Chicken Coops for Sale in Sitka, Alaska
Chicken Coops for Sale in Sitka, Alaska
Heavy Duty Solar Powered Automatic Chicken Coop Door
When we first got our chickens, each night I’d walk up to the coop & close them in. That worked great until the night I’d fall asleep putting our 3 kids to bed, or start watching a late-night movie, & suddenly OOOOHH SHIT, THE CHICKENS!!! …followed by a guilty run to the coop, wondering if I was about to find sleepy hens or a poultry massacre.
Chickens are a tasty snack for lots of predators. It’s a tough spot in the food chain. Locally we have raccoons, possums, weasels, foxes, coyotes, neighborhood dogs, hawks, eagles, owls… my friend Chris who loves fried chicken a little too much… Raccoons at night were my main concern.
A few months of this started to feel like Russian roulette. Like so many other pet chicken owners, I decided to try building an automatic chicken coop door.
On Youtube there are plenty of automatic chicken coop doors that use string to raise/lower a guillotine-style door, sliding vertically in a track. It’s a safe design — it won’t kill chickens if one gets in the way while closing — but I was worried the door would get jammed from ice & snow.
I wanted something with a direct drive to use with a door that swung up on hinges to open. Here’s what I ended up using:
- 12V linear actuator, 8″ extension, IP65 rated w/ built-in limit switches & mounting brackets: ~
- (2) 12V programmable digital timers:
- 12V DPDT relay w/ base:
- Wiring, inline fuse holder/fuse, terminals: $6
A/C dedicated power option:
- 12V 6-amp power adapter:
A/C with power outage protection:
- 12V 7-amp battery:
- battery maintainer:
D/C solar power option:
- 12V 7-amp battery:
- Low-watt solar panel:
- 12V solar charge controller: (optional)
Total cost: $81 dedicated A/C, $111 A/C battery backup, or $123 solar D/C ($138 w/ charge controller)
Linear actuators use a small motor to move an extendable/retractable arm. The arm moves very slowly with 50 to 200 pounds of force. Get one with built-in limit switches & an IP65 rating so dust/water/ice/snow is no problem — pretty great for chicken coops. There are various lengths for the arm travel distance. I got the 8″ model & it takes about 20 seconds to extend/retract the arm … plenty of time for chickens to move out of the way. Small 12V actuators like these usually have a rating of around ~5 amps, so make sure to use a relay, fuse & wiring that’s appropriate. Also make sure the actuator comes with mounting brackets, or you’ll need to come up with something.
Typically, actuators with higher force ratings mean slower movement. Same goes for the arm extension length — longer extension means your door closes more slowly — more time for chickens to get out of the way.
Next, how to power it. If your coop is near A/C power, you could use a 12V power supply instead of the battery/solar panel. Just make sure the power supply is rated for enough amps to reliably drive the linear actuator motor. Better yet, use a 12V battery permanently hooked up to a battery maintainer & you won’t ever have to worry about power outages.
Our coop is on wheels & we move it around our field far away from A/C power, so I needed it to be self-powered. Linear actuators only draw a few amps so a small 12V battery will do the trick — I had an old one lying around that wouldn’t start the lawn mower anymore, but worked great for the coop door.
To recharge the battery, I used a small 1.25-watt 12V solar panel. Since the panel’s power output is so low, it acts as a trickle charger, & that way you may not need a solar charge controller as long as the panel is in direct sunlight for most of the day. I’d still recommend a charge controller to make sure the panel doesn’t have a net drain effect on the battery in winter or other low-light conditions.
Last challenge was for the door to open in the morning & close in the evening. I went with a simple setup with very low power draw: two programmable 12V timers. The first timer (the “power timer”) switches on twice a day for 1 minute each to provide power to the actuator. The second timer (the “reversing timer”) energizes a DPDT relay concurrently during one of the power timer events to reverse polarity to the actuator. That opens & closes the coop door.
The last piece is a 12V DPDT relay wired as an H-bridge. This relay has 4 sets of /- pins: normally closed (NC), normally open (NO), common, & coil. The coil switches the common between the NC pins to the NO pins. For the H-bridge setup:
- connect your power source (+/-) to the timers’ power inputs. Fuse on the (+) wire.
- both timers: jump power (+) over to the 1st switch pin.
- power timer: connect 2nd switch pin (+) to a NC pin on the relay.
