DIY Automatic Chicken Coop Door 

I think I would recess the door in a frame so the predators couldn't grab the edge and pry against it.

I made one of these a few years ago and ran into the same problem with the door not quite shutting completely. Also, as the actuator ages it tends to not shut tightly. My daughter solved it .... she suggested I use a simple magnet (not rare earth, too powerful) which, when installed, worked just great. it's still out there working, 8 years later.

Next up in Predator/Prey evolution is a Phosphorescent Fox.

There’s is always one chicken who needs to get the hint. lol

Hope the Foxes down in Texas don't carry flashlights.

I bet April goes out every night to double check if door closed 😊. I would still have OCD and have to see it close no matter how sure I felt .

Hi, I was reading the comments and noticed that no one suggested replacing the sensor with a solar panel. The panel can charge the battery during the day and the signal from it would be used to trigger the actuator. (2 birds--one stone...) Also, you can use the signal from the panel to add a delay timer or clock timer right before the actuator. Oh, and a transistor H-bridge could reliably replace the relay while using less power. I hope that helps.

Im gonna put this on my door so everytime my parents dont close my door i can do it this way

Great solution. One suggestion though, it might be a good idea to add a flange around the door so raccoons can't pry the door open with their claws. Those little guys are extremely persistent and surprisingly strong.

Chickens will eventually damage any exposed wiring. Better protect everything, leave nothing exposed.

Nice and straight forward. The one I'm designing uses a linear motor with feedback current just in case something gets caught on the door, like a chicken and uses a Strawberry Pi for Internet access and control. Great vid!

April is so talented and cute!

COOL!!!

Nicely done! I will definitely build this for my wife's coop. However, I will run on a timer and place it, along with the battery and relay in a weatherproof box. Please support this young lady and purchase her excellent plans which gives you much more detailed info.

Looks great! I installed one on my coop two weeks ago. I went with a simple timer for triggering my door instead of going by photo-sensor. I went with waterproof boxes with clear fronts and mounted all the electronics on the outside of the coop visible from my house. The electronics have LED's that light up when the door is open/closed. I went with a solar panel to run mine too and a 12V battery for backup. Next up for me is replacing the timer with a ESP32 to monitor the charge on the battery and to set it up so I can monitor/control it through my home automation.

What if one of them misses the bus back home and gets locked out?

Hi April, Thank you so very much for all your help!! It's so great to see women doing the kind of things you do!! :)

Might also need to some sensors to count the chickens going out, and coming in, if there is one that hasn't returned, alert the owner.

RACCOONS !! I would set up a few game cameras at different angles, just for grins ...

MUCH better than the few hundred dollar doors I researched earlier! I would recess the door to help prevent predators forced entry. And please, enclose all your wiring. Some chickens will peck at it..................................rj

Lucky birds 🐦. You could make a coffin ⚰ for Halloween 🎃 and use this system slightly modified to open and close the lid, now that would freak out the local kid's!!! 💯% 👍🇬🇧.

I wish this worked with teenage children

April, this is absolutely awesome such a clever idea...... well done

Have you checked if it is racoon proof?

You have nothing about cost of materials before you buy the plans. That is kind of important you know.....

I wish I could utilize a door like that...predators would be happy if I installed a door like that for them to easily access the chickens. I have a double lock system on both my doors. You know those raccoons and their opposable thumbs can create some serious destruction!

I just did the same thing myself, it is amazing to not have to go out morning and night to open and close them - great job!

hi, great video! One short question please. When the linear actuator completes full action (open or close), how does the circuit go to stand by state and not continue to work? Is this done by the relay itself or by an extra switch? thank you

Thank's for this video! About how much in total would you say it cost you to make this?

Do the plans for the automatic door come with a wiring diagram? I already have a linear actuator ,110-12V dc power supply, and a photo cell. I just need to wrap my head around the relay part of it.

I would worry about the large cut out around the Arm on the door letting in snakes?

