Introduction: Biddy House From Gray Garage Cupboards

Nothing is as wonderful as home grown eggs. For our biddy house I used a pile of i-by-twelve pine boards left terminated from removing our old garage cupboards. I have found that with any project, I spend much more time planning than on construction, and I cannot overemphasize the importance of getting your plans uninterrupted before you Begin cutting lumber.

The size of our hen house was mostly dictated by the quantity and dimensions of the boards I had available. In addition to considering the materials, I wanted to make the hen house predator proof, simplified to clean and cherish, with food and water available at all times. It also seemed like a ripe approximation to make room to hive away the hen food and other appurtenance in the hen house. This is the one-third hen house I've well-stacked, and in the past I have always attached a nest box seat to the outside of the hen house. This time, I felt that I needed a more secure, weather-test copy nest box, so I decided to incorporate the nest box and intellectual nourishment storage area inside a walled-off closet at one end of the hen house.

Step 1: Framing the Biddy House

You bequeath be surprised at how many two-by-fours IT takes to build the basic ensnare for the hen house. Note the metal plates at the end member joints. The two remnant frames and inner-wall frame were laid out on a flat surface and secured with Mrs. Simpson Strong Ties (on both sides).

It's a bite slippery standing the terminate members astir and getting them to stay in blank space spell you're screwing them to horizontal cross members. A help would personify handy for this whole tone. I also dipped the bottoms of the legs in a bottom of wood preservative.

Not all of the frame is shown in that photo. At first I was just going to have the cupboard doors reach out ascending to the roof, but I decided to make the door tops substantial, indeed I added a few pieces of framing above the doors. Note, this added frame needs to extend an inch below the speed siding pieces to act room access stops.

Step out 2: Sorting the Timber

Incomparable of the most complicated aspects of this project was transaction with the old pound. Many of the boards were warped, and I had to number outgoing how to make the most from all board. I found the trump approach was to first work all the longest boards I would need, and where they would go. I saved the best boards for the front of the hen house, and the inferior boards went on plump for and on the roof.

Note: the Wood shown in that moving-picture show is mostly in stacks of four boards of each duration, which is difficult to see in the photo. Besides, the roof boards are not shown therein photo.

Step 3: Nest Box Particular

The draw close box was the most complicated flake of woodworking for this project. I got some cosmopolitan recommendations from the internet all but the size of the nest box and the height in a higher place the floor. The nestle boxes are about twelve inches in totally dimensions. I put the openings about twelve inches above the story. I also distinct to add a roost in head-on of the nest boxes. In the medieval, I have had problems with the hens roosting happening the entrance to the nest boxes and fouling the cuddle. I'm hoping that adding a roost in front will solve that problem. I'm not excited at the idea of having the roosts cross over each other, but I could add a guard on the upper perch later, if it becomes a problem.

Note that the floor screen out rests on top of the last 2-by-four hybrid members. One consideration for me was to position the nest corner (and roost) high enough so the floor screen could be lifted high enough on the gage edge to let the front edge of the floor clear the front two-away-four rail and drop for cleaning.

In the photos you can see that about of the two-by-four hybridization members or so the nest boxes and cupboard are positioned with the pin down edges facing outward. This was to give up more room to get things in and out of the cupboards. It did, however, present a problem for adding the latches later, as the edge of the vertical two-aside-four splitter wasn't full plenty to position some latches in the same set.

For the bottom of the cupboards, I had the option of mounting the boards on top of the framing or underneath the framing. I opted for attaching the derriere boards underneath so I would have a bit more than room and inferior spider habitat. I added supererogatory screws to hold the weight of the prey sac. I as wel added some upper shelves for storage.

Step 4: Finished Nuzzle Box and Solid food Cupboard

Here's the nest corner with the doors and additional turnout pieces in place. I don't think it was really necessary to sum up the "half moon" cut outs and fulfil-strip for the dorsum of the nest box to the door, merely IT seemed like nice idea at the time. If I had information technology to do once more I would leave those pieces proscribed.

Note the "bird-house" structure mounted happening the back left side of the hen star sign in this photo, this houses their water tank, which is joined to the automatic tearing system (discussed in a future step).

Step 5: Notes on Design and Materials

When you are using reclaimed lumber, the dimensions of your boards will play a role in the conception. When I first measured a few the boards in my stack of old lumber I mistakenly assumed that all the boards were nearly twelve inches wide-screen (they were actually 3/4-inch soupy by 11 1/2- to 11 3/4-inches wide). Because of this supervising, in the final design I finished up having to rip some fill up fill strips to make up the difference. The lesson here is to be predictable you know what materials you've got before you start cut boards.

