How does the Chickcozy automatic door stack up? - a thorough review in practice with real chickens

Рет қаралды 658

7 ай бұрын

If you're looking for an automatic door for your chicken coop, here are some aspects to consider when making your choice:
- mains or battery power
- do you want it to open and close at certain times
- or at particular light levels, when it gets daylight and dark,
- ease of installation and programming
- robust build quality to handle your climate
- safety, around people and your chickens.
My friend Aous installed the Chickcozy automatic chicken coop door and we do a review of its features - what comes in the box, installation and set-up, and also how it actually performs in a real live chicken coop situation with real chickens.
If you decide that the Chickcozy automatic door is the one for you, you can buy it at a special discounted price by purchasing via this affiliate link:
chickcozy.com/sherylkhull
(And since it's an affiliate link, Chickcozy may send me a small commission to help me make more videos about chickens.)
A special thanks to Aous and his chickens for their participation in this video.
I hope you find this video useful. Do let me know whether you'd like more videos like this.
Thanks for watching.
For more fascinating facts, hints and tips about caring for your chickens, and the sheer pleasure of chickens, subscribe to my channel: Chickens in my garden - New Zealand
/ chickensinmygarden
Catch up with me on Facebook / chickensinmygarden

Пікірлер: 46

@allclairesbears 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the review. I have been considering an automatic door for my coop. It has been helpful for me to find a review for one that: 1. Delivers to NZ, 2. Works in NZ conditions, 3. Is battery operated, and 4. Is easy to install. I'm glad your friend got to participate in a video and had the opportunity to try out, and continue to use a product that adds value to his and the chooks' lives.🐓❤🐓❤

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

Thanks, I'm glad it was useful.

@Itzz_Ryann 7 ай бұрын

Since I recently moved to NZ,this really helps.Thanks Cheryl

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

That's great to hear. Welcome to New Zealand 🙂 Do check out some of my other videos - there's even one about how chickens got to New Zealand and one comparing chickens to kiwi!

@Itzz_Ryann 7 ай бұрын

@@chickensinmygarden I have seen them,I'm a returning subscriber from 2021.

@penelope4885 7 ай бұрын

I installed my door higher than the level of the mulch. Very good review. Happy you helped your friends out. I have the door & still visit my chics a few times a day.

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

That sounds perfect! And very clever of you to have avoided that potential trap 🙂

@loa81 7 ай бұрын

As always, my heart joyfully said “I wonder what wisdom she has for today!” Your thoughtfulness, kindness, and honesty are commendable. Referring your review to your friend epitomizes that honesty as you clearly opened the review. Now, in choosing an automatic coop door, I have a little experience. I rigged a door I opened remotely, but was not the best for these sweet creatures because of the strange hours I keep. I’m lazy! My hours are inconsistent with not much of a schedule. Two years ago we went away for a few days and had confidence our girls & guy would be safe and secure. That door utilized a string and opened vertically. A few months ago it failed. The string wore out and the electronics kicked the bucket. Next, I chose a much less expensive auto door triggered by the presence of light and darkness- also a vertical opener with an auger lift. This did not last long. The heat is brutal here. The sun’s heat warped two of these doors. I gave up and left the door open 24/7. No real concerns because their run and coop are almost as secure as Ft. Knox! Now, our neighbor’s pitty has been breaking in on our fence. She’s never harmed my girls, the neighbor’s cat is different- it likes the eggs. My cats are friends and never have stalked or bothered our chickens. I must address the problem of the egg thievery and once again the timeliness of your posts is amazing. I have wanted horizontally opening doors for awhile. I want no more strings says me & Pinocchio! Except for the one concern of the track problem, I really like this door. I will be trying it next. Thank you once again, Young Lady! Regards…

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

Indeed, something must be done about that cat! And an automatic door does seem like a good option. (I suppose the cat is just helping himself to a tasty treat, not starving? ) If you do go ahead and buy a Chickcozy door, do let me know how that turns out for you. Thank you so much for your delightful comment. Have a great day 🙂

