In and of itself this mobile chicken coop is a pretty nice build. There are some additional features lurking inside which you don’t find on most coops. [Neuromancer2701] built-in a set of sensors which can be accessed wirelessly. It makes it a snap to check up on the comfort of the hens without leaving the couch.
At the heart of the sensor system is an Arduino along with an Xbee module. The build isn’t quite finished yet, but so far three sensors have been implemented. A thermistor is used to read the temperature inside the coop. To make sure there’s enough water, two sheets of foil tape were applied to the water reservoir. The CapSense library measures the capacitance between these plates which correlates to the water lever (we’ve seen this type of water level sensor before). And finally, there’s a sensor that can tell if the door to the coop is open or shut.
He’s having trouble automating the door itself. This can be pretty tricky, especially if you go for a super complicated locking mechanism like this one.
Sparkfun sells a JPEG color camera with a serial TTL interface that can hook up directly to the Arduino so you can literally keep your eye on the chickens, Sparkfun SEN-11610.
How do you plan to clean that thing. A better design would allow you to sweep out the bottom of the coop by installing a side door. And the nesting box could have been installed externally to free up more room inside to add perchs.
The nest boxes are external and can be removed/unmounted. The roof can be opened so I figured that give me enough space to clean up the coop. I thought about adding a side door but don’t want the coop to be too drafty.
Unless it cold all the time where you live, drafts are important. The chickens need lots of ventilation.
This is a nice build! Well done. I recently lost my three chickens to a Redtail hawk…
Redtail hawk a.k.a. Chicken Hawk
I say…I say…Boy, you got it all wrong! All wrong I say… -Foghorn Leghorn