Question about those fancy automatic chicken coop doors

Honestly, I wasted $80 on a solar-powered automatic door last spring that stopped working after two weeks of rain. The motor just gave out and my girls were stuck inside until I noticed. Anyone else had better luck with a specific brand or should I just stick to manual?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_sanchez4523d ago

Oh man, automatic coop doors are the biggest tease in chicken keeping. Mine died after a few weeks too and I felt like such a fool standing there with a screwdriver trying to zap it back to life like some kind of backyard electrician. I swear these things are designed by people who have never seen a raindrop before. My manual door has never failed me once, but I STILL keep looking at those fancy ones online like maybe THIS time will be different. Classic me, ready to get burned again for $80.

the_sage23d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you mean I’m not supposed to be an amateur chicken door engineer every spring? (I’ve got the screwdriver scars to prove it, honestly.) My fancy one died mid-summer last year and I found my birds just hanging out in the yard like it was no big deal, so I guess they were more prepared than I was. I’m convinced those things are built by people who’ve only ever seen a chicken in a grocery store.

reese_bell23d ago

Is it really that serious though? @ruby_sanchez45 you're acting like the door failing was some kind of betrayal when your chickens just shrugged it off and went about their day. Seems like we're the ones making it complicated.