@loa81 7 ай бұрын

@@chickensinmygarden I’ve thought about it some and may do a purchase if the horizontal open type s still selling. One other reviewer mentioned the messy track problem as a problem they resolve by placing the opening higher. I imagine the walk up the ramps inside & outside might help the chick ies loose much of what would be tracked in at a lower level. Thank you once again. I’ll be sure to give you a response after using it for a while. Regards…

@dianethomas9594 7 ай бұрын

Wish I’d seen this video about four months ago. Our coop door journey began with a manual door that worked great but, as you said, it doesn’t work if a “human” is not there to open or close it. That prompted us to research automatic doors. The first of three automatic doors required cell phone programming that was not super difficult to program but annoying in that it took a lot of squatting time in the chicken coop to program or change the program. The second of three automatic doors had an actuator piston. The control system would open and close the door randomly day and night. It was blue tooth and WiFi enabled to our phones and watches which would go off every time the door opened and closed even though we had it set to open once in the morning and close once in the evening…needless to say that after several wake-up vibrations on watches and phones at 2:00am, 3:00am, etc., in the morning, we bought our third automatic door. The final door is working wonderfully…we do have the problem with the track filling with debris so we raised the door up 6 inches and it stays clean. Over time we will have to keep an eye on it as just the dust will fill the space and need to be cleaned. Overall, the hens love it and we do to but wish we would have seen your video sooner…would have saved us a ton of $$$’s and most importantly, TIME. Love all your videos. Diane in Oregon.

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

Hey that's really interesting. It should be you making a video! This is the first experience I've had with automatic doors, but you've had so much more.

@cautiousdissolute5780 7 ай бұрын

Wouldnt mind seeing more review videos on your channel

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the feedback. And thank you so much for watching. I love knowing people are interested in my videos.

@tmiller6989 5 ай бұрын

So glad I saw this review! We won’t be getting one. There’s no way that my chickens wouldn’t kick debris into the track. In fact, they would probably have it full of straw and dirt the first day!! Thanks for this share !!!

@chickensinmygarden 5 ай бұрын

I'm glad that was useful. I agree it's a fairly significant design flaw.

@MaisieTheBlindHen 7 ай бұрын

Great review‼️‼️♥️♥️🥰🥰🥹🩷♥️ merry 11 days til CHICKmas‼️🐔🙏☺️☺️🔴🦌🦌🦌🛷🎅♥️🤶💚🎄♥️💚♥️💕

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

Thank you. And the very best of season's greetings to you and all your chickens 🙂

@michellebarbour5777 7 ай бұрын

Oh dear. You have been a respected source of wisdom and evidence based reasearch. I suppose it's tricky to resist. I would probably cave too.

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

Ah, thanks for that. I was wondering about whether to do this but decided Aous could have a free door. I believe we have given it a fair review, and I hope the hints about what aspects to consider if choosing an automatic door are useful. As I said, I'm sticking with personally closing in my chickens at night and opening the door in the morning 🙂 PS. Aous is very excited about being on the video 🙂

@leahnichol6665 7 ай бұрын

Thank you for participating in the review in that generous way. Aousdid an excellent job of showing off the features and sharing his experience of the drawback. I am sure he has sorted the issue of the flooring getting in the door rails quickly. I think I would have used my own hand to test the automatic interruption of the door closing! I’d want to know how much pressure the chicken would be experiencing. I expect Aous has a good relationship with his cockatoo so could judge it correctly. I like that they send stickers. 😊

@cautiousdissolute5780 7 ай бұрын

I would've imagined that most long-time viewers would trust you to keep your integrity through reviews. I got no such impression that you "caved" into anything

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

Thank you. The feedback has been mixed but positive overall. I doubt if I'll be doing many more reviews though - most of my equipment is homemade and/or recycled from rubbish 😀 and I couldn't review anything I hadn't tried. I might review a nipple drinker which I have tried (but as you can tell, I'm not currently using it). Meanwhile I have lots of other requested topics for videos which will keep me busy.

