Chicken Coops for Sale in Seffner, Florida
Chicken Coops for Sale in Seffner, Florida
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 Easy To Clean in Seffner, Florida
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Seffner Florida" 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 Seffner Florida chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Seffner, Florida With the big increase in poultry keeping there has been a just as huge surge in the array of fowl paraphernalia on sale. Fowl real estate is a proceedings in point. It's also a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as numerous potential poultry real estate professionals market a selection of lodging asserting to be the excellent remedy to your chicken housing requirements. Typically the cost looks appealing, the house looks appealing, heck even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Surely they know a quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous affordable and also nasty cages swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've checked a variety of them in the field, and seen a ewe run directly with one when the feed container showed up. The result was nothing but a pricey heap of fire wood and also a small flock of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Yard Ideas in Seffner, Florida
Usually these standardized models are built of rapid grown lumber - come the first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that won't close, or ripping the door furniture off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking inhabitants. The very first warm day indicates the timber dries and also splits, the really felt roof covering bubbles and also boils, and also come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not as a result of their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their when appealing building yet because the hovel is now a haven for, and possibly crawling with, the fowl keeper's bane, red mite. Add on the fact that it said on the blurb that it would fit four big chickens when that stocking thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as just what are you left with? A number of joints as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds should cost you around ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run attached. Assuming you are varying your birds in a huge space and also the pop opening doorway is big sufficient for the breed you keep, then the main needs of housing boil down to three factors which will certainly define the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Most breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost at night, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm large with smoothed off edges so the foot sits easily on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly likewise normally try to find the acme to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is incidentally when they generate one of the most poo) resulting in dirtied eggs the following day. They should not however be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries might take place when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens need concerning 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is certainly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in the house they should be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably the house ought to have a least one nest box for every single three birds as well as these need to be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your home. The house must have sufficient air flow: without it then condensation will certainly build up every evening, also in the chilliest of weather condition. Know, ventilation works on the concept of cozy air leaving through a high gap drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of holes on contrary walls of your house and also at the same degree, this is exactly what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still real, however you ought to also think about the run size. The EU optimum legal equipping density for a complimentary range bird is (as well as let's encounter it, among the inspirations for maintaining some chickens at home is potentially enhanced or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m made even. Take a close take a look at several of the bargain houses - it could well be your house has the appropriate perches, right ventilation and sufficient nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you get just what you spend for". You could assume you've grabbed a deal, however you and your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house as well as it will last for a couple of years, if not longer provided the correct treatment. In the end your chicken as well as your fowl keeping encounter will be much the far better for it.plan chick
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