Weekend projects: Chicken Squisher 3000
lcamtuf.substack.com
lcamtuf.substack.com
But this is a nice reminder that I've been meaning to automate the door. It gets dark earlier than I expect and so far I've been lucky that the raccoon that was showing up at dusk and climbing into the run has taken a hiatus for now.
Have a couple car window actuators. Just need to remember to pick up some solar cells from Amazon since it's too far from the house to run power.
I've stayed in houses that were less nice than this coop!
[1] https://www.omlet.us/shop/chicken_keeping/automatic_chicken_...
Five days after installing it (and thus enabling the chickens to access the outer yard) they were carried away by predators. The 8ft+ wire yard fence didn't extend far enough into the ground to prevent something from tunneling under it.
This was back in COVID times and the exterminators said the infestation was made much more severe than normal because all the restaurants in the area were closed down and the usual rat food sources disappeared forcing the rats out into the residential neighborhoods. Some of the rats never left and, even today, we are still having to trap them.
Fun times.
Power windows in cars often come with automatic reversal mechanisms, which are designed to detect obstructions and prevent the window from closing on them. I don't see mention of such a safety feature here, though.
Maybe making the Chicken Squisher 3000™ close very slowly would reduce the likelihood of a squish event? In the video, it's not like the door slams shut, but it's not slow.
Or maybe chickens, dumb as they are, have quick enough reaction speed that the danger of squishing is negligible.
That being said, if this is a problem, you could just switch to ducks. As my rancher friend often says "ducks are much better at not-dying."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscovy_duck#/media/File:Musco...
I think the OP may have mitigation (or at least the possibility to mitigate).
This looks like an open-loop system (eg, the MCU doesn't know where in the swing the motor is), which makes it a bit more difficult. But it looks like they have limit switches.
Not quite sure how it determines the point to go to 100% power, but I assume it's a timing thing. I can't think of a good way to determine the difference between "chicken neck stuck in door" vs "snow / ice preventing door from closing" without some sort of position feedback.
I suppose you could have a timeout -- it gets 3 seconds at high power, and if it hasn't triggered the door close limit switch, it opens completely, then tries again. This would probably be ok, as long as 100% power doesn't decapitate the chicken...
As a chicken enthusiast and chronic over-builder, I'd love a tour of that coup and its features!
Do the predators never attack during the day?
Yes - they are remarkably consistent in following the sun. Most automated doors wait until well past dusk, after which all the birds are up.
> Do the predators never attack during the day?
Raccoons and hawks are the predators I have had to worry about the most. Of them, raccoons are primarily nocturnal, and hawks are best dealt with by having plenty of covered spaces in your run and a rooster to watch the skies.