@michellebarbour5777 7 ай бұрын

I'm glad the feedback has been positive overall. I've admired you for your science combined with practical solutions with home-made stuff.Learned much from you. , I can totally understand why you'd accept offers. I think I'd do the same in your shoes. Just put 'Sponsered'' at the top from now on? and then I'll know which ones to watch. Best of luck to you and your flock. @@chickensinmygarden

@joyg8904 4 ай бұрын

We just installed a chick cozy. 😊 Something to consider is, if in light mode and a storm pops up, it gets dark. I was worried it would close the door and my chickens wouldn't be able to get in. That didn't happen but it's a concern. The run was flooding and they needed to get in the coop. Scary thought for me.

@chickensinmygarden 4 ай бұрын

A very important point! Thanks for sharing 🙂

@lifeisbeautiful1556 7 ай бұрын

Irrelevant to the video topic, but curiosity has imploded me when I stumble upon your channel. Great information. No w the question is can we feed our chicken the soy free feed? What consequences would it have on eggs production? And can we replace fish meal in commercial feed with organic fish occasionally?

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

I'm going to have to do a video about making your own chicken feed one day, but it's very complicated. However if there is a soy free feed that is manufactured by a reputable poultry feed company, it should be perfectly good for your chickens, although it would probably be a bit more expensive. As long as the levels of protein, fat and vitamins are within the acceptable range, there should be no effect on your hens' laying. And yes chickens can certainly eat fish occasionally. Just beware of sharp bones 🙂

@karabroadbent570 7 ай бұрын

Thank you for the video. I get the same price via the affiliate link that i got going onto their site beforehand. So there is no discount, or maybe it doesn't work for Aus?

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

I think it should work everywhere and it should be 5%. Is there a place to put in a coupon code? If so the coupon is chickensinmygarden. Please let me know how you get on so I can follow up.

@mutawakkilbadawi999 7 ай бұрын

Is it possible to hybridize or select chickens that lay dark brown or irregular-colored eggs without introducing the French Marans breed into them? The reason for this is the difficulty of importing or obtaining French Marans chickens.

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

It depends what you're starting with and what breeds are available to you. Other breeds do lay brown eggs but I don't know of any that are quite as dark as the Marans except possibly the Penedesenca. The genetic background of the Marans' extra-dark egg colour is not understood. I think that selective breeding of chickens with brown eggs would eventually make the shell as dark as possible but without the genes for extra-dark shells, the eggs would never attain quite the same depth of colour. You might find this link interesting marans.eu/loeufang.htm

@mutawakkilbadawi999 7 ай бұрын

@@chickensinmygarden Thank you very much for the information, it was interesting and useful

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

By the way, the beautiful dark brown eggs you see in images on the Internet will be the darkest eggs from the best hen early in the season and not necessarily typical of all Marans eggs (even if the image has not been enhanced).

@Itzz_Ryann 7 ай бұрын

You have a nice dress

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

Thank you. It's a pretty colour 🙂

@Itzz_Ryann 7 ай бұрын

@@chickensinmygarden indeed

@mutawakkilbadawi999 7 ай бұрын

If a female high-sex laying hen, white in color (dominantly white), is married to a black rooster or vice versa, will a blue-colored generation be produced, like the Andalusian breed?

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

Probably not. Assuming the black rooster is homozygous, then No. In order to get a blue colour you need the blue gene. I have a video about it kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ppllgbJzsbjHhmw.html

@mutawakkilbadawi999 7 ай бұрын

@@chickensinmygarden Thank you very much for the useful information. Do you have a WhatsApp group or WhatsApp number that can be communicated with you for benefit and spreading knowledge?

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

No, I don't have either of those 😒

@mutawakkilbadawi999 7 ай бұрын

@@chickensinmygarden It's okay, we suffice with KZfaq, and thank you for your great efforts and the useful and quick response to the questions 🤗

@chickensinmygarden 7 ай бұрын

You're very welcome. I expect we're on different time zones, so sometimes I'm a bit slow but I'm always happy to help if I can. Have a great day 🙂