Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On May 21, 2008, at 8:40 AM, Roy Morgan wrote:

> On May 21, 2008, at 6:04 AM, Gene GeRue wrote:
> > I forgot to say that I built the Taj Mahen chicken door so it could  
> > be
> > automated with a photo cell actuating a small motor. The door is  
> > small
> > and slides up and down in the wall. Faced on the outside with metal.
> > Need Don or Roy to rig up a motor.
>
> Rex Roberts, author of aforementioned book "Your Engineered House"
> had dog doors for his Saint Bernards.  Two doors on hinges with
> weighted ropes and pulleys to close them opened in and out.  Dog or
> cat could just push and go either way.  I wonder if chickens could do
> that  with small sets of doors.

Roy, the issue is safety from predators. The door needs to be coon- 
proof. Which is why I have the outside of metal and the door enclosed  
in the wall sheathing.  The counter-weight is easily doable. I haven't  
the knowledge of how to do the mechanics. I guess some kind of gear?  
Chain driven?

I stopped focussing on it when I considered that sometimes hens, or  
more especially pullets, will sometimes sit on the threshold as it is  
getting dark. If the door came down and she went in, all would be  
fine, but if she backed out or just squatted, which is more  
predictable from chicken brains, then she could be injured. So I guess  
there needs to be a sweep that first swats her behind before the door  
comes down.

I wonder how much time and money one could invest in perfecting such a  
system. Of course the world would then beat a path to our door holding  
out wads of money. Right?