[darrena]

Hi,
With all this talk of foxes and the dark nights closing in I have been considering modifiying my duck house to have an automatic closing door for when it gets dark.
When looking into the cost I established that most systems cost in the region of £150 which is certainly not within my current budget.
I was wondering if anybody either knew of any cheaper alterntives or any plans to make your own door closing system.
Any help is appreciated

Thanks
Darren

[pandora]

I recently bought one, and it cost me £99, and that covered the unit, VAT and delivery. It was the bog-standard one from Ascott Supplies. For the door I went to B&Q and bought a sheet of the lightest cheapest steel they had (£5-ish) and a couple of pieces of window plastic grooves (about a pound each) and that made 2 doors. The doors are hung using nylon builder's string. The weight limit on the door opening unit is 3kg, and I have it opening 4 lightweight homemade doors with no problems.

It is a peace of mind to have it - the whole run is surrounded by electric fencing now, and though I like to check on them at dusk, I feel happy now that the odd night that I cannot be there they should be safe to bed.

[ehs284]

Google ; I tried to make one from a drill; it worked but the change over of direction meant making a circuit board- the best I've found (and I'm copying now) is made from a car radio aerial (£25) and a photocell (£7) both from Maplins. A door can be a plastic chopping board (£4). HTH

[Roughlee Handled]

I you have mains electric us a dusk till dawn sensor. I personally have a battery operated VSO as I know I can TRUST IT.

[darrena]

The problem I have is that my duck house has a convential door with hinges at the side.
I would modify it but I dont have enough height in the duck house to mount a drop type door.
I was considering a slow turn 12v electric motor with some kind of pully system that will pull the door via a cable but the only issue I have is keep the door open and then releasing the door when it needs to be closed, I would also need to ensure I have some kid of motor shut off switch for when the door closed or the motor may burn out!!!

[Roughlee Handled]

The problem I have is that my duck house has a convential door with hinges at the side.
I would modify it but I dont have enough height in the duck house to mount a drop type door.
..............

What about ?


http://www.axt-electronic.de/us/galerie.htm

[darrena]

Thanks for the response Stuart but i'm not sure this will resolve my issue with the convensional side closing door and lack of room.

One thing I did find was a 12-24v linear actuator on ebay for £20 with a 20cm travel.
This should certainly do the job as not only does it shut off at full travel it is reversable as well meaning all i need is a supply, timer, auto reverse polarity switch and a bracket to fix it to the doo and inside of the duck house.

Looks like it may be time to start drawing up some plans

[Kate and her Ducks]

Have to say I would always worry about these with my ducks as they usually need a little nudge into the house at night and I would worry that some would get locked out. Not a problem if your ducks are better trained than mine!

[woodside farm]

I did think about auto doors, but I would go out every night checking that they had worked and everything was away safely 
When my kids lock the chickens away for me I always have to go and check they have done it properly.

Michelle xx

[jo40]

Hi
I have the VSO with a timer. I still, however, have to be up early to open up the nesting box as I have a very noisy hen who's practicing laying (they sleep in it if I leave it open, too messy, dirty eggs-yuck )
I also like to 'check' them every night. OH said 'waste of money', he has a point, but I do think I will appreciate it in few weeks time when it will be dark before I get home from work...
Jo

[darrena]

I was only looking to use this when my wife is at work on a thursday/friday when im home after dark
Will still check them anyway

[ehs284]

Stuart's system will work on a side hung door - modify the final section as a loop or use a weight over a pulley to open and the VSO/motor to close. If you use the aerial method, just fit the aerial horizontally attach to outer edge of door and have a slot for the extending antena. You'll need to measure the movement, but this is easily done.  Have fun.