Door Closer Keeps Chickens Safe

Door Closer Keeps Chickens Safe LIVESTOCK Poultry 30-2-29 After losing half his young flock to raccoons, Mike Bard knew he needed a better way to keep his hens safe. His auto door opener does the trick. "I wanted to be able to let the hens out during the day, but keep them safe at night," says Bard. "With the timer, I don't have to worry about whether I shut them up or not before I go to bed." Putting a timer on the door also means the chickens don't have to wait for Bard to let them out at dawn. He has it set to open an hour before sunrise and close an hour after sunset. "The timer is just a simple calendar timer that I can reset as day length changes," says Bard. "The opener is an electric motor-driven ball screw. Its threaded shaft screws into a nut on the door." Bard hinged the "ball screw" unit to the outside wall above the door. The nut mounts on a hinged bracket on the chicken-sized door to the hen house. As the shaft turns, it draws the nut toward it, lifting the door. After sunset, the shaft turns in the opposite direction, and the nut and door are pushed down and closed. The two hinges allow the mechanism and the door to adjust for the different angles as the door opens and shuts. "The timer and all the wiring are on the inside of the chicken coop," says Bard. "An electrician friend of mine wired it. He wired in a relay that switches the mechanism to forward or reverse to close or open the door." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mike Bard, 6998 5 Mile Rd., East Leroy, Mich. 49051 (ph 269 979-5124; mbard45666 @aol.com).

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