- jump that same NC pin (+) to a NO pin, but with opposite polarity.
- reversing timer: connect 2nd switch pin (+) to a coil pin (doesn’t matter which one).
- connect the linear actuator (+/-) to the common pins.
- connect ground (-) to the remaining open pins on NC, NO, & coil.
If when you’re all done the actuator operates the opposite from what you want, just flip the actuator’s connections to the relay’s common pins.
Next, program the timers so their clocks are set identically. Let them sit for a few days & figure out which timer is faster than the other. Use the faster timer for the reversing timer.
Power timer: set for two daily events (morning & night) of 1 minute each. For example, 6:30AM- 6:31AM and 9:00PM – 9:01PM.
Reversing timer: set to run concurrently with the morning power timer event, so it comes on sooner & stays on longer than the power timer. For example, 6:30AM – 6:35AM. I prefer the morning run so if anything goes wrong it only means the door won’t open (no big deal).
Whenever you change the time, make sure the reversing timer is always just a bit ahead. This way you can have the morning event start at the same time on both timers.
Check the timers after a month. I was surprised to find my timers get about 20 seconds off from each other. To compensate, I set my reversing timer event to stay on for 5 minutes — energizing the relay coil is a very minor drain on the battery. That way my system can run for over a year before I’d have to resync the timer clocks. I change the timer settings 3-4 times a year anyway, to adjust for daylight.
Here’s the whole system in action:
UPDATE: In the video I mention mypushcart.com as a good source for the actuator, but they don’t include mounting brackets. Lately you can find IP65-rated actuators on eBay with mounting brackets included for the same $60 price, with free shipping.
Chicken Coop With Run in Sitka, Alaska
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Sitka Alaska" into any one of the numerous search engines and a wealth of information will pop up. This information will provide links to other websites that will be informative and will provide the right direction for finding Sitka Alaska chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Sitka, Alaska With the significant boost in poultry maintaining there has actually been a similarly large surge in the array of poultry materiel on sale. Chicken real estate is a proceedings in factor. It's likewise a traditional instance of the good old bandwagon being got on as numerous potential poultry housing experts pitch a range of lodging asserting to be the ideal option to your chicken real estate requirements. Typically the cost looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, heck also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Certainly they know a quality chicken house when they see one? There are lots of cheap and also awful cages flooding the marketplace. I understand this as I've tested a number of them in the area, and seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed container showed up. The result was only a pricey pile of firewood as well as a small group of bemused and currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Kits Cheap in Sitka, Alaska
More often than not these mass produced versions are created of rapid grown up wood - come the first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that will not close, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking citizens. The very first warm day indicates the timber dries as well as splits, the really felt roofing system bubbles and boils, and come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not as a result of their disappointment at the decline of their once attractive property yet because the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and probably abounding, the chicken caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it stated on the blurb that it would suit four big hens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you left with? A number of joints and also some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to four birds ought to cost you in the region of ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are varying your birds in a large space as well as the pop opening door is big enough for the type you keep, then the primary needs of housing come down to 3 points which will certainly define the variety of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as ventilation. Many breeds of chicken will perch when they go to roost at night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot sits easily on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box entry as chickens will certainly likewise normally seek the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they generate the most poo) leading to dirtied eggs the following day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the flooring of your house that leg injuries could possibly occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is undoubtedly much less), plus if more than one perch is installed in your house they need to be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your home needs to have a least one nest box for every 3 birds and also these ought to be off the ground as well as in the darkest area of your home. Your home should have sufficient air flow: without it after that condensation will build up every night, even in the chilliest of weather. Be aware, ventilation works with the concept of cozy air leaving through a high space attracting cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a set of holes on other wall surfaces of the house and also at the exact same level, this is what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the points above are still real, however you should also think about the run dimension. The EU optimum legal equipping thickness for a free range bird is (as well as let's encounter it, among the inspirations for keeping some chickens at home is perhaps improved or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m settled. Take a close check out some of the deal houses - it could well be your house has the right perches, appropriate air flow as well as sufficient nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, however will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you get what you spend for". You could believe you've got hold of a deal, however you and your flock could rue the day you did. Purchase the right house as well as it will last for a few decades, if not longer provided the correct treatment. Ultimately your chicken and also your fowl maintaining encounter will certainly be a lot the much better for it.plans chick
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