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It's working... it's working!!! — Parallax Forums

It's working... it's working!!!

doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
edited 2012-11-10 08:26 in General Discussion
Video of my chickens benefiting from my automatic door opener project: (project thread is here)


[video=youtube_share;rveU2gJXrD4]


(Title is a quote from Anakin Skywalker, if you didn't get it.)
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Comments

  • Martin HodgeMartin Hodge Posts: 1,246
    edited 2012-09-09 07:52
    Woah, thasalotta chickens! Does the door run on a timer or light sensor?
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 08:32
    CdS photo resistor. Yep. We have 20 hens and they are a little crowded in there. :D
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2012-09-09 08:39
    Lol, that was like the circus act where all the clowns climb out of a tiny car. :)
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 08:48
    RDL2004 wrote: »
    Lol, that was like the circus act where all the clowns climb out of a tiny car. :)
    Yeah it is! After I finish this automatic door project I'm going to expand the coop. But first I need to finish the solar panels (I still need to build them) and get or build a solar charge controller. Then I'd like to use my spinneret and set up a web server for it.


    Paul
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2012-09-09 09:18
    doggiedoc wrote: »
    Then I'd like to use my spinneret and set up a web server for it.

    "You've got eggs!"
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 09:19
    PJ Allen wrote: »
    "You've got eggs!"
    LOL something like that!!
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-09-09 09:58
    RDL2004 wrote:
    Lol, that was like the circus act where all the clowns climb out of a tiny car.
    That was my first impression, too: clown car without wheels! :) 'Very cool app, though.

    doggiedoc,

    What conditions have to be met for the door to close at night? Do you have a way to count the chickens as they enter to make sure they're all inside?

    -Phil
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 10:19
    Phil - unfortunately counting chickens proves very problematic. Did you see one point in the video when they are coming out - 3 at a time. I did find a website in china that had RFID leg bands - but I'm not sure I'm ready to implement that (or have the skills). Fortunately they instinctively roost in the coop and go in at dusk. I've set the threshold for closing the door at a lower level of light than when they go in every evening. It's working pretty good so far but one hen likes to perch in the opening facing out and twice now she's come out when the door comes down, instead of backing up. Hopefully she'll learn.

    Things I'd like to implement: 1) solar charger for the 12v SLA Battery 2) Spinneret web server to monitor/control from net 3) temperature monitoring 4) mechanical latch/lock ... and more I'm sure to think of. :D
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-09-09 11:10
    Maybe a barking dog sound playing from outside the coop will coax that last chicken in before the door closes. (OTOH, they might all panic and smother themselves in a corner of the coop.)

    -Phil
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2012-09-09 11:10
    Thanks for sharing this. Brings back some nice memories. Do you get brown eggs too?
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 11:27
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    Maybe a barking dog sound playing from outside the coop will coax that last chicken in before the door closes. (OTOH, they might all panic and smother themselves in a corner of the coop.)

    -Phil
    I like where you're going with this idea. Perhaps a hawk call or similar might work!
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 11:28
    jazzed wrote: »
    Thanks for sharing this. Brings back some nice memories. Do you get brown eggs too?
    Brown and blue-green. Yummy! Had 2 with double yolks for breakfast today!
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2012-09-09 11:35
    doggiedoc wrote: »
    Brown and blue-green. Yummy! Had 2 with double yolks for breakfast today!

    Hmm. That reminds I've been promised an omelette today ....

    Do your chickens that have blue-green eggs have any effect on the pigs? Blue-Green eggs and ham for example? ;)
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-09-09 12:00
    Coll project, you have a LOT of chickens in that coop. I miss my chickens. I had 3 gorgeous Rhode Island reds before the twins, raised from Easter chicks. But then LA Animal control came a-knocking. I guess Huey, Duey & Louie failed to charm one of my neighbors... :)
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-09-09 12:12
    erco wrote:
    ... the twins, raised from Easter chicks ...
    I had no idea! How does that work, exactly? :)

    -Phil
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-09-09 12:27
    You fiend, you just demonstrated the importance of context.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2012-09-09 12:54
    erco wrote: »
    I had 3 gorgeous Rhode Island reds before the twins, raised from Easter chicks. But then LA Animal control came a-knocking. I guess Huey, Duey & Louie failed to charm one of my neighbors... :)

    LOL, that occurred to me too.

