Winter is here. The days are getting shorter and as a result, the chickens need to be secured in their coop earlier and earlier to be safe from nocturnal predators. Chickens are all but blind at night so their ability to escape danger once the sun goes down is pretty much non-existent.
One of the hard parts about being a chicken keeper in the winter is the need to put the chickens away at such an early time. This can really interfere with after-work, after-school activities. It gets dark by 5:00 here in Michigan, many people aren’t even home from work by then.
We used to keep the chickens locked up for the day if we knew we wouldn’t be home until after dark. But I always feel bad because I know how much they enjoy roaming the yard. Sometimes, even with the best intentions, we’ve tried to get home in time to lock the chickens in, but emergencies happen. Traffic jams, long lines at the grocery store, being held up at work or school…these are all a part of the life of a chicken keeper. We have some wonderful neighbors who will check our coop if we need them to, but what if they’re not home, and I hate to be a bother.
That’s why I was so excited to install this amazing Automatic Chicken Coop Door.
The door can be set with a timer to open and close at specific times. So we set ours to open about 30 minutes after the sun comes up, and 30 minutes after the sun goes down.
Chickens instinctively return to the coop as the sun starts to set. This 30 minute window ensures that all the stragglers have returned before the door shuts them securely in for the night.
The door is super easy to install, in fact, it took us longer to find the drill than it did to set up the door.
The door comes with a cardboard template that you trace on the wall of your coop.
We used a drill to cut four holes in each corner of the rectangle.
Then used the Sawzall to connect the dots.
The opening cut out.
The door unit easily moves into place.
And is secured with screws provided.
Then we put up the decorative finish pieces for the inside
and out.
Then we ran an extension cord to the adapter, secured the wires along the upper wall and ceiling of the coop, and set the timer.
The door is large enough for even our big Tom Turkey and our geese to fit through easily.
I love it!
Here is a video of the door in action. It takes approximately 10 seconds for the door to open or close, so there’s plenty of time for chickens to get out of the way.
This is a really great product, it solves a major problem hat chicken keepers face, it’s well built, well thought out and easy to install. I also appreciate the extra little decorative trim that they include in the package.
Automatic Chicken Coop Door is not only a company that makes great chicken keeping products, but they also are actively involved in humanitarian efforts around the world.
I was not paid by Automatic Chicken Coop Door to write this review. All opinions about this product are my own, based on the quality and personal experience with the product.
To enter for a chance to win the Automatic Chicken Coop Door, click here!
15 Comments
This is really cool, families are super busy and In Oregon it starts getting dark by 4:45pm in December and I am barely home from getting the daycare kids and my kids picked up from school! Especially for us newbie chicken lovers still learning the ins and outs of how to take care of our feather babies this would be a huge help!
I would so love to win this automatic door – I love & adore “my babies” – Jennifer knows my story,and by the way Jennifer I received my books the other day – THANK YOU,
Anyway, my new job is going to affect opening & closing times now, I will be working 10 hour days (starting before daybreak) this fears me terribly!!! My ” babies” are ALL I’ve got to nuture, love, thrive & enjoy! They are of utmost most importance to my heart, soul & being! When & if I lose one, I literally mourn for quite a period of time.
My chickens are my world!!
Thank you to Sarah as well.
Jennifer, my prayers are continuously with you & Zach!
Much love, Laura – an Indiana Chicken Farmer ❤️
We live adjacent to woods and have lost chickens to predators as a result of returning home just a wee bit late in the evening. An automatic door is something I’ve wanted for a while.
I love this idea and have been looking for one for several years! This would salve SO many arguments at my house. I work odd hours and my father (who is now 75 and has been a farmer all his life) keeps pestering me that I need to do barn chores (close in the chickens) before dark. “Something is going to get those chickens” he says. But Because I never have a schedule I am always coming home late to close in my chickens. And several times I have found unwanted animals in my coop. (Including scunks)
This is a wonderful idea!
Needed badly in my part of the country…fox, coyotes and hawks are in plenty
I have the Pullet-Shut automatic chicken door & love it. It’s made life easier, especially when I work 3rd shift.
I’m looking for an electric door opener that work from side to side ? I haven’t found one yet. My sleeping coop has high peek which won’t allow for an up and down door. I have a metal slide that I now use to push door closed. But if not at home when the girls roost door remains open till we get home. Please help if you can. Thank you….
Check out the Pullet-Shut automatic chicken door, it opens on a side hinge.
You can find a side opening door at http://www.chickendoors.com/
And what happens if a chicken gets caught in the doorway with the door going down? Will it stop when it feels resistance? Only lazy people need automatic door openers for chickens.
Robert you are being unkind….
There’s no need for insults. There are a variety of reasons for needing an automatic door. Mine does stop if it encounters resistance & a few minutes after it closes it briefly reopens to let stranglers inside. The girls quickly learned the system & I haven’t had any issues over the past 9 months.
Chickens do need an otomatic door. If I checked was in the way of the door when it closed it would cause any damage. The door is not heavy enough to do anything more than sit on the chicken. When a person comes through later to check they can remove the chicken from the door. Again the door is not heavy enough to cause damage to the bird.
I had one up the last year and love it.They really should make one that has Wi-Fi so you can control it with your phone.