to be a way to build somthing that would work.

I know my picture doesnt have much to do with this...but it shows that even my DH loves the chickens. hahahaha....

Melissa

does he have a choic? love me, love my animals! love that picture!

i know there is a place that sells them, and they are solar powered...

WOW that is just the picture to treasure, Gives a new meaning to "A picture speaks a 1000 words." Your idea of an automatic door opener is a great idea. I hope you get some ideas.

ouch, racoon and ferral cats???? lose any chickens yet???

Yes...my DH doesnt have much of a choice, but he does like the chickens. So far we have only had one chicken loss experience...and that was the badger masacre last year. I will keep looking online for something that might work for this...but just not having much luck.

Coons and cats can be VERY hazardous to your chicken's health!!!

guns can be very hazardous to coons and cats!

yes they can...but we have the one evasive cat who runs as soon as we open the door. We have tried live traps, bait, and stalking...but we cant get it. Comes up every few night, and I am affraid it is going to kill our cat who goes out for just a few minutes each night.

Anyway..this is why I want the door. :)

LOL TF : )

I've done it! Well...not yet, but I have figured out how to build a door for the chickens that will work on a basic timer, and will open (by raising a door) up in the am, and will lower it in the pm. My brain has been working like mad to figure this one out, and it was just not that it hit me! MAGNETS! Like the ones they use in salvage yards. They are electrified to create the magnetic field, and when the power source is taken away...they loose that magnec field. So I found a company who will sell me a few of these, and then I can build them...and send them to everyone! hahaha...but first I am waiting to see what they will cost. I couldnt imagine they would be too much. The model I requested more info on is only 1 in by 3 inches...but can life up to 200lbs!

Ok...since DH is sleeping I really needed to tell someone...and since he doesnt really care...I was just hoping someone here might be as excited as me! I bet Tamara is!

Melissa

Wow! We used to make electric magnets in school by running currents through a coiled wire--so how hard can it be? I can see how it would keep the door closed, but how would you make it move the door arm?--I'm not good at visualizing these things.

YES I AM! YOU coulda just IM'd me, i would get that much faster LOL.

got a crying baby here, gotta go.

I know..but not sure how to IM when someone is not online. I guess I didnt even look. Figured you were already asleep! I am hoping for a responce from this magnet company today,and then I can really get into this. Kinda hard to explain how this would work, but I see it all in my head and it works great. :)

I believe you!:0)

I would lllove to have an automatic opening door. We are often held up in town at activities past dark. So far we have not had any problems with predators, but think that it is only time. I have a friend that has automatic opening doors, but just havn;t gotten there to see them yet. When I do I will let you know how he constructed them. He works out of town al week and has them to do the work when he is not there.

certainly let me know how he did his. We got home late last night, and that was why I couldnt sleep. I felt so bad, even though everyone was fine. We have SO many predators out here that we should never chance it like that. We often use them as an excuse to leave parties etc, Saying, 'Well we need to go. The chickens are out.' Hahaha...but maybe we could just not tell anyone we have an automatic door. :)

I am very confident my idea will work. My brother used to make magnets for a living, and he knows all about them. I have several on my fridge, and he loved the powered ones. I am going to put my head with his and see what we can build.

I WANT one when ya get it done. PWEASEEEEEEEEEEEEE

sounds like a great idea

Melissa,

I suggest a conibear trap ... I think 220 size. Get yourself a 5 gal plastic bucket. Cut a 4.5" square hole on the bottom right in the center. Bury the bucket up to the rim (upside down of course). Put tuna or smelly cat food in the bucket. The hole needs a conibear trap directly over it set and ready to spring. Your trap needs to be tied or chained so that the animal won't run off with it around their neck after it springs. Once you chickens are in for the night .... set the trap and go to bed. You'll have a dead cat in the morning or perhaps a raccoon.

Kelly in Moxee

NO, i get the first prototype!

OK, i have waited long enough! get back online already!!! my DH doesn't see how this can work without a power source...

funny, Kelly, i think you meant to post that in the bear thread LOL

I am sure she is talking about a power source. The timer will be on the power source, that when on it will................that is as far as my thinking is going.

TamaraFaye,

I was thinking the cat and raccoon might be less of a problem if they were dead .... like the badger. The 220 conibear traps are fast furious and humane ... if there's any humane means of killing a predatory animal.

