I heard a great joke the other day and I thought I would open with it, to break the ice.
Why do chicken coops only have two doors? Because if they had four, they’d have a chicken sedan!
I can laugh at that because right now our coop has three doors so I mean, a hybrid “luxury” coop, like a hatchback of the poultry palaces.
I am, admittedly, a stubborn, make-do kind of person. So when we first built our coop we did it with whatever we had lying around (no Pin-perfect chicken coop over here, unfortunately).
That meant, that for the last four years, we have been heading out before the sun rises, and sneaking out in the darkest of nights, to open and close the chicken door. Rain or shine, snow, sleet, hail, and even wild thunderstorms. We’ve dodged bats, and run-off raccoons, and even forgot to close the door a time or two.
And then we were asked to review the Chickcozy Automatic Door Opener.
Admittedly hesitant because I was not at all sure how it would hold up to the snow and freezing temperatures, we accepted and let me tell you. We are HAPPY we did.
So, let’s dive into this honest review of our Chickcozy Automatic Door Opener.
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Our Honest Review of the Chickcozy Automatic Chicken Coop Door
Buckle up chicken tender, this is a thorough review as if I were sharing with my best friend (which I certainly did via voice note and about a dozen quick video messages while installing the door).
Unboxing the Chickcozy Automatic Chicken Coop Door Opener
Right away I have to say, I was impressed with the speed of delivery and the quality of packaging. I am a sucker for a good unboxing (even if it’s just the kids and me) so when we got the call from the post office that our package had arrived we were jazzed!
Opening the box felt like being gifted some high-end parcel more than what I had expected of a chicken coop door. I mean, it’s not exactly going to be featured in a neat and tidy spot after all. But no, they spare no expense on the entire experience.
Now, for some that may not be a selling feature, I mean, they could toss it in an oversized box, stuff it with those plastic pillows, and hope that you receive your package with all the bits and pieces and save you a few bucks … BUT, when compared to other automatic doors on the market which are the similarly priced (if not MORE expensive) receiving a package that feels more like a gift is a win in my books.
Not only that, it may seem trivial but the stickers WENT QUICKLY. Way to win over the kids (not just because they no longer have the responsibility of putting the chickens to bed, but they also got a little surprise).
Materials and Mechanics
That’s great, but what’s Chickcozy made of?
I was worried that the plastic wouldn’t cut it. It’s plastic after all, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) to be exact, which is an opaque thermoplastic renowned for its sturdiness and strength. Many of the other doors are made of metal, I worried, would plastic be sturdy enough for our coop, we have fishers and bears in the area.
I was pleasantly surprised, the plastic is STURDY, it won’t rust (obviously) and despite my kids best efforts (of tossing rocks and sticks at the door) it didn’t show any wear and tear.
My other concern was the fact that the doors opened horizontally as opposed to vertically. I wondered if a crafty raccoon might be able to pry open the doors in the dark of the night.
Well, put those fears to rest, when those doors shut, they SHUT.
This is also a HUGE space saver for those smaller coops which would not accommodate vertical clearances. In our old coop, the ones designed for the beginner chicken tender or those who can avoid the pitfalls of chicken math, we would not have accommodated a vertical door.
Now, before you go and get yourself flustered that you might decapitate a hen should she linger in the doorway (how rude!), the sensors prevent the door from closing should there be an obstruction.
Finger, foot, and even a curious cat, tested.
Power Options: Plug-in or Battery Operated
time was a breeze
You can never get too many power choices, if you ask me. And, seeing as our coop is not connected to any power source, we love the option to use a few AA batteries.
Now, before you go thinking I am all praise and no criticism I will say this, because there is the option to run these on battery and we all know that cooler climates can wreak havoc on the longevity of batteries, simply relying on AA power may not be sufficient on the coldest of days.
Good thing we have an extra long extension cord!
Not to mention, there is no audible indicator that the batteries are low (there is a visual one on the coop display), so being in the regular habit of checking the battery level is an essential discipline. We take a peek each week when we clean out the coop and figure we would probably notice if our flock isn’t out and about in the early morning.
One drawback, for those who would prefer an off-the-grid option, the run door is not solar powered BUT, you could easily connect it to a small solar panel and make it “essentially” solar. So, slight drawback, but nothing that would really disqualify this door as a top contender for simplifying your chicken care.
Installation
I may have paused a few extra days on getting this door in because I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to do it solo. Well, I’m here to tell you that even my kids could have installed this chicken coop door.
Not only is it super simple, all you needed to do was drill in a few screws (after cutting the hole) and you were golden. The whole process (jigsaw fiasco and all) took less than an hour. Check it out in this video:
My only hangup, the measurements! Why on earth did they give decimals of inches? I mean, I am pretty good at math but I will admit, trying to measure it out and calculate .4 of an inch was frustrating.
I would have far preferred 10 1/2 inches … but maybe that is being nit-picky.
Then … of course, I realized I need not worry, so long as I was reasonably close it would still work because I attached the entire unit to the outside of the coop thereby covering any miscalculation in cutting.
Automatic Options – When to Open and Close
The Chickcozy Automatic Chicken Coop Door has two options for automated opening and closing, time of day vs amount of light.
While we would generally opt for the amount of light option, we wound up installing the door on the wall that had the overhanging roof to reduce the likelihood that we would find the door buried in snow. That wall happens to be on the south of the coop and the amount of light it receives is FAR LESS than the amount of daylight we actually experience.
As such, we decided that we didn’t want to risk having hens locked out, and chose the time of day settings.
Because we know that we often have straggling hens and the daylight hours are quickly shifting as we enter the winter months, we set the opening to 6 am (yes, it is still dark these days) and 7 pm (again … it is pitch black night) BUT after the winter solstice … these beautiful days will get longer again and we really didn’t want to be resetting the timing more than twice a year (opting for Day Light Savings switches).
Summary: Would I buy the Chickcozy Automatic Chicken Coop Door Again?
I think it’s pretty obvious, as someone who has slugged through all weather to release the chickens, I’m happy with the automatic door! The pros far outweigh the cons (as you can tell, there have been so few).
If I were to narrow down the top two features of the coop door opener (outside of the excitement of unboxing it) it would be how easy it was to install and how it holds to wear and tear and penetration attempts. Being able to rest easy each night knowing that our coop is closed and no critters are getting in is worth its weight in gold.
My biggest hang-up, my turkeys don’t fit through the door WITH the chickens … so if Chicozy could just make a bit of a “barnyard bird” option, a bit larger for those Thanksgiving dinners that never made it to the table … that would be awesome (in fairness, one of my dogs fits through the door though, so my turkeys are just rotund).
If you’re ready to get your Chickcozy Automatic Chicken Door don’t miss out on the 5% discount, just mention the code “farmstead.life” at the checkout! Check it out and let me know what color you chose!
I’d love to know, are you still making the twice-a-day rounds to get the chicken door or have you upgraded to an automatic chicken coop door?
