Automatic door closers

[Loudbarker1]

I will be getting a few hens again in the not too distant future. When I have kept them before, the biggest irritation is shutting them away at night and opening in the morning. But I have now discovered automatic door openers: (Eg VSB Automatic Chicken Door Opener For Coops & Poultry Houses)

Do people here use them? Ar ethey trouble free? Are they enough to keep the foxes out?
Any specific recomendations (or the opposite) gratefully received.

TIA

[chris]

I have one, haven't set one up yet, but I bought the chuxaway one.

Infact, I'm building a new coop to incorporate it - I'll post some photos up of the auto opener if you like. I bought a sheet of aluminium too, for the door to keep it light weight.

[elizajay]

Got one, couldn't do without it. It has been generally trouble free.

[Harrisonfox]

I've got one although a little expensive.had it for about a year now and last winter was a god send not having to run down the garden when a much needed lay in at the weekends was needed, if you can afford it go for it

[Glutton4...]

I have a VSB - wouldn't be without it! There is no way I'm getting up at 4am in the summer to let my hooligans out. Buy the Aluminium door and runners, too, especially if you can get a deal on the lot. I was going to make my own door, but ended up buying one, as it was easier.

Mine has been in use almost constantly since November 2008, and I have only had to replace the batteries once. Last week, the nylon line snapped; that's the first time I've had a problem with it, and it was very simple to fix.

Worth every penny.

[evoblade]

after a fair bit of research I settled on a titan, I managed to get a great offer on an ex. demo so got the opener plus the proper metal door and runners for less than �80, so was well chuffed,
Titan Automatic Door Opener & DOOR for Chicken House, Hen Houses, Poultry Coops | eBay[URL is the current price, but email them as yesterday they still had at least one ex demo kit left.
If you decide to go for another brand I suggest go digital rather than an analogue timer, just picked this up from my research.
Good Luck

[Loudbarker1]

All,

Thank you very much indeed - sounds like a great investment

[chris]

Got mine hooked up (temp) this weekend. Really good, quite impressed I'd suggest buying the door for it though, the amount of messing around I've had to do to get the door to hit the kill switch at the top of the run was a right nightmare.

I've used cladding for the runners for the door, as I was sick of messing around in the end - but am buying a proper door for it now, in case the cladding warps.

[Stan79]

Hi folks,

I appreciate this is an older thread. Just wondering if anyone has a recommendation for an opener? There are Titans, VSB's, Chuxaways, Dawn til Dusk and Chickenguard models all on eBay. Just after some first hand recommendations!

Many thanks

Stan

[Brom]

Stan,
I've got a ChickenGuard which works fine for me; it certainly beats getting out of bed at the crack of dawn in the summer to let the girls out. I do change the opening and closing times as the days lengthen towards midsummer, but that's a minor chore. I also went mad and bought an aluminium door and runners they work a treat and don't have a tendency to stick in damp weather.
Which one to buy is down to personal choice, how much you want to spend, what kind of a deal you can get etc. I've only got experience of the ChickenGuard so couldn't comment on the others; whichever one you buy I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Brom.

[Stan79]

Thank you. They all seem pretty similar so I'm struggling to understand the price differences!