Anybody got one? Did you buy it or make it? It would be handy when you weren't always there at daylight and dusk.

One of my neighbors has one for his chickens and likes it.

Watching....

My neighbor has one. But it doesn't open tell around 10 not at daylight. Predators are still moving a lot in the early morning.

I want to rig one but it will need to run off a battery. Been thinking about running a lite on a timer as well to keep egg production in the winter. All could run off a battery and solar panel. But brainstorming is as far is I have got.

I saw some auto doors for sale in a magazine ant think they were 300$ that was a few years back.

We bought one this last year from Run Chicken off of Amazon and it was around 200$ but we love it since it can be either sunlight/ night or times for opening. Last year, I would always have to go out and open it which was a little difficult at times with getting ready for school.

I have had an automatic door for years and I love it. I have it set to open at a set time (9:30) in the morning. I like it to open a while after it gets light and any lingering nighttime predators are gone. I bought the optional light sensor and I have it set to close the door at dusk after the girls have gone to bed. I don't have to worry about changing sunset time throughout the year. The unit has a stainless steel door that slides in tracks and I mounted it on the inside wall of the coop so when it closes and covers the door opening from the inside, the outside of the coop wall has only a door opening with a smooth stainless door that predators cannot grasp to open.

My only word of caution for a door that slides on tracks is that it needs to be free of pine shavings or other bedding, which can be a problem if it's close to the floor. If I was first designing my coop, one thing I would do is to locate the door opening up off the floor so it requires a little ramp UP to the door on the inside as well as the outside. That would have easily solved the problem. Since our door was already located close to the floor and the tracks would get pine shavings in them, I blockaded off the area around the door with a "foyer" that holds the pine shavings back. (Yes, the girls like being able to say they have a foyer. ) After I built the foyer, the door has worked reliably for years. We can stock the girls up with clean water and food and leave for days and count on the door to let the girls out into their enclosed run in the morning and close them back into the coop securely in the evening. (We open their run so they can free range when we're here.) The door and timer run on batteries which I change out once a year with no failures, even in winter.

Now I suppose I should find the brand and model and some photos...

My wife bought one for our ducks. The chickens don't need one, they are secure in their run and if we free range them we let them out and lock them up ourselves.

The auto door works good.

We had one, bought it from a British company and it worked okay till it did not. Not sure if moisture got in or what. Found them to be pricey so then built the roost bar design you can see here. Worked great after figuring out the correct weights.

https://revolutionarychicken.com/automatic-door-opener/

Now I want to get chickens just so I can build this door!

Do it ...chickens are addicting

I have the Ador model.... Must of taken them a couple seconds to come up with a name...lol

But, its been rock solid, works on a light sensor and you can adjust the opening and closing time a little. A cheap carbon 6v battery lasts for over 2 years. Worth every penny.

I finally found my original order. The unit I have is a model VSBbi purchased from Wells Poultry Equipment in the UK in 2007. At that time, there were not all kinds of door closers available here in the US. I thought that some company in the US carried them later, but I cannot remember who. I can only say that at some point in the last 15 years, it stopped working mysteriously and after troubleshooting with the company, we determined that the circuit board crapped out and they sent me a new one free. I replaced the board and have been back in operation since. I could not locate them anywhere on the internet now, but found this article that shows my exact unit and includes a recent update stating that they are no longer in business.

https://poultrykeeper.com/keeping-chickens/vsb-door/

(The author mentions another brand he has reviewed - maybe worth checking out.)

I built my own. Cost about $15. $ 10 bucks of that was for a photo sensor Dusk/dawn. the rest i found in used stuff.
My parts list was a 12vdc motor from a vending machine.12 vdc power supply, 2 DPDT relay, 3 switches. ( one for up one for down and one for overtravel) one 1-60 minute delay timer (for Thunderstorms). 1 pulley made from 2 fender washers and a shaft collar, a 120 vac power cord. braided fishing line and some boards and plywood and a piece of Plexiglas.
I made about15 years ago and still running.
Easy to do and the parts are fairly easy to find in used stuff.

Wow. I didn't even know they made such a thing.

My cousin must have some handicapped chickens. He bought one this spring, solar powered, the whole nine yards. Does it work, absolutely, did it kill seven of his 20 or so chickens the first week or two, yes. He would go out in the morning to find his chickens dead either lying on the ramp, or on the ground below. He put a trail camera there to see what the culprit was, only to have video of his chickens laying on the threshold one minute, crushed the next. He is not too sure if he will try it again…

I've got an Omlet. Clicky.

Love it. Primarily, because it lets my chickens out of their night box, long before I rise from the dead. That's good, now. Summer, it'll be indispensable.

I have it set to Timer, at the moment. 'Trouble' is, I have this one bird who can't comprehend the ramp to the pop hole. I have to go out there, every evening, and manually catch him and put him to bed. Then, I press the button and close the door the door on all of them. I have the light too. That's fun. I put it on to reassure them and so I can count them before shutting the door.

I first tried the light sensor method for shutting the door. But, I found the light was too gone for my tastes, and the door still open. Dunno what it'd do in the morning. Doesn't really matter, to me, as my birds are enclosed in a steel 'aviary'. The door opens, in the morning, and lets them out into this aviary. Quite safe and able to mince about till I come and open That, letting them out to free range.

Doesn't kill chickens because it has a chicken sensitive thing. Wood shavings don't clog it, because it sits well above them.

I'm very happy I bought it.

I have had one from www.chickendoors.com for years. It's worked perfectly and is still on the original battery with a solar panel.