Installing an automatic chicken door. How and why.
Hello Rob here from the Flanagan Homestead I’m sitting here in front of My chicken coop sheep Barn goat barn and Today I’m going to put a chicken run Automatic door in that will open and Close at night for me to help keep my Chicken safe Most people a lot of people are getting These and putting these in because they Don’t want predators to come in at night I have not had a huge problem with that Because my the opening the chickens come Through where the goats and sheep will Be sleeping and where a pig used to Sleep and then have to crawl through a Little hole there and when I had a big Pig there or the goats there it tends to Keep the raccoons and possums afraid of Coming through and trying to go get Through all those animals plus if There’s mother goats or mother pigs or Whatever then any predator comes in gets Run off but what my problem has been and I had 30 chickens at the start of the Summer and I’m down to two right now Fortunately I sold off a few but the Coyotes have been getting them and the Coyotes are not coming into the barn but What I on many occasions I’m waking up In my my uh bedroom window is up high There and I hear some squawking whatnot Just after sunrise and I look out and I See coyotes running around in the Pasture and snatching up chickens and
Going because they’re grabbing the Chickens that are getting out there Really uh just at daylight and that’s When the coyotes are coming in so this Chicken door is not to keep Predators Out well it is but for me personally This is to keep the chickens in until I Come down and do my chores once I’ve Been down in the morning and been around The barn and done the chores and fed the Animals and checked on them made sure uh The pr the predation stops or seemingly Stops at that point in time so uh I’m Gonna have I’m gonna set this uh chicken Run so that it’ll open up so the Installation is super easy I was just Looking at it basically there’s a few Screws here that you know as long as you Cut the opening right and put it screw It in don’t screw so tight that it Cinches down then uh It’ll be over the door uh you can press A button And to have the door manually open Okay and then so if I wanted to come Down in the morning and just manually Open it I can do that and Also you can close the door doing it Manually now there’s not a clock on here And they say how can you uh do this Automatically there’s a couple buttons That you push here and basically I can push it and get the green button On and then push it again and so it will
Automatically open at that time so after I install this today what I’m going to Do is try to do my chores a little bit Later than normal and then I’m going to Push the button to open the door and set The timer so that will be the time of Day it’ll open up and then likewise It’ll stay open and then I’m I’m going To come back in the evening and I could Do the same sort of process with the red Light which closes the door and it’ll go In there so I was pleasantly surprised When I I saw pictures of it I didn’t Know how strong this was going to be but It looks pretty strong which is uh I’m good I was afraid not that the goats Are going to try to go through it but Like I said I have goats in there and They are right up against where the Chickens go in sometimes and leaning and Bumping up against it but I think this Is going to be strong enough that uh Unless they’re trying to Ram it or break Through it it’s going to hold up Okay you might see I have a little bit Of a unique installation here my Chickens run through this little hole Right here this wood framed box there’s A couple steps they need to go up to go Through it and then they step down on The brick and whatnot and go through There’s a fencing right here okay and This is what keeps the goats and the Pigs and the Sheep on the other side the
Chickens come through here and we’ll Roost on this side so like I said there Used to be a pig that slept right here And that kept Predators from wanting to Come through why am I off the ground a Little bit I have a small hole and this makes it a Little bit harder for baby Nigerian Dwarf goats because I have goats they Tend to want to come through the holes I Can tell you this little hole right here Uh Even an adult Nigerian dwarf can get Through this really easily so the uh the Hole in the fence is much smaller than This door actually is but that’s okay Um and then just by raising it up and Making it kind of a few steps it makes a Little bit harder for the goats to get Through so I’m gonna very simply just Put this on the frame that I already had For the chickens to walk through there’s A little Gap up here I don’t care it’s Not big enough that anything that’s Going to get through they give you a Screws that comes with the package the Directions say don’t use a screw gun Because you’re going to pinch down too Hard for me that just means use the Screw gun and be really careful Um and so we’re going to install the Door [Music] Okay
[Music] There She Goes And back down That’s it for his that’s it for Installation Well that might be the easiest Installation of anything I’ve ever done Basically put six screws in the wall After the hole is already cut you have To have the hole already cut but uh Hopefully this keeps my chicken safe and I’m adding new chickens to the flock Today thanks for joining me on the Flanagan Homestead where Christmas trees Are my business teaching including Horticulture is my job and outdoor Projects are my passion stay tuned to The channel and I’ll keep you updated on How things are going be blessed everyone
