Listen to me right now. If you're new (or old school) to chickens you NEED an automatic chicken coop door. It'll save their lives and maybe more importantly - your ability to sleep in past 6 a.m.
The other night as I was staring into the refrigerator willing its contents to change into stacks of leftover pizza, I heard a bit of action coming from the chicken coop. Being 11 o'clock at night, and chickens notoriously early-to-bedders I knew what I was hearing wasn't chickens.
Shoving my feet into my chicken coop shoes, I shuffled out the back door and looked around the corner into the coop run. There, hanging by their nails from the hardware cloth enclosing the coop was a family of raccoons. All of them.
Some were climbing up the cloth and others were pulling with all their might to try and get it off. I was not the only one looking for a snack that night.
I tossed pea gravel at them.
They laughed.
I went back inside. The raccoons would give up soon enough. The hardware cloth is screwed in every few inches and even though I'm always a bit worried, there's very little chance a raccoon is going to be able to rip it off. Unless the raccoon did Crossfit obviously.
10 years into owning chickens and I have never lost a single one to a predator. I've lost them to egg yolk peritonitis, an embedded crop and Roosterism, but never to a predator. Part of that is because of the ¼" hardware cloth the coop is enclosed in. The other part is the automatic chicken coop door.
Table of Contents
Automatic Coop Door
After a few go rounds with less than ideal chicken coop doors, I came across the Ador Coop door. (NOT a sponsored post, I just think this really is the best automatic coop door) I was hesitant to buy it since it was made in America and I had to pay duty, tax, shipping costs to Canada and the exchange rate on it.
It ended up being over $300.
UPDATE: There are now a LOT of copies of this chicken door on Amazon for about ¼ of the price. You can give them a shot if you want. I can't recommend them because I haven't used them but they're an option if you're interested.
I cut some of my costs by self clearing it with UPS. If you're Canadian and you don't know how to self clear an item with UPS you need to read this post immediately. You can completely eliminate UPS's stupid, made up broker and import fees just by picking up your package yourself from a depot.
So why this door? It's the original. It's entirely galvanized metal, no plastic and best of all - it requires no electricity. It runs off of a 6 volt battery which in my experience lasts for over a year. You can put this door in a chicken coop that's in the middle of a field with no electricity in sight. THIS is partly what makes this particular model so great. It's run with battery power.
The battery is housed in the bump at the top of the coop door that looks a little like an awning.
Update: This automatic chicken coop door has worked perfectly for over a decade.
Most chicken coops have a "pop door", which is just a small door that only the chickens use. They're about 12" x 12" and a few inches off of the ground. The reason your coop needs a pop door is so the chickens can come and go as they like without having to leave a big "man door" open all day.
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How do automatic chicken doors work?
How It Works
Automatic coop doors have a small motor in them that when triggered will start to run. With automatic coop doors the winding pulls the door up to let the chicken out and pulls the door down to close them in.
The trigger is either a timer or a light sensor. The Ador coop door has a light sensor so when the sun comes up, it will open in the morning. When the sun goes down, it will close.
The motor is powered either by electricity, a battery or a solar panel.
Mine can be adjusted slightly so I have it open just after sunrise and close right at dusk.
I never have to worry about getting home by dark to make sure the coop door is closed.
That used to be an ordeal.
Before installing the coop door, if I was going out during the day and knew I wouldn't be home until after dark I'd either have to lock the chickens up in the coop before I left, leaving them bored in the coop for the rest of the day, or I'd have to ask a neighbour to come over and close the coop door as soon as it got dark.
I can actually go on vacation for a couple of days now without needing anyone to let the chickens in or out.
I never have to get up at the crack of dawn to let the chickens out because they're screaming at the top of their lungs to go outside and play. As soon as the sun rises, so does the coop door.
And as soon as the sun goes down, yup, the coop door goes down too.
Which is a good thing. I had no idea how much was going on out there during the night until I set up security cameras around my house. The coop run has its own camera and this summer alone I spotted raccoons, a groundhog, skunks, opossums and mice all wandering through the chicken run at 3 in the morning looking for an open restaurant.
This door will do more than anything to protect your chickens from predators.
Sorry you bandity little raccoons. The kitchen is closed. Until dawn.
Dave Boyer
I bought one that attaches to your existing slider door up and down called chickenguard. Works excellently. Solar or battery, I use battery being in the shade. Has a timer for open and close desired times or it will dusk to dawn. Best investment so for except for my chickens that is.
