Whether you’re looking to add an automatic chicken coop door for functionality or convenience, it will bring both to the table. The Omlet Chicken Autodoor runs on batteries and can be on a timed or light setting. Read more about why we wanted one in our coop and you should too!
We were sent an Automatic Chicken Coop Door for review from Omlet. All opinions are our own.
Last year, on a whim, we decided that we would get chickens. Ok, it was actually a family discussion that we had had a few months and we kept kicking around the idea.
Then, while Sophia was participating in a 4-H Speech Contest, they announced the next upcoming event – the Chick Chain Project. I knew there was no more thinking about it. This was the final “maybe we should get chickens” push. We signed up the next day and waited for our chicks!
Turns out, they arrived just 2 days after the pandemic shut down school – kind of cool timing. That way the girls were here all day every day to bond and learn how to take care of chickens. We were all totally new to all of this!
I’ll share more of our chicken story later in my Backyard Chickens series – there’s plenty of chicken drama, chicken math, and chicken mama newbie stories – but today I’m ready to share with you one of the coolest chicken coop accessories that we’ve just installed… an automatic chicken coop door!
While there are many reasons you could want an automatic chicken coop door, I’m going to share our top 3 reasons we wanted an .
Coop Security.
Security was the biggest reason we wanted an automatic chicken coop door by far. While I often hashtag our chicken photos on Instagram with #backyardchickens, our coop isn’t actually in our backyard. In fact, it’s 8 miles away from our house!
We live in the city limits and aren’t allowed to have chickens. So our coop is actually at my in-laws house. They have plenty of space, farm land, and a perfect place to house our chickens. They enjoy watching them and they get plenty of farm fresh eggs too.
While they have done so much for our chickens in the past year, including putting them in and out of the coop every day, we decided that it would be much easier on them to have an Omlet autodoor on our coop. Since they are retired, they don’t always want to get up quite as early as the chickens do – so this is a huge plus for them.
Then security comes in, mostly at nighttime. Again, since we can’t physically go shut the coop door every night, it’s nice knowing it is shut with the automatic door. We definitely know that we have lots of predators in the woods around our coop – raccoons, coyotes, minks, etc – so this is a huge reason we wanted the Omlet autodoor.
Having an automatic chicken coop door is convenient.
Apart from security, the convenience of an autodoor is the next biggest selling point for us. Again, it’s not that hard to go and open and close a chicken coop door everyday, but when you’re not near the coop all of the time, it is more of a hassle.
It’s also great knowing that when you’re away from the coop – either a late night soccer game or even on vacation – the chickens are inside the coop and safe.
And the same goes for in the morning. Want to sleep in on the weekends? The Autodoor has you covered! Whether you’re opening up to free range or just to a chicken run, your chickens will be happier to be out early in the morning and you will be too – with all that extra sleep!
The Omlet Automatic Chicken Coop Door is easy to install.
Speaking of convenience and ease, you might wonder just how hard the Omlet Chicken Coop Autodoor is to install on your existing coop. The truth is – it’s super easy!
The Autodoor is designed to work on a number of coop styles: wooden coops [like ours], mesh fencing, and right onto their Eglu Cube. In fact, it doesn’t have to be on a coop at all – you could even attach it to your chicken run to allow the chickens to go out and free range.
It is a side to side opening door, but can be attached to open to either side you choose.
In all, it took us about an hour and a half to fully install the Omlet Chicken Autodoor. We chose to install it on our coop to open up to our brand new, walk-in chicken run. While our chickens do free range some, they will mainly be in the large chicken run in the Spring while my father-in-law’s garden is starting to grow.
How to Install the Omlet Chicken Autodoor
You can see our video on how we installed, but the basic installation process follows these easy steps:
- Install the gear to the door’s main panel.
- Measure the open door space and cut it out on your material.
- Attach the door’s main panel to your coop.
- Add an Omlet Chicken Coop light [optional] – this works on a sensor with the Autodoor to encourage chickens to come inside the coop before the autodoor closes.
- Plug everything into the control panel, which runs off 4 AA batteries.
- Choose your Autodoor setting: light, timed, or manual.
