Chicken Coops for Sale in Long Beach, Mississippi
Chicken Coops for Sale in Long Beach, Mississippi
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 Reviews in Long Beach, Mississippi
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Long Beach Mississippi" 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 Long Beach Mississippi chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Long Beach, Mississippi With the huge increase in poultry keeping there has actually been an equally large increase in the array of poultry stuff for sale. Poultry real estate is a situation in factor. It's additionally a classic example of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as various potential fowl housing experts market a selection of holiday accommodation declaring to be the suitable remedy to your chicken real estate requirements. Commonly the cost looks appealing, the house looks appealing, hell even the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Certainly they know a quality chicken house when they see one? There are several cheap and unpleasant coops swamping the market. I recognize this as I've examined a variety of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run directly via one when the feed container appeared. The result was only a pricey heap of firewood and also a little group of bemused and also currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Setup in Long Beach, Mississippi
Usually these mass produced models are constructed of fast grown up lumber - come the very first decrease of rainfall they swell, leaving you either defending a door that won't shut, or tearing the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking inhabitants. The first warm day implies the timber dries and also cracks, the really felt roofing system bubbles and also boils, as well as come nightfall the hens refuse to enter. This is not because of their dissatisfaction at the decline of their as soon as desirable commercial property however because the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and most likely crawling with, the fowl caretaker's nemesis, red mite. Add on that it said on the blurb that it would certainly match four huge hens when that stocking density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and also just what are you entrusted? A few hinges and some kindling. A good coop for thee to 4 birds must cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you choose for a totally free standing house or one with a run connected. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a large space as well as the pop hole door allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the major requirements of housing come down to three factors which will certainly define the number of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. A lot of types of chicken will certainly perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch should be higher than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly likewise normally seek the highest point to perch. A perch below that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they produce the most poo) leading to soiled eggs the list below day. They shouldn't nevertheless be so high off the floor of your house that leg injuries could occur when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in tiny types this is clearly less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your house they should be more than 30cm apart. They will certainly hunker up with their neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably your house should have a least one nest box for each three birds and also these need to be off the ground and in the darkest location of your house. Your home needs to have appropriate air flow: without it then condensation will certainly build up every evening, also in the coldest of climate. Understand, ventilation deals with the concept of warm and comfortable air leaving with a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a set of openings on opposite walls of your house and at the very same level, this is what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still real, but you need to additionally take into consideration the run size. The EU maximum lawful stocking density for a totally free variety bird is (as well as let's encounter it, among the motivations for maintaining some hens in your home is perhaps enhanced or much better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m made even. Take a close check out some of the deal houses - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, appropriate air flow and sufficient nest boxes for a practical variety of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to spend the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you get what you pay for". You might assume you've got hold of a deal, but you and also your group can rue the day you did. Acquisition the best house and it will certainly last for a few decades, otherwise longer provided the correct therapy. Ultimately your fowl as well as your chicken keeping encounter will be considerably the much better for it.plan chickens
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