Automatic coop door recommendations

[SeaAngler]

What budget freindly automatic coop doors do you recommend?

 

[affacat]

We've owned 5 or so, ranging from 'put together with spare parts' (back when door manufactures all seemed to work out of garages) to the newest one, run-chicken.

We love the run-chicken. It perhaps is my second favorite overall but my favorite is no longer made (it used a cable to pull the door up, meaning it had no downward force other than gravity).

Run-chicken uses a gear. Works great. Probably the easiest to install I've seen.

Don't buy the knockoffs (there are now a bajillion thanks to whatever is going on with Amazon the past year or two).

 

[SeaAngler]

We've owned 5 or so, ranging from 'put together with spare parts' (back when door manufactures all seemed to work out of garages) to the newest one, run-chicken.

We love the run-chicken. It perhaps is my second favorite overall but my favorite is no longer made (it used a cable to pull the door up, meaning it had no downward force other than gravity).

Run-chicken uses a gear. Works great. Probably the easiest to install I've seen.

Don't buy the knockoffs (there are now a bajillion thanks to whatever is going on with Amazon the past year or two).

Does it use a light sensor or a timer? With the sensor should I be worried if it closes when it gets dark and stormy?

 

[swamphiker]

I've been very happy with my Omlet door, you can see my review here as well as others' reviews of different doors here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/categories/automatic-coop-doors.16/

There are cheaper options out there, but I decided that for me it was worth paying a bit more $ for the peace of mind. I have also considered DIYing a door, but the savings weren't large enough to make it worth my extra time and the potentially decreased reliability of the door.

 

[thelox_16]

I have had the Omlet door for over a year and very happy with it.

 

[AnneRaduns]

I have owned two (for different coops) Adorstore coop doors. They are 100% rock solid.

https://adorstore.com

 

[Dreammaker]

Kebonnixs Automatic Door from Amazon. It's the best $100 we've spent. In the past 7 months that we've had it, we've only changed the batteries once. I love that you can set it to open/close based on light and/or time. The only time the door hasn't opened (based on the light sensor) is when it was extremely cloudy and dark out one morning, so we had to manually open it. I can't even blame the door though, as it was very dark out. Otherwise, it's been totally fine. Plenty big for my Brahma too.

 

[affacat]

Does it use a light sensor or a timer? With the sensor should I be worried if it closes when it gets dark and stormy?

It comes set to light sensor, but I'm pretty sure it has a basic timer option.

We live ib the Pacific Northwest so previous light sensors never worked for us... But for some reason the run chicken light sensor does so we haven't used the timer.

 

[Unswydd]

I just purchased the Kebonnix automatic door for my girls. They are 5 miles from me and with gas getting so high I needed to find a solution. I'm confident I made the right choice. I will still go out to the farm as I will have to feed the barn cats and will check on them.
I think I'll go out every morning and night for a week just to make sure things are working smoothly tho. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Dreammaker]

I just purchased the Kebonnix automatic door for my girls. They are 5 miles from me and with gas getting so high I needed to find a solution. I'm confident I made the right choice. I will still go out to the farm as I will have to feed the barn cats and will check on them.
I think I'll go out every morning and night for a week just to make sure things are working smoothly tho. Thanks for the recommendation!

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. Hope it continues to work out for you in the long run. We're still going strong with ours, almost a year into it.