One of the pitfalls of modern engineering is that it’s entirely possible to end up in a situation where a product or solution has been designed by someone who has never left a desk. Which wouldn’t be a problem if things didn’t have a tendency to work differently in real life than they do in theory.
One of those things is automatic chicken coop doors, which have to operate reliably in not only a wide range of climates but with a number of possible physical limitations as well. [Vinnie] has taken on the challenge of building one which actually accomplishes all of these tasks, after realizing that the off-the-shelf solutions were victims of design over practicality.
[Vinnie] designed this door to be operated by the one thing that’s always 100% reliable: gravity. A linear actuator lifts the door at the beginning of the day, and then at night it’s allowed to fall back down in its track. A latch secures it against smarter intruders like raccoons. [Vinnie] has found that this lifting mechanism holds up much better in mud, snow, ice, and other difficult conditions than any other method he’s tried so far.
The system is built around a ATmega1284P, and calculates the sunrise and sunset times each day to know when to open or close the door. He’s built the system as a state machine which makes it more robust during power outages, which is a necessity since his chicken coop is mobile and is frequently out of range of WiFi and is battery powered.
The approach [Vinnie] takes to automation is something that has application outside of his own farmstead. Using state machines instead of schedules, ensuring the design is as simple as possible and works within its environment, and minimizing reliance on electric and data infrastructure can go a long way to solving problems that might not appear when designing something on paper.
He’s been automating many other things on his farm as well, and it’s worth checking it out if you haven’t seen it already.
Just because you used an ancient AVR in DIP case and crap screw terminals doesn’t mean it’s reliable.
The software design and simple hardware for the door are the reliability factors here, I suspect almost any circuit board in a proper weathertight enclosure would work just fine.
No, but the angry chicken logo does however.
I don’t think it’s angry, I think it’s dabbing. Which is… a choice.
i love the Atmega1284! I’ve specially got my I2C bootloader to work on it because it has so much RAM! A bit AVRs make for great I2C slaves for offloading things like serial line parsing from a beefier master.
https://github.com/judasgutenberg/twiboot_for_arduino
Nor the opposite…
There are simple latch mechanisms that allow vertical travel when the door is pulled by the rope, but block opening when trying to push the door is open from below. For instance:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-make-a-sliding-self-locking-and-predator-proof-chicken-coop-door.75906/
If it works, it works, there are may options to make things work.
Yet for centuries farmers have manually opened and closed their chicken coop doors, that worked fine. The chicks liked it as they could see the farmer at least twice a day which makes them feel less lonely and more appreciated and considering the fact that the farmers need to feed those chickens anyway, grab some eggs etc. combining those actions was a very efficient daily routine. I have had chickens for years, they are interesting little creatures with a mind of their own. Anyway, why would you want to automate this action? Because you can is one option, but if it needs to be reliable… do it manually as you can spot problem while they occur, not a few days later when you noticed the hatch didn’t open and all the chickens are dead inside. Or that the hatch didn’t close properly because there was a chicken stuck between the hatch which wouldn’t open either because the stuck chicken caused the hatch to permanently jam.
But if you “have zero interest in babysitting chickens” (as mentioned on the project website), why bother to have chickens, animals require attention and dedication, they are not egg laying machines, they are living animals that deserve your attention. If opening and closing a hatch everyday is too much trouble, perhaps chickens are not for you.
Regarding the project, from a technical perspective I do see the appeal, but when looking at it from that same perspective, why not go one step further and make some really nice (sideways sliding) doors, star trek style doors, that open and close for chickens only on the appropriate time.
Phsss…. phssss. How cool would that be?
And when it’s time and with enough power, you can even slice the chicken for preparing it.
I agree with you on all points….but I still automated my chicken door (I used to use gravity, but switched to a rack & pinion, because it’s impossible to force open by predators, unless they’re nearly as strong as a human).
There’s two basic reasons I did so:
1) because the chickens want to rise when the sun does, and that time changes every day. I didn’t want them locked in the coop until such time as I found it convenient to let them out. For example, their coop is set to open at 6:46am today, and while I’m up, I’m actually already working. If I have to take a call, I don’t want them stuck in there while I’m on a 4 hour call with developers. Similarly, it closes on it’s own (7:43pm today), and I know they’ll be secure, even if I’m not home.
And 2) an automated door means I can go on vacation if I want, and just have a friend drop by to refill feeders/water, collect eggs, and snuggle birds.
So, yes, I agree that if your goal is to never interact with the birds, you should just buy frozen chicken from the store, and half the reason to keep chickens (or any livestock) is to enjoy their company. But there are quite valid reasons to automate some processes.
