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Comment by xavxav | Hacker News Reader

A project I've always toyed with in my head is a fancier version that would count / verify the checks have all entered the coop at closing time and warn you if not. With my parents coop occasionally a chicken will decide to brave the night outside, often to disastrous consequences.

Figuring out how to build a low-energy version is challenging, but necessary since the whole system runs off small solar panels and a 12v battery.

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I would suggest that you don't need to count the chickens. You could also just verify that none are left out. There are presence sensors (such as the ones that turn lights on when someone comes into a room, or off when everyone is gone). If you had one that worked on chickens pointed into their run, you could close the door when there are none left (plus a time cutoff if Henrietta really wants to keep her trist with the raccoon).

I haven't played with rfid tags or bluetooth beacons myself but I could imagine a solution build around one of the two technologies. I think it should consist of an entry tunnel with two sensors, one at each end. The tunnel and the two sensors could be used to determine the direction the chicken goes. It the chick first triggers the inner and then the outer sensor it is checked out and when it goes the other way its checked in.

I had that problem with the camper chickens (that end up getting eaten by raccoons) and also sometimes additional guests like possums or skunks would enter the coop.

In the end I always closed the coop at night manually and let the auto coop door open in the morning, that way I could sleep in in the summer.

Next level of coolness would be a full coop monitor with non-chicken intruder detection. Alas, all my chickens have passed on by now so it'll remain a fantasy.

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