My only qualm is that i have pekin ducklings brooding currently and I’m afraid they may get too fat to use the door. This was the best solution i found, and a very reasonable price IMO. My coop is too far from my house to run electric to it. I browsed automatic doors for several weeks before I bought this - as i was having a hard time finding one that wasn’t too pricey with a power source. I love that you’re able to do timer or light or a mix of both, super handy! My girls figured it out easy enough after they investigated the new door initially (as all chickens - they’re nosy af lol) I just had this small door completely closed off before, we didn’t use it. it’s pretty straightforward! Once you figure out the display, you can see what works best for you. I watched several videos and didn’t need to keep going back to them during install. anyway! I consider myself fairly handy, but this was simple to install. I added this to my coop so i wouldn’t have to rush out to the coop first thing in the am. I would definitely recommend the door to any chicken owner who wants to reclaim so sleeping time! You can close the door by setting the mode to closing using the phot sensor and covering it but thats too much effort so I just block the door as I did before I added the automatic door. It would have been better if there was also a button to close the door so I could block them out when cleaning. Its great having a button to open the door on command because sometimes i find its partially open. I'm REALLY glad I did this because I can easily pull the plywood with 2 screws and bring it into the shop to clean/service/test. I mounted the door and controller onto a separate piece of plywood so I could verify it worked in my shop and simply screw in the working assembly wityh 2 screws into the coop outside. You do have to inspect the door for obstruction as it doesn't take much debris in the track to hamper its operation. The chickens and I love the automatic door as I dont have to get up at the crack of dawn everyday and the chickens dont have to wait for me. Easy install, timer and light sensor options, super quiet operation and excellent battery life so far. Not a deal breaker for me and I’d definitely recommend this to anyone. You then have to reprogram again to close at your usual time. I wanted to close the chickens in last week while I changed some fencing and had to reprogram the unit to close the door. That said, I have one issue - there is no override to manually close the door in between your programmed open and close time if necessary. What the description does not explain is that the unit displays the current light level with a numeric figure and allows you to program the light level required to open and the light level required to closed so I think I could have mounted this on the outside without issue and just programmed it to open at a lower light level! I was concerned the sensor may not get enough light in the morning so opted to run it on the timer function. ![]() I had decided and designed the coop around mounting this inside rather than out because my back yard (I have city chickens) is very shaded and the door would face west. Battery life, I’m sure, will drop more quickly once winter sets in. ![]() Battery indicator shows 70% battery life after two months but we haven’t had any temperature much below freezing yet. I went out every evening for two full weeks to watch it close on time and it has never failed in the two months I’ve owned it. ![]() I did a lot of research and decided to purchase it for my new coop and I haven’t regretted it for a second. I really hesitated on this purchase because it was (in my books) quite a substantial investment.
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