That one chicken at the end is like..."Where is everybody!!!...what do i do!!!!...where do i go!!!......Bacck..Bacck...bacck...Bacck!!!" (proceeds to run around like she has lost her head or something) :)

Hmm... There is on/off signal from the photocell and DPDT relay for switching the direction but how does the linear actuator stop? If it is constantly energized, you may end up having to eat all your chickens in one sitting since most will be cooked roughly the same when there is fire :/

thats so cool like that little door im getting ready to make a RV at of a school but i like type video making some out nothing and making with your hands great video can not wait see what next

Chickens aren't the only beneficiary's of this type of setup. I could use your idea at my home with a pressure switch instead of a D2D sensor. When reaching the kitchen door with an arm load of groceries just step on the pressure pad and the door swings open and I pop right in. Thanks so much for the idea! BTW: Great Video!

I'm building mine w an Arduino and a stepper motor. It's what I have in my parts bins. Very nice build!

Quick question about the in-line fuze you briefly mention, what AMP fuze did you use? Secondly, could you please explain the reason for adding that fuze there and what it does? Thanks so much, great automatic door, one of the best designs I've found so far!

Technology and sensors. I'd like to see more interactive and responsive electronic projects, very cool to see.

The L-bracket looks shortened, so it would have been nice to see the (perhaps trial-and-error) approach to find the right dimensions and positions. Some info on that sensor: since daylight doesn't fade perfectly smooth on a cloudy day, you wouldn't want that sensor to open and close again, every time a cloud passes by. To avoid that, such a sensor had 2 thresholds: for the gate to close, the sensor has to pass below the lower threshold. So, it has to be really, really dark before it actually closes. But it won't just open again if it gets a little bit lighter - it will only open the gate when light rises to the upper threshold. So, it has to be really, really light before the gate opens again. That bit of electronics with 2 thresholds is called a Schmitt trigger.

So what turns off the actuator power when the actuator is fully extended and contracted? Thank you for posting this as i am trying to rig a similar sys!

Is that the small chicken coop? I am going to build it now that I am retired. Great video! By the way you are so kind and considerate to explain your videos and products the way you do. You do an excellent job. :-) :-) :-)

I bought the plans and installed the door on my coop. The concept is fantastic. I am having issues with the door opening in the morning. We have had temps in the 20’s at night. Any thoughts on why it’s not opening? It closes perfectly at night but in the morning it stays shut. If I disconnect power and then reconnect, it will open. Would the fuse ampage have anything to do with it? Cold weather? Help!

Fox 1 : Here, take this flashlight and shine it at that sensor thing. Fox 2: OK, I'll have a red hen, what do you want?

Oops, I forgot one other detail the wiring diagram shows the actuator leads as white & black and mine are black & red. I have a Progressive Mini Linear Actuator and I believe you used a Micro , which is a little smaller but should not matter.

Great DIY, I would suggest you use a lift and lower door that fits in tracks so the predators can't pry it open. And some of your viewers might also consider using an electric car window opener, they are essentially free and work well if you have any old cars about to get rid of, but pulling one from the junkyard too, or you can also buy them new replacements from rockauto. Also not sure you really need a light sensor, a basic timer is good enough, the time is gets dark at 5pm instead of 9pm is only a few hours and some are quite easy to adjust (see sprinkler timers), or frankly I do electronics and there are circuit boards that can do it some real cheap, like $5 for a 12v relay.

I want to do a very similar setup but instead of it opening, I'm going to set it up to slide up/down in a track, that way I can worry less about any gaps from not closing all the way.

I connected this up - paid for wiring diagram, and it doesn't work. I have solar panels and I connected to the solar controller load terminals. Do I need to connect direct to the battery? The actuator works with a rocker switch connected to the load terminals. Also my photocell has a red, black. & white wire and wiring diagram has red, black, & orange. I connected terminal 8 on the relay to the white wire on the photocell. I need some help here.

I love to open and close the door of the coop on my own I dont like this automatic stuff It doesn't makes the connection between the owner and the animal I sleep satisfied at night when i make all the animals go to bed by my own This is a natural peace giving way no one can replace

My chickens dont go in to the coop until it is literally pitch dark. Other purpose built auto chicken coop doors allow you to adjust the sensors on how dark or light you want it to open and close. Or use an alternate set time open time close system. Im guessing this photosensor doesn't do this? Exactly how dark does it get before it closes?

