My automatic chicken door got stuck open last night and I almost lost a hen to a raccoon

Woke up at 3am to a ruckus in the run and found my auto door had jammed halfway up. A raccoon had pushed its way under and grabbed one of my Rhode Island Reds. I scared it off but she's got a nasty gash on her leg. The door is a cheap model I bought off Amazon about 8 months ago. I ended up taking the whole thing apart this morning and greasing the track with some cooking oil. Has anyone else had their auto door fail in the middle of the night? I'm thinking about just building a manual slide door instead.

2 comments

2 Comments

blairwhite1mo agoMost Upvoted

I had the same thing happen with a cheap Amazon door, it failed after 6 months and a possum got one of my hens. Greasing the track helped for a bit but the motor eventually burned out anyway. If you build a manual slide I'd use a heavy wood plank with a counterweight so it drops hard and fast.

fox.jesse1mo ago

That sucks, man, sorry you had to deal with that at 3am. My cheap Amazon door did the exact same thing last winter, motor started grinding and the door got stuck halfway right at dusk. Had to run out there with a flashlight and a broom. The cooking oil trick works for a few weeks but then the dust and dirt just makes it sticky again. If you go manual, I'd drill a hole through the plank and use a pin or bolt to lock it in place at night. Way less headache than trusting electronics not to fail when you're asleep.