Chicken Coops for Sale in Biggsville, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Biggsville, Illinois
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 Biggsville, Illinois
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Biggsville Illinois" 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 Biggsville Illinois chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Biggsville, Illinois With the massive boost in chicken maintaining there has actually been an equally huge rise in the array of poultry materiel for sale. Chicken real estate is a case in point. It's additionally a traditional instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as numerous potential fowl real estate experts market an array of cottage declaring to be the perfect remedy to your chicken housing demands. Usually the rate looks desirable, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Surely they understand a top quality chicken house when they see one? There are many cheap and nasty coops flooding the marketplace. I recognize this as I've checked a number of them in the area, and seen a ewe run straight via one when the feed pail appeared. The result was just a pricey pile of firewood and also a little flock of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop With Run in Biggsville, Illinois
Typically these mass produced versions are built of quick grown hardwood - come the very first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either barricading a door that will not close, or tearing the door furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking occupants. The initial warm and comfortable day indicates the hardwood dries out and also fractures, the really felt roofing bubbles as well as boils, and come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decline of their once eye-catching apartment but due to the fact that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and also most likely abounding, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly fit 4 huge chickens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also what are you entrusted? A few hinges as well as 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 elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a huge room as well as the pop hole door is big sufficient for the type you maintain, then the primary requirements of real estate boil down to three factors which will specify the number of birds your house will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Many types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch needs to be higher than the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly likewise naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they generate the most poo) leading to stained eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries could possibly take place when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is obviously much less), plus if more than one perch is installed in your home they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors yet are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally the house must have a the very least one nest box for every three birds as well as these must be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your house. Your house ought to have ample air flow: without it then condensation will certainly accumulate every night, even in the chilliest of weather. Understand, air flow works with the concept of warm air leaving through a high space drawing cooler air in from a lower void - it's not a set of openings on opposite wall surfaces of the house as well as at the same degree, this is just what's known as a draught. If you have a house with a run connected after that the points above are still true, however you must also take into consideration the run dimension. The EU optimum legal stocking density for a cost-free variety bird is (as well as let's face it, among the motivations for keeping some hens at home is potentially boosted or far better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m squared. Take a close look at some of the deal houses - it could well be your home has the appropriate perches, right ventilation and enough nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you obtain exactly what you spend for". You may believe you've got hold of a bargain, however you and your flock might rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house and it will last for a few decades, otherwise longer given the right therapy. Eventually your fowl and also your fowl keeping experience will certainly be considerably the better for it.coops coop
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