Celeste
I can testify to the wonderfulness of the AdorStore Door! Having to get up so early and put them to bed every night was too much like having young children, and I'm way over that shit. ;-)
However, recently, due to the crazy weather/storm coming in, it got dark at like 5pm and I was heading out the door. Didn't see any chickens out, but then again, it was kinda dark. And I'm lazy.
DD informed me in the morning that 4 (out of 9) very bedraggled and irate chickens accosted her when she went out to check on them. She gave them meal worms. That made it all better.
Linda Huenecke
LOVE your blog! Look forward to it even though it often doesn't pertain to my life at all (no chickens, 1970's house) but you do make everything sound fun or at least interesting. You mention in the automatic chicken coop door blog that you installed security cameras on your property. Have you blogged about that? I've been baffled by all the security systems out there and would love to hear what works and or doesn't from someone who seems to have the same (unusual) thought process that I do.
Karen
Hi Linda! I haven't done a post on the security cameras yet. You're right, there are SO many options. Each with different strengths. I chose to go with Arlo wireless cameras. They're not the cheapest solution but they've been pretty pain free in terms of setup and operation. ~ karen!
Audrey
Karen, Did you see the piece CBC Marketplace did on security cameras. Worth watching if your system transmits via internet.
Karen
I'll have a look Audrey! ~ karen
Kelly VanHoveln
My hubby is super-techy and, after researching these expensive doors, he bought an actuator (the part that pushes the door open) and cut a hole in my coop and made that into a door. It. Is. The. Best. Investment a chicken owner could make.
Karen
Yup. They're relatively easy to make! But every once in a while it just isn't worth it, lol. For me this was one of those times. ~ karen!
Jill Southworth
You are so funny!
Erin
Another thumbs up for the automatic door. Our coop is mobile so - like you said - the auto open/close door works even in the middle of a field with no electricity in sight. We used another brand for several years, but when it gave up the ghost this spring, we ordered the Ador. It's a great investment that gives us peace of mind and freedom to be away from the farm after dark.
Karen
It's a GREAT auto door opener! ~ karen!
Nancy Sanderson
I don't have an automatic coop door. Instead I've got Patch and Chloe. They work 24/7 and protect everyone. Only problem is they eat like horses! Given the cost I think the automatic door would have been way cheaper. No personality though, and you can't cuddle a door. :)
Jen
DAMMIT. It's out of stock! :(
Karen
I saw that! There were a few when I linked to them. Try again, I'm sure they'll restock. ~ karen!
Jen
It's like we are on the same wavelength, man. I was just looking at autoclose/open doors online last night. This one looks great!
Darlene E Meyers
Thanks for the chicken post!
Paula
I love my door opener, too and it wasn't expensive. It is rigged up with an antenna up and down thingie and uses 2 timers, one for opening and one for closing. Yours sounds much better but the one have have works for me and the chickens. I love my chicken cam too :)
Mike
This is genius, I've been on my chicken's schedule for far too long!
Claire
Do raccoons/foxes never try their chances in the day? What about in the summer when it stays light out until late at night?
Karen
Those animals are ruled by the sun rising and setting as well so they don't start prowling under after dusk, no matter what time of year. Raccoons will wander around looking for food or water during the day but only if they're desperate. So far no daylight encounters. ~ karen!
Kristin Ferguson Smith
I also think a raccoon couldn't catch a chicken during the day. They can only catch them when they are helpless and asleep. A wakeful chicken is almost impossible to catch.
Karen
I was going to write that, lol! But then I remembered the raccoon I watched snatch a squirrel out of a tree and eat it in front of me this summer. That episode has had me rethinking raccoons and their talent! ~ karen
Kristin Ferguson Smith
I bought the Ladies First automatic chicken door. It is a life-changer! I have lost hens to predators--closing the coop is such a featureless task that it's hard to remember if you've done it or not. Ladies First is a solar-powered door and the same solar panel is also a light sensor for knowing when to close or open. It closes using a turning shaft so predators can't lift it up, even with their clever little raccoon hands. It was also easy to install. My chickens free-range in my back yard during the day, and I built a predator-proof run outside of their tiny little coop, so I simply attached the automatic door to the run. I loooooove this door. But yours looks great too, Karen.
meredith
A fox feeding kits will absolutely hunt during the day. Both parents are constantly in search of food. I lost six chickens in a month to a fox last summer that visited around 11am. I even confronted it several times, getting in between it and a chicken and that wasn't enough of a permanent deterrent. It would always come back. Only locking them up for a solid month convinced it to go elsewhere. Also, I have seen a raccoon wandering around with my chickens in the vicinity of the henhouse, partaking in the cat food, not bothering the chickens in the least.