I think we should use an infrared camera and machine learning to let the ladies in by name and text to your phone when they're home safe!

This is EXACTLY what I've been looking for, and I so appreciate your tutorial. I can't wait to make my own with my dad. We love making! Thank you!

Perfect timing! I built your coop and run and there are days I can not get down to the coop to let the girls out. This is much better than the expensive commercially available coop doors and they generally have mediocre ratings.

Great video, I'm curious what shuts the power off to the actuator when it is fully open or closed. Thanks

What was the stoke on the mini linear actuator? When I click the link it says 0.5" but it looked longer than that, or is it based on the size door, and if so how do you determine that?

I have no idea how dark it has to get before the chickens come home to roost as the sun sets. I wonder if you'll have to come up with some way to dial in an "after sunset" delay before closing the door?

OMG Corona chicken lockdown ;-)

Brilliant!

Great video agan April🙂👍

What a great video! It was hilarious at the end when you were having to crawl inside to show her how to get out! I know they will enjoy their new door.

Besides beautiful, you are extremely creative. I’ve loved your videos all these years. Keep it up.

Hope none of the chicken would be left outside while the door closes automatically

Nice video! You could maybe build an acrylic enclosure for the electrical components underneath to protect it from soil humidity. Just a thought! Thumbs up!

I have to say you would make a great addition to the Mechanics that worked at the Nestles I use to work at. I made something very similar but you have the essentials to make it happen April.. You being a woman and working as a mechanic would be in my opinion the envy of many women working there. The majority anyway. Good job April, I was actually the machinist there and part of the maintenance mechanics there. Great place to work, wish I would have been there much longer but after 30 years they closed up and moved it back East. Long story I won’t bore you with. Thnx for sharing..

Nice vid! I’m about to start designing my own coop door too!

I miss these smaller projects that I can use. 😄 Even though I love watching your big projects and are amazed how far you've come. I can't corperate them in my simple life. I adore you and looking forward to your Wood Shed shop remodel. It will be epic! 🤗

WOW! Now that, I haven't seen on another DIY show. 👍

It’s really cheaper just to buy one nowadays!

1:42 in the background audio I Heard Omg come hear

Oh April. I've been watching you forever and still, as always just love your videos so much. Have you found that the actuator quality means it is able to stand up to an outdoor environment? I don't mind spending money for quality but if it's not truly weatherproof inside and out, and able to handle consistent inclement weather, then that part will fail and it's the most expensive part. I want to buy from your links. Can you please confirm the weatherproofness of the actuator? Luv your channel!

What if your coop is in the shade, would it be too dark to work?

Enjoyed this episode. I have two made an automatic chicken door opener. The problem you're going to have is with that 12-volt relay. It only works at 12 votes not at 11.8. I changed to a solid state relay. It operates between 2 and 18 volts.

I wondered if you should cover the equipment so the chickens don't peck at the wires? Great video!

My problem is my chickens go to their coop after it’s dark, like 9:30pm so using light to trigger it didn’t work. I put a timer circuit instead.

Another great video. Thanks for the idea.

What size on the linear actuator did you use?

Felicitaciones April!!!!!! Excelente proyecto!!! - Germán - Montevideo - Uruguay.

This is Very Cool! I didn't even know this was possible. I like that you think outside the box, or in this case the coop April!!! LOL

April, have you tried to force the door open, when it's closed? I curious the amount of force it takes to open it.

