Chicken Coops for Sale in Early Branch, South Carolina
Chicken Coops for Sale in Early Branch, South Carolina
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.
Baby Chick Hatcheries in Early Branch, South Carolina
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Early Branch South Carolina" 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 Early Branch South Carolina chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Early Branch, South Carolina With the huge rise in poultry keeping there has actually been an equally huge rise in the array of chicken materiel on sale. Fowl real estate is a situation in factor. It's likewise a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being got on as numerous would-be poultry real estate professionals pitch a variety of accommodation claiming to be the excellent option to your chicken real estate demands. Often the cost looks desirable, your house looks attractive, hell also the clean-cut family members standing there feeding the chickens look desirable. Surely they know a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are several cheap and also horrible coops swamping the marketplace. I know this as I've tested a variety of them in the area, and seen a ewe run straight through one when the feed pail appeared. The outcome was only an expensive heap of fire wood as well as a small flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Roost Ideas in Early Branch, South Carolina
Most of the time these standardized designs are constructed of rapid grown lumber - come the initial drop of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that won't close, or tearing the doorway furnishings off in a vain effort to release the squawking inhabitants. The very first warm and comfortable day suggests the hardwood dries as well as splits, the felt roofing system bubbles and boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens choose not to go in. This is not due to their frustration at the decrease of their as soon as eye-catching home however because the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and also most likely crawling with, the fowl keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add the fact that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly fit four huge chickens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, as well as what are you entrusted? A few hinges as well as some kindling. A suitable coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend upon whether you elect for a complimentary standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a huge space and also the pop opening door allows sufficient for the breed you maintain, after that the major requirements of housing come down to three factors which will specify the number of birds the house will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and air flow. A lot of breeds of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost at night, this perch must preferably be 5-8cm vast with smoothed off edges so the foot sits pleasantly on it. The perch ought to be above the nest box entry as chickens will also naturally try to find the highest point to perch. A perch lower than that will have the birds roosting in the nest box over night (which is by the way when they produce the most poo) leading to stained eggs the following day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries can happen when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens require concerning 20cm of perch each (in small types this is certainly less), plus if more than one perch is set up in your home they ought 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 your house must have a the very least one nest box for every single 3 birds and also these must be off the ground and in the darkest area of your home. The house should have ample ventilation: without it then condensation will build up every night, even in the coldest of weather. Know, ventilation works on the concept of warm air leaving via a high void drawing cooler air in from a lower gap - it's not a set of holes on other wall surfaces of your home and at the very same degree, this is exactly what's called a draft. If you have a house with a run connected then the factors above are still real, however you should likewise consider the run size. The EU maximum lawful stocking density for a cost-free range bird is (and allow's encounter it, one of the motivations for keeping some hens in your home is possibly boosted or much better well-being) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird each 4m made even. Take a close look at several of the deal houses - it could well be the house has the best perches, correct ventilation and also sufficient nest boxes for a sensible variety of birds, however 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 just what you spend for". You could assume you've got hold of a deal, however you and also your flock can rue the day you did. Acquisition the right house and it will certainly last for a few decades, if not longer given the right therapy. Eventually your fowl and your fowl maintaining encounter will certainly be considerably the better for it.chick diy
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