High-Tech Hen House

High-Tech Hen House LIVESTOCK Poultry 22-3-18 More and more people are going back to the old days of having a few chickens wander around the farmyard. The problem is they're easy prey for predators. Arnold Gorneau, West Chester, Penn., solved the problem by creating a "chicken coop for the 21st century". The high-tech hen house is equipped with an automatic door opener that's operated by a photo cell and timer. The door opens with the sun in the morning to let the birds out and closes them in at dusk. A 1/4-in. thick plexiglass door slides up and down in grooves, powered by a geared down, reversible motor connected to a 120-volt photo cell that mounts on the chicken house roof. A wire runs from the photo cell to a relay and from there to the motor. He attached a 2-in. dia. pulley to the motor, which runs at just 8 rpm's. A cord runs over the pulley to a metal clip on the door. "It really works slick," says Gorneau. "The photo cell catches the first rays of the sun and is the kind that's used to operate night security lights. The entire structure that sup-ports the door, photo cell, and timer is about 4 ft. high. The door itself goes up and down about 14 in." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Arnold Gorneau, 150 Dilworthtown Rd., West Chester, Penn. 19382 (ph 610 399-1263).

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