The overall dimensions for the hen house chassis were five feet wide, by three and a half feet deep. Finished dimensions are 63-inches by 43 1/2-inches, with the siding. The main construction is 49-inches tall on the anterior side, and 43-inches tall in back. The roof boards are 45-inches long with a one-inch overlap connected the back side. I drawn-out the siding an inch OR so lower than the bottom framing cross members to make room for the cupboard bed boards be screwed to the rump of the frame and hush be covered aside the rampant sidetrack.

Exploitation these nearly cardinal-inch wide boards, the front, back, and roof are 5 boards wide, the go with walls are cut at a 1:5 slope, 49-inches on the tall end to 43-inches long on the short end. It took about three and a half boards per side, and remember, there are three side walls, counting the inner wall and cupboard doors. With doors connected for each one end and nest entranceway holes on the inner wall, the side walls were pretty complicated. One finish is all doors, and in that respect is a door on the other oddment for the hens to wear their pen. Because of all the doors I needed to rip a lot of the side boards to make the doors come out the right width and to cover the frame parts where the hinges mount.

Additionally to the re-purposed unmatchable-by-twelve pine boards, I bought 18 8-foot true fir cardinal-by-fours, five or six pine one-by-twos (actually 3/4 aside 1 1/2-inches) for screen out frames, a two-away-three stud (I didn't know they made these) for the roost. I liked the shape of the some stair rail that they had, so I bought a six-hoof it piece of this for the main roost (this stuff clad to be bad pricey, and I could experience barely old many of the two-by-iii stud material). In the past I have utilized closet dowels (coat hanger rail) for the roosts, but the internet says chickens like to roost flat footed, rather than clutching, and so I went with the wider lumber for the roosts.

The two-by-fours were pretty inexpensive compared to the other materials ($2.50 apiece). The exclusive biggest expense for this project was the hardware: screws (several boxes for framing and attaching turnout), hinges, latches, Simpson Strong Ties (near 30 of these at $0.75 each, I could wealthy person probably gotten by with just putting these on same side instead of both sides of the end frames).

There are in all likelihood all over a hundred individual wooden parts in that project, apiece part has to personify measured cut and mounted at each end, that works out to a good deal of sawing and screwing. I bought special "sky-bore-drive" attachments (size up 8 and 10) for the tycoo drill that have a drilling bit for making pilot holes on on one destruction and a get it on number one wood connected the strange, you just microscope slide a little ring forward to flip betwixt the exercise bit and screw number one wood. This was a big time saver and well worth the money.

If you can go with all your joints as honorable as possible the rest of the job will go much easier. I have a power miter saw, only it takes very much of tweaking to get this saw to make a square or 45 degree angle sheared. I don't trust the pre-limit notches on the mitre proverb, and I test all my byword set ups happening scrap boards to check for squareness. For the 45 academic degree angle cuts, I make a test trim and position the two 45 degree angle pieces so I can check them with a square. Try on to get as numerous cuts done as you can without having to reset your saw. For ripping boards, I used a Skill Saw and heart-balled it to try to stay connected line. This doesn't work very well, but since I don't own a table sawing machine, the next best matter was to clamp a long board at the appropriate distance from the billet and run the Acquirement Saw along the edge of the clamped board. A belt drum sander is as wel helpful for truing up the edges a fleck.

The final pictures show a count of boards that get into't quite ambi the top, or meet correctly at the corners. That's just how it is when you're using scrap lumber. We're making a hen house, not a piano. After a final sanding and waterproofing, I am going to put some angled metal bright (ii in by 2 inch) on the corners and around the top of the inning to hide whatever of the defects.

For the roof I bought a sheet of poly-carbonate plastic roofing (26-inches by 12-feet) cut into three 48-inch long pieces. This would be sufficiency roofing to cover a sise-foot width, but I overlapped the sheets by about six inches. You can cut this material with a jig saw, but I found that a pair off of tin snips worked best. You also need to buy out the plastic supports that sink in the roof panels where you screw them down. You will need enough plastic documentation pieces for at to the lowest degree two rows of screws. They sell special screws with rubber grommets to use with this roofing, only I had enough of these liberal over from a previous project to finish this job.

I too had approximately half-inch mesh wire on hand. I used three pieces, all about 45 1/2-inches wide: one 41 1/2-inches farsighted for the level panel; one 28 inches tall for the front entrance, and one about Captain Hicks inches lank for the back vent.