    Attached is a pic of some sheep from maps.google.com in Milpitas city limits very close to my house. They seem to be permanently at home there, and are on a great commercial property location at a major intersection. Maybe the owner is making an editorial commentary ....
    MilpitasSheep.png
    733 x 616 - 720K
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,568
    edited 2012-09-09 13:07
    My wife's comment, in a very cautious concerned tone .... "Honey, why are you watching hens on You-Tube?" ... To which I follow.. "Some guy in the forum made an automated door for his hen house" ... Upon closer inspection she says "WOW! that's some hen house!!" :-)

    Great job doggiedoc!
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 13:12
    jazzed wrote: »
    Hmm. That reminds I've been promised an omelette today ....

    Do your chickens that have blue-green eggs have any effect on the pigs? Blue-Green eggs and ham for example? ;)
    LOL, nah. Once you crack em out of the shells the look like the others!
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 13:16
    erco wrote: »
    Coll project, you have a LOT of chickens in that coop. I miss my chickens. I had 3 gorgeous Rhode Island reds before the twins, raised from Easter chicks. But then LA Animal control came a-knocking. I guess Huey, Duey & Louie failed to charm one of my neighbors... :)
    Awe. Sorry to hear about that erco, mean ol' neighbors. We have pretty easy neighbors. In fact several of them have chickens too.
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 13:30
    Beau Schwabe (Parallax) wrote: »
    My wife's comment, in a very cautious concerned tone .... "Honey, why are you watching hens on You-Tube?" ... To which I follow.. "Some guy in the forum made an automated door for his hen house" ... Upon closer inspection she says "WOW! that's some hen house!!" :-)

    Great job doggiedoc!
    Thanks! There is a PropBOE, HB25, Dual Relay Kit, 1/2 Motor Mount and Wheel Kit all from Parallax in the automatic door, but I must confess, I purchased the coop. I did build my barn myself, drove every nail and screw so I felt I had proven myself in that regard. Perhaps a picture of the barn is in order. :D
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2012-09-09 15:18
    doggiedoc wrote: »
    LOL, nah. Once you crack em out of the shells the look like the others!
    Ya, we're all the same once you we past the covers.
    Although some of us have more cracks than others.

    I think your Propeller application is great.
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 15:32
    Thanks! I've been meaning to post better pictures of the inside. It's on my list!
  • piguy101piguy101 Posts: 248
    edited 2012-09-09 16:55
    Who else counted the exact number of hens coming out of the coop?
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245
    edited 2012-09-09 17:26
    piguy101 wrote: »
    Who else counted the exact number of hens coming out of the coop?
    I counted 20. :D
  • Martin HodgeMartin Hodge Posts: 1,246
    edited 2012-09-09 18:19
    I liek leghorns!
  • varnonvarnon Posts: 184
    edited 2012-09-09 19:36
    Really cool. Chickens are awesome.
    doggiedoc wrote: »
    Phil - unfortunately counting chickens proves very problematic. Did you see one point in the video when they are coming out - 3 at a time. I did find a website in china that had RFID leg bands...

    What about some of the leg bands and band reader systems used with racing pigeons? I can't find the device at the moment.
    doggiedoc wrote: »
    I like where you're going with this idea. Perhaps a hawk call or similar might work!

    I would think some of the chickens would run under the coop if the heard the "death from the sky" call.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-09-09 19:56
    I can't be the only one here who read "Andy Buckram's Tin Men" in my formative years (third grade for me, I was a robot junkie back then too). A charming little story about a genious farmboy who builds numerous labor-saving contraptions. Yes, 4 robots, using junkyard parts. Another of his inventions was a chicken coop with an automatic door that closed by the combined weight of all the chickens up on the roost.

    http://www.amazon.com/Andy-Buckrams-Carol-Ryrie-Brink/dp/0448054019/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347245710&sr=8-1&keywords=andy+buckram%27s+tin+men
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-09-10 02:35
    Chickens with their own LAN connection? And an automated door to boot.

    There supposedly is a retired military man in East Taiwan that has all his ducks trained to march in step in response to his police whistle.

    Frankly, I am not comfortable with such ambitions. At least with the automated door, you don't risk getting killed in a chicken stampede.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-09-10 03:21
    Chickens are notorious for breaking ranks and becoming mutinous. Ducks on the other hand lend themselves more to precision marching and even exhibit this in the wild.
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