The longest part of installation for us was my husband having to modify our existing door a bit to move the door’s bracing. He also decided to put trim around the existing door to make it look even better.
How does an automatic chicken coop door work?
While it seems super sophisticated to have an automatic door on your chicken coop, the functionality of the Omlet Autdoor is actually quite simple. The door runs off 4 AA batteries which will last about 6 months running the door only and about 4 months running the coop light and the autodoor.
The battery power actually turns the gear, which in turn makes the door open or close. See… super simple, right?
The Omlet Autodoor runs on 3 different options: light setting, time setting, and manual.
- Manual simply means you must hold down a button on the control panel to open and close the door. This is what we’re doing right now since we are in the beginning stages of introducing our new chicks to the existing flock.
- The time setting is as simple as it sounds. You input the time you want the door to close and open on the control panel.
- The light setting is my favorite feature and the one we will use as soon as our flock is fully integrated. The control panel has a light sensor, which you can adjust its sensitivity, and will open and close on those settings.
The is one that I’m glad we got as well. It plugs right into the control panel so it runs off the same batteries. The light should be placed inside your coop and will come on automatically about 5 minutes before you autodoor will close.
The Autodoor wire and coop light both need to be plugged into the control panel, so you will want to mount it somewhat near those items. Omlet suggests mounting the control panel where it’s not obscured so that the light sensors will work appropriately.
This was surprising to us in installation because we assumed we shouldn’t let it get wet, but Omlet has made the control panel in a triple weather-proof casing to protect it from the elements. I also love that the control panel is actually mounted outside of the run and coop so we can control it without disturbing the chickens.
With that said, the control panel isn’t the only component made for all weather types. The Autodoor itself has been engineered to work in all weather types – even in very cold temperatures.
What is the best automatic chicken coop door?
Have I convinced you yet that I believe we have the best automatic chicken coop door on the market on our coop?! After looking around at some other options, I feel like this autodoor from Omlet does everything we want it to and more.
Unlike other automatic chicken coop door openers that work on a string and pulley system, the cannot be simply lifted up when shut. This feature ensures that predators will not be able to move the door when it is closed.
And after installing it, I really feel comfortable knowing that our chickens have another layer of security on their coop. I also love knowing that we’ve added a bit of convenience to my mother and father-in-law’s days so they don’t have to be up and at them early to let the chickens out or out at night to put them inside the coop.
Are automatic chicken coop doors safe?
This was one of my biggest concerns because if you know anything about chickens, they are curious! I was so afraid they would want to know what the door is and why it’s moving when it started closing. I was also afraid that some of our lazier hens would decide to lay right inside the door while it was open!
Thankfully, Omlet included amazing technology that includes built-in safety sensors. If the sensors detect anything in the doorway, they will open and then try to close again when they are clear. This gave me a lot of relief thinking about last minute stragglers coming in the coop!
How much is an automatic chicken coop door?
While we try to reuse and DIY so many things around the chicken coop, safety and security are at the top of our mind – especially with the catastrophe we had in our chicken coop the day after Christmas last year. That’s why the Omlet Autodoor is a chicken coop accessory that I definitely recommend investing in.
The fact that the door can be mounted on any style coop, run off batteries with no electricity required, can’t be opened by predators, and offers the amazing convenience of being opened with light sensors – it’s really a no brainer for anyone with backyard chickens!
Omlet offers their automatic chicken coop door in two colors – gray and green. We knew we were getting a green Omlet Chicken Autodoor so we picked out a fun green color to paint the windows and trim of our coop.
You can purchase the Omlet Automatic Chicken Coop Door on the Omlet website starting at $189.99. When you purchase, you will choose what type of coop you’re installing on, in case you need any attachments. The Coop Light is optional, but at only $10, I highly recommend adding it!
Leave a blog comment and tell me about your flock and how much they would love to have an Omlet Autodoor! Or let me know if you have any questions about the automatic chicken coop door.
I’m so excited about my Backyard Chickens series and hope you’ll come back to read even more about our flock in the next coming weeks. To be reminded when I post, sign up for my weekly newsletter!