Tools: Office miter saw, Accomplishment Saw, gigue saw, lots of clamps, power drill/screw device driver, sanders, square, chisel, tin snips, motley practice bits, file, hammer and nails.

Screws: I used 2 1/2-inch number two coldcock screws [Correction: the screws are #10, the philips straits size was #2] for the framing, it took at least one full box of these, I had some present and used them all and had to return for more, so you may involve two boxes. Same for the 1 5/8-inch phone number 2 screws I used for the railroad siding. I also bought some shorter 1 1/4-inch screws to mount the treads to the ramp. I ill-used 2-inch long number 8 wood screws for mounting the door boards to the rails that the hinges bind to. I went through a lot of these, something like eight per board, so figure on buying very much of them.

U-Nails: We used to call these staples, 3/4 inch size works well for attaching the screens, only hold them with pliers and keep them honorable while you're pounding them in operating theater they'll poke through the sides of the frame.

Recycled Yearn 1 x 12-inch Boards:

Front: quaternion 29-inch boards (for the think up), four 16 1/2-inch boards (for the lower front), one 49-inch board (for the closet side), one 3 1/2-inch wide 49-inch long top trim plunder (above hatch), plus various fill strips to eventide things up. There is as wel a 1 1/2-inch aside 3/4-inch trimness strip placed happening butt next to the screen door to fill out in the edge of framing at the left-of-center incline of straw man opening. This art object Acts of the Apostles as a door discontinue for the front hatch connected that side.

Sides walls: (three including the inner wall) for each wall you want three and a half boards, cut on an angle to convulsion the roof line. These ranged from 49 inches long to 43 inches long. More of these side boards had to personify ripped at appropriate widths for making the doors and hinge mounting pieces. You bottom trend disk-shaped holes for the hens, OR just cut the openings square.

Rearward: four 34 1/2-long pieces below the vent (vent is 4 1/2-inches tallish), one 42 1/2-inch draw close box lateral (I positioned this to cover the stallion nest box between the framing so there wouldn't be a disruption in the side of the nestle. Because I didn't measure my boards correctly, I had to cut a one-inch wide fill strip to cover the exposed framing at the tree, and another 2 1/2-inch wide by 42 1/2-inch long fill strip for the other corner. This strip extends finished to the roof and covers the incline of the screen give vent. Next time I would make the whole biddy house a bit narrower to avoid having to cut indeed many fill strips. I also required to buy one piece of new 3 1/2-inch by 3/4-in trim 46 1/2-inches long to cover the upper separate of the back wall, above the screen air.

Roof: quintuplet 45-inch boards (because in that respect is a macho-man working running down the middle of the hen house roof, these boards can be pieced together from scraps).

Nest box and cupboards: I used long doze 14-inch long boards for the nest boxes, the divider between the cupboards and the nest box, and the closet bottom boards. The divider between the two nest boxes of necessity to live 3/4-inch shorter to hit room for the nest back board. I started with a straight board, but the opening seemed excessively narrow to have at the eggs, so I made half-moon cuts in the nestle back.

Covert frames: 5 8-foot 1 1/2-inch by 3/4 inch pine boards- choose healthy straight-grained boards, don't grease one's palms the "finger-articulated," pieced-conjointly, Sir Henry Wood molding, it North Korean won't hold upward. I made diagonal cuts for the screen chassis joints and bought metal brackets to holle up the corners. The dimensions for the screen frames are just about the same as what I've shown above for the concealment pieces, you want to do these last to make sure they will fit. You can see in the photos that I've done quite a bit of sandpapery sanding and filing to get the corners to fit. Tone that these one-aside-two boards were also needed for some clipping parts and fill strips and for the deposit used to prop the hatch open. I had a few pieces of this material remaining from a previous project that got used here, so information technology's a good idea to get an supererogatory one of these. The garbage will be used for treads on the biddy's ramp to their indite. Note also, the screen for the front entrance needs to be attached to the inside of the screen frame indeed there will be elbow room for the two-by-four hatch cross members to primed inside the screen frame. Also note, I drilled an extra hole in each of the metal hatch hinges indeed I could mother an extra screw into the two-past-four hatch track. You need to allow room (active 7/8-column inch) for the upper plug-in of the screen out door frame to fit between the cover rail and the biddy house framing. This makes it impossible to use completely the pre-drilled holes, soh I matte up IT was necessary to add another pickle. Information technology sounds dodgy, but you will see why this is necessary to get the screen door and the hatch rails to nest inside the framework.

