Chicken Coops for Sale in Fort Riley, Kansas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Fort Riley, Kansas
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 Blueprints in Fort Riley, Kansas
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Fort Riley Kansas" 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 Fort Riley Kansas chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Fort Riley, Kansas With the substantial increase in chicken keeping there has been a just as huge increase in the variety of chicken paraphernalia on sale. Chicken real estate is a situation in factor. It's additionally a timeless instance of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as various would-be fowl housing specialists peddle a variety of cottage claiming to be the suitable solution to your chicken housing demands. Often the cost looks desirable, your house looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Certainly they understand a professional chicken house when they see one? There are lots of economical as well as horrible coops swamping the market. I know this as I've checked a number of them in the area, and seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed pail appeared. The result was only a pricey heap of firewood and also a tiny flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Setup in Fort Riley, Kansas
Usually these mass produced models are built of fast grown hardwood - come the very first decline of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that won't shut, or ripping the door furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking residents. The very first warm and comfortable day suggests the wood dries and also splits, the felt roof covering bubbles as well as boils, and also come nightfall the hens refuse to go in. This is not due to their frustration at the decline of their when attractive residential property yet due to the fact that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and probably crawling with, the poultry caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it said on the blurb that it would suit four big hens when that equipping thickness was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you left with? A couple of joints and some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you around ₤ 300 though this can depend upon whether you elect for a cost-free standing house or one with a run connected. Assuming you are varying your birds in a large space and the pop opening doorway is big enough for the breed you keep, then the main requirements of housing come down to 3 points which will certainly specify the variety of birds your house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and ventilation. A lot of types of chicken will perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch ought to preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot rests easily on it. The perch must be above the nest box entry as chickens will also naturally seek the acme to perch. A perch less than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they generate the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the list below day. They shouldn't however be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries could occur when the bird gets down in the early morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is certainly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in your house they need to be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably the house ought to have a the very least one nest box for each 3 birds and also these must be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of the house. Your house must have appropriate ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly build up every night, even in the coldest of weather condition. Be aware, ventilation works with the principle of cozy air leaving via a high space drawing cooler air in from a lower space - it's not a collection of holes on other walls of your house and also at the very same degree, this is just what's called a draught. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still true, however you ought to also think about the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful stocking thickness for a free variety bird is (and let's encounter it, one of the inspirations for maintaining some hens in your home is potentially boosted or better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close check out a few of the deal residences - it could well be the house has the best perches, correct ventilation as well as adequate nest boxes for a reasonable variety of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to invest the day on? And so as the claiming goes, "you obtain exactly what you pay for". You may assume you've grabbed a deal, but you as well as your flock could rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and it will last for a few decades, otherwise longer provided the right therapy. Eventually your chicken as well as your fowl maintaining encounter will be considerably the better for it.chicken plan
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Burns, Kansas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Blue Mound, Kansas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Centralia, Kansas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Ellsworth, Kansas
Chicken Coops for Sale in Bazine, Kansas