Why does nobody talk about how dumb automatic chicken coop doors are

Bought one of those auto doors last spring for $80 off Amazon. Worked fine for 3 months then got stuck open one night. Raccoon got in and killed 2 of my Barred Rocks before I woke up at 6am. Called the company and they said I should have a backup timer. What good is an automatic door if I gotta babysit it. Anyone else ditch these things and go back to manual?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade73829d ago

Swapped mine for a plain old sliding bolt latch after the same thing happened. Never had a problem since and it cost me exactly zero dollars.

mason_foster6829d ago

Can't beat free and functional.

adam67529d ago

Oh man, I gotta jump in here. Free is great and all, but a sliding bolt latch is definitely not "cost zero dollars" unless you already had one lying around. You still had to buy it at some point, or you got it from a friend or whatever. I mean, I get the point you're making, but it's like saying a sandwich is free if you already bought the bread last week. The real win is having something that works and not having to spend more money right now. Just saying, the math doesn't quite add up if you want to be totally accurate.