Allium tricoccum: As discussed late, the incline that I have right away is built from one of the side paries boards, with an extension phone. I preceptor't like it that way, and I am passing to revise that set up to use a single board for the ramp and make a sliding door for the hen's access door to the indite. The ramp is about 50-inches polysyllabic, and I cut a 12 or and so 6-inch astray treads, mostly ready-made from scraps left over from the screen frames.

Cistern house: I pieced this conjointly from garbage, and it doesn't cover as much of the tank as I would undergo liked. Information technology's basically one long back piece with a bottom, two sides, and cardinal roof pieces. Hit this to fit whatever tank you buy.

Step 6: Feeders and Water Organization

I bought two 7-inch wide metal bunny feeders and cut holes in the front paries to bestrid them. I used some plumbers tinny tape and found some "draw screw" bolts that had flat pieces to anchor the feeders. I too had to chisel out slots behind the feeders to make room for the lids to unconcealed. I think in the past I got away with putting the feeders high plenty to open the ace without having to cut these notches. If you do that you may need to cut notches in the bottom inch of the hatch to clear the feeders. At that place may be other systems that would work better, but with a plastic flap to shed the rain down, these bunny feeders seem corresponding they will work.

The water system was many complicated. I wanted something that I could hook up to our drip irrigation system for refilling, but since the drip system doesn't foot race regular, I needed a tank for storage. There are a variety of waterers available that would work with this scheme; I nonnomadic happening these little cup waterers that attach to 1/2-inch PVC shriek. I found them on line, five for $20, including the half-inch PVC parts the cups screw onto. That seems expensive, but I felt it was worth IT. I also wanted the water armoured combat vehicle to be in the shade, so that meant mounting the tank connected the back of the hen house and routing the plumbing from the tank to the water cups, which I wanted to take at the front where I could watch ove them.

Note, the tank trapping is affixed to draw and quarter-inch thick wood strips 'tween the biddy house and the tank. This is to keep space between the tank box and the hen house so the wood South Korean won't rot. I victimised "tee" fittings on the tank (1-inch male pipe ribbon with two barbed hose fittings) to attach a top fill tube for the inlet from the drip system. The bottom hose goes to another "teeing ground" fitting for a waste pipe/lower fill just, and the one-inch pipefitting attaches to the half-inch PVC pipe with a reducer to bring forward the water into the biddy house. I could rich person run the inlet tube from the drip system through the tank vent hole, but that vent is really necessary for the system to work, so I used the "tee up" fitting for the inlet tube alternatively. I ran the incomplete-in PVC water pipe through the cupboard subdivision walls from the backwards of the biddy house, and angled the pipe adequate to make the turn through the closet wall to engender the water to the foremost of the biddy household. Make dependable to get this link high enough above the bottom framing to sort out the 1 1/2-inch tall coldcock covert panel. It also needs to equip beneath the feeders, and so take your time and get this connection right. Note, you will call for an extra set of hands when gluing some of these connections.

I extensive the water supply pipe through the right on outside wall to so it would act as a hold down for the front incline of the flooring screen. I used a "tee" connection on the fractional-inch Premature ventricular contraction to enhance the water pipe ascending to the desired elevation for the cup manifold. I built the multiple first of all and the mucilage subcontract was beautiful mussy. Where the feed pipe extends finished the right side wall, I added a sight tube so I could easy see how very much water was in the tank. This is sort of overkill, simply with our hot summers, water is a big concern. I would have used small tubing for the deal tube, just it was difficult to find the plastic fittings that I required to connect the Polyvinyl chloride pipage to the hose fittings. The one-inch clear vinyl tubing was pretty pricey ($20 for 10 feet), and if I had it to do over again, I think I would have looked a routine harder to find the right fittings so I could use something little and easier to work with. I belik could hold just skipped the sight tube entirely, as you can easily get wind the waterline in the tank. Since I already have it in place, I design to birth this sight vacuum tube human action as the overflow so the system gets rose-cheeked regularly when the tankful is refilled from our drip mould irrigation organisation.

Step 7: Finishing Touches

I misused combined of the right side wall boards to enactment as both room access and ramp (with an prolongation) for the hens to access their pen. The unharmed thing is attached to the hen house with a magnanimous flexible joint, and I added an enlarge pulley system of rules that I planned to hook to a negative system of weights. The idea organism to call down up their ramp at night to make it harder for raccoons to get at the hen house. The counter balance system upturned bent on Be impractical, and I'm planning to replace this door and ramp with a simple slippy door decorated in aluminum channel tracks. I'll attach a new rage to the bottom side of the flexible joint I'm presently using, so I will still have the option of raising that ramp if necessary. Eventually, I Bob Hope to add a solar powered door opener that will open the door when it's light unstylish and close it when information technology gets brunette. But that's a project for other day.

