My new automatic coop door got stuck open last night and I lost a hen to a raccoon

I bought this fancy auto door from Amazon about 3 months ago and it worked fine until last Tuesday. I came out to feed them at 6am and the door was still wide open, just hanging there. Found one of my Buff Orpingtons dead by the fence with claw marks on her. Turns out the battery connector was loose from all the humidity we've been having here in Florida. I'm going back to a manual latch for now, has anyone else had these auto doors fail on them?

2 comments

2 Comments

wilson.emma1mo ago

...and here I was thinking I was just bad at remembering to close the coop at night. Turns out technology can be just as absent-minded as I am. I went through the same exact thing a few months back with one of those solar-powered models. Door didn't close one night and I lost my best layer, a sweet Rhode Island Red. The moisture here in the south is brutal on those little electronic parts. I ended up finding the circuit board had a tiny crack in the solder from the heat and humidity working on it. So now I'm back to a good old-fashioned wooden slide door and a heavy rock to keep it shut. It ain't fancy but it's never let a raccoon in.

jade321mo ago

I actually read a study from the University of Georgia that said humidity can make electronics fail 40% faster than normal. That little crack in the solder sounds exactly like what they were talking about with thermal cycling in damp environments. Sorry you lost your Rhode Island Red to that, but heavy rocks have been keeping predators out for centuries so that's probably the real smart move.