Ian Anderson
Yup. Auto doors are a total no brainer. Mine is 6v too, so I wired it up to an old phone charger, so now I don't even need to worry about the cells going dead half way through a holiday.
The auto door combined with a 4 week treadle type feeder and a big water tank with nipples, means we can go on holiday for two or three weeks easily and then the neighbour only has to collect eggs and just keep an eye on things. Brilliant for them (and us).
Karen
I do love my treadle feeder as well. The only issue I have with it is making sure their litter doesn't get under the walk pad of it. I keep the feeder on a patio stone. That seems to help a lot. ~ karen!
Hazel
I've thought about one of these but I have ducks too and they are late-night partiers who think they have an infallible predator escape plan so I have to go and shut them in anyway. We have trained them to start shuffling off to their shed when we appear with a torch shouting 'Bed!' at them though, so that speeds things up. The chickens are always on their perches already, chuntering about the noise next door.
Incidentally, the infallible predator escape plan is to sit in the middle of their pond. Which is the bottom of a children's sandpit so maybe not so infallible, hence the need to shut them in...
Laura Lee Mistycah
Yeah Hazel, I hear you on the ducks...they will stay out all night if you let them! (Except for a few time they have shocked us by going to bed by themselves, I thought I was in another dimension!) ...And our "teenage chickens" well, they party after dark cause the motion light goes on hahahaa, we have to herd them in when we are tired of hearing their loud parties in the evening and start the head count. Then we have a few of the older girls that like to sleep on the roof that we have to hand pick off every night. I guess if you have "normal" chickens this door would be worth its wight on gold...but my flock is anything but normal! ;-) (By the way, I have a cute little black banty hen named Hazel , she is a rescue and we love her to pieces!)
Bunguin
I have very naughty chickens who come 'home' to their coop / run but do not go inside it.... they sit on top of it. I have to get them down off the top every. single. night. Or the raccoons will come by and eat them.
Karen has polite chickns who know the rules - I do not.
Carrie
I had this problem with my most recent pullets. I ended up putting chicken wire over the roof of the coop and nest boxes to keep them off. Make sure it kind of poufs up and not flat on the roof or else they will still get up there. Once I took it off a few months later they get up there to preen and then make their way into the coop at dusk. At least they no longer sleep up there!
Karen
Ducks. Always the troublemakers. ~ karen!
Jenny Durling
We've had a solar powered door for our hens for a number of years now. We just added one for our ducks. So far we've not figured out any way to consistently get them easily in at night so that's done manually. In the morning though, they are out that door and into the pond as soon as the door us open enough for them to duck (pun intended) under it!
Jenny Durling
Beckie
I have visions of the mob from Frankenstein coming out after your chickens! LOL...thanks for the unintended chuckle!
Patricia - former chicken owner :(
That chicken coop is a thing of beauty. And the door is genius. It does my heart good to know your chickens are so well cared for.
Linda Ann Smutz
Best invention ever !
Katherine Carino
We invested in an automatic chicken coop door over a year ago and it has changed my life! No more waking up in the wee hours of the morning to get the girls out or fearing that I might forget to close them up at night. Mine goes up at the crack of dawn and closes 20 minutes after sunset. A complete game changer!
Karen
I had NO idea how much my life revolved around the chickens until I got this thing, lol. ~ karen!
Laura
There are virtually no late night party animals that are chickens. There just aren’t. I’ve had a few freethinking chickens that will try and bed down elsewhere, though.
karen tomlinson
This may be a silly question - but do they always go in at dusk? what happens if one is left in the yard after dark, locked out to the wiles of raccoons, skunks & groundhogs.
Karen
They always go in at dusk. They have a primal urge to feel safe (which is why they roost off of the ground when they sleep). BUT if one of them does happen to stay out after dusk, you can program the door for "late comers". It will close at dusk, and a little while later will open and close for any stragglers. :) You an also set the timer on it to come on just before dusk or just after depending on your chicken's habits. ~ karen!
karen tomlinson
Thanks for the explanation. That is one clever door! kt