Çok güzel olmuş ellerine sağlık. Yeni videolar bekliyor um

A while back I had a thought; there must be a an auto chicken gate out there. well here 's the video, and great one it is. as slick and fandangled as this is, and as badly I was interested in making something like this... after some thought, I came to the conclusion that I do not trust electronics to be consistent in all weather; sun, rain, overcast, blizzard, sleet & snow. I do not trust that something will not block the gate, like say chicken poop (I have to clean it out of where my existing gate drops down into), dirt, pine needles, or even a small ponderosa twig. I prefer the ol' school method. So I'm gonna stick to the long clothes line I've hooked up to the gate that runs thru a closed loop screw outside the back door of the cabin. Where I can see down to the coop. If there's any malfunction, I see it immediately. Any other malfunction is found in my head, as occasionally I forget to close the gate. ( I wake up in the ninth and remember, almost always). Hence my note pinned in the kitchen that reads "CLOSED CHICKEN GATE?". I'm not a smart phone guy, I got one, but it's not surgically implanted into my body, like my wife and kid. Hence another easy way to solve this problem of remembering, I thought, would be to have them add a daily reminder on the phone. But then the issue arises, will the kid stop doing what she's doing in that moment to close the gate or will she put it off, thereby forgetting completely (highly probably - I have a mathematical probability calculation I've been running on this, so I have the proof that it's a very high probability teens forget, almost everything... except to check their social media), but again, a non perfect solution. And the wife is just too busy with grading papers and I don't want to burden her. Therefore, I have found the most reliable method is to rely on myself. Then I can only hold my self responsible. on my gate, it rises vertically and when closed the bottom edge drops about 1" below into a trough that is made out of scrap wood, so a critter cannot grab it from the bottom and lift it up. I've had this system for many years. I've caught raccoons, bears, and dogs, sniffing around at night. Only had to shoot one of them... can you guess which one? We have weasels, here too, but I have not seen one ever, until I burned the scrap wood pile two winters ago, and found one in my garage the next morning slightly singed and dead from what I assumed was smoke inhalation. I also have 24/7 guards patrolling... as the chicken coop backs up to the dog fence. Oliver, my most reliable guard, will give one bark when something is around. I have the trusty shotgun and flash light by the bed (unloaded of course, w/ 3 shells of light turkey shot, in my top drawer under the ol' socks.). Another upside to this method is I get to play my hilly billy character every so often. I'm just missing the red long underwear and ol' mashed hat. Gimme a few years, I'll get there. good luck every one.

Grill but to complicated for me

That's awesome April

The voltage isn’t all that bad when u describe electronics. U should say that there r .5 amps which isn’t bad but not that good, but it wont kill u as it takes a full amp to do so. Think of it like tasers if there’s 40,000,000 volts and 5 amps well u should be more worried about the amps then the volts as the amps kill not the volts

That is awesome...how much did it all cost for materials? Redhead Power! Great video thank you! Just building my hen house to buy my first three chickens next week and looking for an affordable automatic door. Looks like something I can build myself...hoping its cheaper than the $200+ doors on the market.

Hey, that's a nice door opener 👍🐔greetings from germany 🐔

How strong is the actuator? Would it squash a chook if it was in the way?

I'm confused about the inputs from the light sensor. What's stopping it constantly pushing or pulling during the day or night? There must be some electronics to set the latches..??

Nice. Does your system uses power once the door is closed or there's an internal swicth that shuts off the current ?

That’s rad! Now just go over the wiring ;)

Awesome work April, really cool project! 😃👍🏻🌞🚪🐓🐓🐓🐓👊🏻

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing with us April. Let’s hope they all get back i safely. 👍👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

download the plans from your site put there was no wiring diagrams as said in video?

April, I can see you have a lot of different skills. About how much does this cost? I would like to build this for my chickens too, then i wouldn't have to ask friends or neighbors to lock them up at night if i'm out. I would also worry that it would close before they all got in. Has that ever happened to you? It's still a great idea! And you make it look like it wouldn't be to hard to make.

I opted for an up-down door on a timer. It requires adjustment of the time as the seasons progress. However, in Summer, they often stay out until the very last moments of daylight. Plenty of nights when they are JUST going in when I go out to collect eggs.

does it work the same for geese?

So, you only need to tell the fox to come with a flashlight. But nice. I propose you for the next project. An automated egg collector. Greetings Thomas

How big is the actuator?

How is your dog bath/pool going? Have you had any problems with the door closing early, before the chickens had returned to the coop?

The Chicken Whisperer...🐣🐣🐣🐔🐔🐔🐔🦊🦊🦊......👹😭😭😭😭

The biggest problem is making sure all the chickens are back inside before the door closes. Have you ever seen any chicken develop nighttime habits!