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My automatic coop door quit on me at 9pm and I had 11 nervous hens to deal with
Last Tuesday around 9pm I went out to do my final head count and found the automatic coop door stuck half open, which is basically an open invitation for every raccoon in the neighborhood. I stood there in the dark with a flashlight in my teeth trying to figure out if the motor was dead or just jammed, and of course it started raining about two minutes in. Turns out a pine needle had wedged itself in the track and the safety sensor kept reversing the door every time it tried to close, so it just sat there bouncing back and forth. I ended up unplugging the whole thing and sliding the door shut by hand, but not before my barred rock, Nugget, made a break for the garden like she owned the place. I scooped her up, got everybody locked in, and then spent the next hour looking up replacement tracks online while I dripped all over the kitchen floor. Here is the part that bugs me, I had checked that track on Sunday and it looked totally clear, so either the needle fell in after or I just missed it. Has anyone rigged up a backup latch on these auto doors for when the sensor goes haywire, or am I the only one who learned this lesson the hard way?
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christopherwilson7d ago
Pine needles swell up when wet, so it might've looked clear Sunday.
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