I suppose the bear thread was down several pages so it was out of my sight?

Kelly in Moxee

Instead of a timer how about an electric eye of the type used to turn on vapor lamps at dusk and off at sunrise? A timer would need adjusting as seasons change. You would still need a power source.

Use a counter balance setup so the default door position is open. When the magnets are powered the door would close.

I like that idea.

I thought it was a good one till I went back and read she doesn't want it open at night if the power fails. Oh well, reverse it. Default position is door down. Reverse the wirung on the eye so it is "on" during the day time.

I wonder if the magnet could pull an old fashioned window sash weight down to open the door of a morning. The door and weight would need to be balanced in consideration of the pulley system required.

A picture just galloped across my mind of the door slamming open and/or closed and scaring the bejeezus out of the chickens.

yea while reading this that has been in the back of my mind also, half in half out.

Stil trying to get a hold of my neighbor with the auto doors. He is a hard man to catch. Wil let you al know what he has soon.

kewl would love to have a couple or dozen lol.

I just lost 4 Silkies last night when we didn't get home to shut them in on time. I am devastated and a friend mentioned automatic doors. I know there is a UK company that sells them, but I would like to not spend $200 if I can help it. I am very curious how the magnetic field door might work. I would certainly commission you to make one for me if it works for you! Well, if it's not $200 that is.
I have a brilliant friend also thinking about options. If he comes up with anything, I will post. Glad to find this discussion!

Linda
Austin, TX

welcome linda, yes let us know

I am looking at a door that would run on electricity, but only a very small amount. I have also found ways to slowely open and close the door. And at this point I have 2 sources of power, and 2 different mechanisims to open the door itself...and 2 types of tracks for the door to movce on.Figure I will make several, and find the best option. I found a company in the UK as well, but they did not sell the doors, but the mechanism that woudl then have to be converted to AC power, put on a timer, wired up, and then need to build a door and frame. It will probably be a w hile before we have the first model ready to ship out... but the costs of materials is anywhere from $100-$170 depending on which options we choose to make this.

I wonder if you could have a weighted door that dropped into place along a track? Maybe with one of those sensors they have on garage doors so you don't crush a chicken?

We thought of that as well, and if so that is what we would use the magnet for. The probblam with that idea is that the magnet would have to be energized for the entire time the door is open. That wouldnt pull a lot of power, but it would be more then some other ideas we have. Also, if you lose power the door woudl shut, possibley locking out the chickens.

We are working hard on this though.

Hey you guys are doing great. Can not wait until it is done. I might get hubby to thinking about that, but as he said last night..............he has alot of irons in the fire right now, last week the rider mower broke a belt, chicken coop needs building, garden needs picks daily. and on and on and on.............Oh he has to work on the truck.........plus 7 days this week at work hurt bad. Good money just not enough hrs in the week for him. I am hoping he will be able to take a day off during the week. But i will drop a hint to him.

My brainly, electrical genius friend seems to think this will be an easy do for us since I have power very close to my coop. We will work on it and update as far as success goes.
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/automatic-chicken-coop-door.php

This is totally wack--but remember how Josh asked if there was any way to make it so the chickens could go in and out but the predator was excluded. Well if we are talking about the little "hen" door in a coop--what about how they make those pet doors designed so that the pet wears a transmitter that triggers the door. They are designed to keep strange cats, dogs, raccoons and other unintended guests from entering. Of course it would be prohibitively expensive for a large flock. You could either put the roost far enough away that they would not trigger it when they were roosting, or have it on a timer so that the door only worked sun-up to sun-down.

I looked into those. the cost would be excessive, and they do not work quit like how I need. My duck roosts on the floor nest to the door, and he would even need a colar. Good thinking though. I think I have a much cheaper way to manufactur them. Those pet doors go up to $300 or more!

My worry would be what if the door shut while some chickens were still outside? I know my flock doesn't all go in at once. There are stragglers on some nights that don't get inside till around 9:30pm while on other nights (like rainy evenings) they're all tucked away by 8 pm.

MollyD

My thought wouild be, if using a timer, to set it for the latest possible time before it is dark. We have some stragglers some nights as well...but I have never seem them out with less then at least 45 minutes of light. Most night I would probably go check them anyway.