Chicken Coops for Sale in Mayfield, Utah
Chicken Coops for Sale in Mayfield, Utah
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 Chickens For Sale in Mayfield, Utah
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Mayfield Utah" 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 Mayfield Utah chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Mayfield, Utah With the significant rise in chicken maintaining there has been a just as large increase in the range of poultry materiel on sale. Poultry real estate is a proceedings in point. It's also a classic instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as various potential poultry real estate experts pitch a variety of cottage declaring to be the optimal option to your chicken real estate requirements. Typically the rate looks desirable, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks appealing, heck also the clean-cut family standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Certainly they understand a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are many low-cost as well as nasty coops swamping the marketplace. I understand this as I've tested a variety of them in the field, and seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed pail appeared. The outcome was only a pricey pile of fire wood and also a tiny flock of bemused as well as now homeless bantams.
Baby Chicks For Sale in Mayfield, Utah
Typically these standardized models are built of rapid grown up hardwood - come the first decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a doorway that will not close, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to release the squawking inhabitants. The very first cozy day implies the hardwood dries out and also cracks, the felt roof covering bubbles as well as boils, as well as come nightfall the hens choose not to enter. This is not as a result of their disappointment at the decline of their as soon as eye-catching commercial property but due to the fact that the hovel is now a sanctuary for, and possibly abounding, the chicken keeper's bane, red mite. Add that it stated on the blurb that it would certainly suit four huge chickens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and exactly what are you entrusted? A number of joints and also some kindling. A good coop for thee to four birds should cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this can depend on whether you choose for a free standing house or one with a run connected. Presuming you are varying your birds in a big area and also the pop hole doorway allows enough for the type you maintain, then the major demands of housing boil down to three factors which will certainly define the number of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes as well as air flow. The majority of types of chicken will perch when they visit roost during the night, this perch must ideally be 5-8cm large with smoothed off sides so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch needs to be above the nest box entrance as chickens will certainly also naturally search for the highest point to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they generate one of the most poo) resulting in stained eggs the following day. They shouldn't however be so high off the flooring of the house that leg injuries could happen when the bird comes down in the morning. Chickens require about 20cm of perch each (in little breeds this is clearly much less), plus if greater than one perch is mounted in your home they should be more than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird in front. Preferably your house needs to have a least one nest box for every 3 birds as well as these ought to be off the ground as well as in the darkest location of your house. Your house needs to have sufficient ventilation: without it then condensation will certainly develop every evening, even in the coldest of weather condition. Know, air flow works with the concept of warm air leaving through a high space attracting cooler air in from a reduced gap - it's not a set of holes on other wall surfaces of the house as well as at the exact same level, this is what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run affixed after that the factors above are still true, but you need to additionally think about the run dimension. The EU maximum lawful stocking density for a cost-free range bird is (as well as let's face it, among the inspirations for maintaining some hens at home is potentially boosted or much better well-being) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m made even. Take a close check out a few of the bargain homes - it could well be your house has the best perches, appropriate air flow as well as ample nest boxes for a reasonable 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 claiming goes, "you get what you pay for". You might believe you've grabbed a deal, however you as well as your group can rue the day you did. Purchase the ideal house and it will certainly last for a few years, if not longer provided the appropriate treatment. In the long run your poultry and also your poultry keeping encounter will certainly be much the far better for it.chick chick
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