Honest question: When the door closes at 7:43pm, how does it know all the chickens are inside? I mean, the whole point of opening it during the day is to let them out, right? Are they just so programmed by centuries of evolution that it’s unthinkable one would have failed to return to the coop before the door closes? (Again, I’m genuinely asking out of ignorance. I grew up in NYC; f— do I know about how chickens operate?)
They WILL all be back in the coup. They have to get into their roosting position while they can still see. If the door closes too early, straglers will be locked out. That is a door timing problem, not the chicken. Hence… through automation, you can choose a time that tracks sunset. Or even do sunset + 15m just to make sure. Even Alexa routine allows this. Sunset is recalculated every day.
A real PITA if a simple clock timer is used. Some simpler doors sold are this way. You will be frustrated by constantly changing the door closing times. And if you get it wrong, chickens will be locked out.
This, exactly. In the 10 years I’ve had chickens, and the 9 since I’ve automated the door, I’ve only had a chicken miss the closing time once, and that’s because she was broody and was laying in a non-coop location.
Their coop is actually in shadow for the evening, so they always end up going in a solid 30 minutes before sundown.
My ESP8266-based door queries for sunrise/sunset times every day, and bases the open/close times on that, so it’s always up to date. I briefly considered adding a light sensor to also take light levels into account, because that’s really the driving factor for when chickens will head home to roost, but found it unnecessary.
“the chickens want to rise when the sun does” you certainly have a good point there. Suddenly I do feel a bit guilty for my own chickens all those years back. Don’t have chickens any more, but they are wonderful little creatures and the point that you made here actually convinced me that this could indeed be an improvement to their well being.
“Yet for centuries farmers have manually opened and closed their chicken coop doors, that worked fine.”
“Anyway, why would you want to automate this action?”
You must be new here.
I made one with a modified servo that pull a string around a spool, it check the light condition. I had one defective photoresistor that didnt like foggy condition. Now it is working without failure for 6 month including ice and snow. It is simply based on promicro 5v, and I would like to do it with a msp430 to extend the 4xnimh battery currently 6 months. My door is roughly 1 Kg (corrugated steel) and no latch is required the servo’s gearbox is enough to avoid the door falling by it’s own weight.
I check if my chicken are inside almost every night, on 1 year of service the chickens where outside only 2 times (very cloudy/rainy days). It realy help on winter when I leave for work early and for short holidays.
Bought an automatic coop door. It was supposed to stop closing at 2 inches, raise to 4 in., then close. It was programmed incorrectly. It closed, raised 2 in, then 4 in., then closed. Result, chicken with a broken neck. Replaced with a manual human activated door with a magnetic switch light to remind me to close the door at night should I get distracted.
I’ve built almost exactly similar gravity doors, with latches, and linear actuators and pully systems. The actuator travel available doesn’t always equate to the door travel required. I have two coups. One is run by my home ISY-94 controller. A feedback module with magnetic door contact is used that confirms door closure. If not closed when expected, a chime rings inside the house. Note… the auto-door is to allow chickens out into the RUN, not into the yard where they are susceptible to predators!!!
My second coup, I simply use Alexa routines. Yeah… cloud control and prone to disruption. But has been quite reliable. It fails only when power fails.
Wyze camera (cheap and simple) provides for visual proof, and that all is well in the coop.
E. Rodommoc… Your comments are too emotional. Nice thing about chickens… They just want to be left alone to scratch and peck… and when satisfied… do their dust bath. Relaxing to watch. This is what I LIKE about having chickens. Just provide for necessities and they take care of themselves. Food replenishment, auto water top up, heated water for winter, auto chicken run door, and yes, leave them be for a couple days so get away. Not bound for daily support like some livestock. Automation allows freedom for the human.
Unless you have a Salmon Faverolle, and then you have a bird that’s more like a puppy, who will stop what they’re doing the moment they see you. It’s adorable, unless you’re trying to get work done in the yard.
Chicken tractor with boundary limits and inside cam-CV that drives the coop where the most chickens want to go. At dusk it returns to base in a garage, door closes and the ultimate in poultry protection!
It’s amazing how much perfection is spent on poultry punctuality. Sourcing online data that stone circle people knew, instead of maybe 20 or 30 time increments on a table clocked out over 6 months. It’s not like we’re on some celestial random events schedule. Right now 4 people aren’t in that earthly clock-realm, the rest of us are.
Purdue sent eggs into space unfortunately they got scrambled and fried. A later shuttle flight and we had space chickens to show the world.
Why not a LDR to open and close by luminosity instead of hours?
I’m using a super hacky hen coop door opener for year on the same absent battery.
This is a long wire going from the coop door to my house.
Just pull it and the hen are free.
No risk of getting your shoes dirty before leaving to commute.
How about closing?
Well, you need to feed the hen and to take the eggs, so… olny need your hands.