“Smart Coop” Monitors Chickens

“Smart Coop” Monitors Chickens LIVESTOCK Poultry David Rubenstein’s high-tech chicken coop began with his quest to keep his Rhode Island Red flock safe at night with a dependable automatic door But with two sons with engineering degrees and his interest in technology the project grew into creating a “smart coop” to remotely control and monitor everything from heaters to environmental elements The coop is in a caged area of a room in a building next to a lake adjoining Rubenstein’s East Troy Wis property It’s perfect for storing boating and other outdoor equipment and provides safe quarters for his flock from predators that live in the adjoining marshland After trying a couple of other ideas Rubenstein installed a 12-volt linear actuator to automatically raise and lower the door “It’s controlled via software called Home Assistant www home-assistant io It goes through the Internet and based on the location and date it’s set to open the door when the sun is 1 degree above the horizon and close the door when it’s 4 degrees below ” Rubenstein says He explains he first used Home Assistant to monitor his home when he went south for the winter With a radio link and parabolic antenna from his house to the coop he can monitor many things connected to sensors on a chicken-shaped circuit board “Things like temperature humidity and gases come through Home Assistant software so I can see them in real-time and graph them for data ” Rubenstein says Smart plugs allow him to turn on 200-watt flat panel radiant heaters mounted on the wall for example Cameras overhead and outside the coop allow him to check on his flock anytime and double-check that the door opened or closed as scheduled Finally the coop has its own computer and backup battery in case the power goes out Rubenstein appreciates Home Assistant’s alerts and features and the high-tech help provided He suggests that poultry producers who aren’t as tech-savvy contact alarm businesses to help them set up systems Rubenstein appreciates that he doesn’t have to get up early to open the coop or be home in time to close it But technology can’t do everything He still needs to feed the chickens gather eggs and clean the coop And though he can protect them in the coop the chickens are vulnerable during the day when they free-range around the property and provide a valuable service—keeping down the tick population It was the primary reason he started raising chickens with eggs as a bonus Technology helps him protect his investment Contact: FARM SHOW Followup David Rubenstein East Troy Wis

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