Chicken Coops for Sale in Georgetown, Louisiana
Chicken Coops for Sale in Georgetown, Louisiana
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 For 10 Chickens in Georgetown, Louisiana
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Georgetown Louisiana" 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 Georgetown Louisiana chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Georgetown, Louisiana With the significant increase in chicken maintaining there has been an equally big surge in the variety of fowl materiel on sale. Chicken housing is an instance in factor. It's also a traditional instance of the good old bandwagon being got on as various potential poultry housing professionals pitch an array of cottage asserting to be the excellent option to your chicken real estate needs. Usually the price looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks desirable, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look eye-catching. Surely they recognize a professional chicken house when they see one? There are several cheap and horrible cages swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've tested a number of them in the field, and also seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed container showed up. The outcome was nothing but an expensive pile of fire wood as well as a small group of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Plans Pdf in Georgetown, Louisiana
Typically these mass produced versions are constructed of fast grown up lumber - come the very first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either blockading a doorway that will not shut, or tearing the door furniture off in a vain attempt to release the squawking citizens. The very first warm and comfortable day implies the hardwood dries and fractures, the felt roofing system bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not due to their dissatisfaction at the decrease of their once attractive home however due to the fact that the hovel is currently a place for, and most likely crawling with, the fowl caretaker's bane, red mite. Add that it said on the blurb that it would match 4 big hens when that equipping thickness was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as just what are you entrusted? A couple of hinges and also some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds must cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you choose for a cost-free standing house or one with a run attached. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a big area and also the pop opening door allows sufficient for the breed you keep, after that the main requirements of real estate come down to three factors which will define the number of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. Most breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost in the evening, this perch needs to ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot rests conveniently on it. The perch should be higher than the nest box access as chickens will certainly additionally naturally seek the highest point to perch. A perch less than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create the most poo) causing soiled eggs the list below day. They should not nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could possibly take place when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is clearly much less), plus if more than one perch is mounted in your home they ought to be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors however are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably your home needs to have a the very least one nest box for every single three birds and also these ought to be off the ground and in the darkest area of the house. Your home must have ample air flow: without it then condensation will certainly build up every evening, even in the chilliest of weather condition. Understand, ventilation works on the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving through a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of holes on other walls of your house and also at the same level, this is exactly what's referred to as a draught. If you have a house with a run attached after that the factors above are still true, but you need to also consider the run size. The EU maximum lawful equipping thickness for a totally free variety bird is (as well as allow's encounter it, one of the motivations for maintaining some chickens in your home is potentially boosted or better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird each 4m settled. Take a close check out several of the deal residences - it could well be your house has the right perches, right air flow and also enough nest boxes for an affordable variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the saying goes, "you obtain exactly what you spend for". You might assume you've got a bargain, however you and also your flock might rue the day you did. Purchase the appropriate house as well as it will certainly last for a few years, otherwise longer given the correct treatment. Ultimately your chicken and also your poultry maintaining experience will be much the far better for it.plans plans
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