I used 3/8-inch diameter carriage bolts for the front screen pivot points and for holding the sieve closed. I also used these to hold down the back of the stun screen (you can envision these in the last pic). I put the pivot points for the screen door about six inches fine-tune from the top of the frame (you can see these in some of the other photos). The idea was that with this get down swivel position, I could just utilisation the screen door to yoke against the bottom hatch rail to keep both doors open, merely that clothed to be pretty unwieldy, as the hachure is really heavy. Also, with the hinge pivot points being lower on the screen frame, the screen door bumps into the hatch boards when you try to push the door secret. I Crataegus oxycantha rhenium-drill those hinge pivot points in a higher place to pull through easier to curb their food and water.

Because the hatch rails had to atomic number 4 shorter than the width of the hatch to allow room for the hatch rails to fit inside the screen door frame, the prop up stick around gets in the fashio when information technology's braced between the hen house and the keister rail. You prat't outdoors the screen door outward without the hatch falling down. To jam this problem I added an soured-set back metal tab on the under side of the front hatch to rest the door prop on and so the disturbing door North Korean won't fall push down when you open up the inner CRT screen door. I had to cut a small pass in the front of the door opening for this argentiferous tab to fit into when the hatch closes. I also added a hook on the bottom of the dream up to hold the screen up while fussing with the hens.

Step 8: A Note on Drawings

This is really "step one," simply my drawings are so risky that I hid them back here. Drawing the design unsuccessful is a good way to spot problems and solve them before you bulge out cold lumber. You will motivation extraordinary graph paper, an engineer's scale, a sharp pencil, and plenty of patience. Take your time and think about how each get on meets and attaches to the connected boards. Make drawings of apiece wall and a story plan. Pay out particular attention to the measurements where boards overlap, and let in this overlap in the final dimensions. I remember the lonesome effective room to do this typecast of project is with scaley drawings for all wall. Thither testament almost always glucinium youngster design changes atomic number 3 you build, and when you get changes be sure to look at every set forth that leave be stirred by those changes. It's much easier to make changes on paper than to re-slew boards. Some of my drawings are pictured here, and you can see that I went finished galore iterations to hear to figure out the incomparable way to put things in concert. Overmuch will look on what materials you have available. If this was going to be made from plywood operating theatre several former material, the design would have been different. Symmetric with all my provision, I still ran into whole sle of problems during the build, there is always a answer, just represent patient and think through the job. If things don't work right, extend dorsum to the draftsmanship board (get word last step).

I had no idea this was going to round out so long, thanks for reading, and I Leslie Townes Hope this instructable has been helpful.

Step 9: Back to the Drawing Board

My first attempt at the hen family door-ramp combination worked, kinda, but IT was really impractical. Sometimes you just have to try on things intent on see if they work, and admit to yourself when they don't. This one didn't, so I went back to the drawing board. I built a new incline, and utilized a piece of plywood to puddle a sliding door.

The tracks for the sliding door were made from an eight-foot piece of half-inch aluminium channelize (most $8), and I had a piece of half-inch thick plywood that I sanded to harmonise the channel. I tried to negative- sink the holes for attaching the track, to keep the doorway from dragging connected the screws, just it was a pretty sloppy job with a hand drill. With sand newspaper publisher and files I got the door to slide fairly well, simply I'm not throwing my hat finished in everyone's thoughts about it. This door volition work for today, but I'm hoping to improve on that. In the meantime I needed to figure out a door latch to go on the hens safe.

Days ago, we lost all only one of our hens to a racoon attack; it was horrible. I have seen some awing predator-proof sliding door designs on former instructables, but I only take up basic hand tools, and putt these latching mechanisms together seemed beyond my ability. I needed something five-needled, and reliable that I could piece with basic tools.

Whenever I have to make something similar a latch, I carry out my bins of old parts and scraps to try and find something that I can use operating room modify to suited the involve. Therein case, I found an old gate door latch that seemed similar a good start. I drilled out the rivet that holds the latch mechanism, and played around with the parts to position the hook part so IT could engage some sort of latch. I drilled a new hole at the end of the hook part, and relocated the mounting holes for the pivot degree and then the hook would extend beyond the base of the latch mechanism. The photos show the new holes in the latch parts and the completed door latch assembly. I also drilled a hole for a original rivet to help hold the spring in pose and act as a pulley-point for the latch release string. If you look nearly at the pictures you Crataegus laevigata be able to see this. Straight off I just needed to figure out how to attach this latch to the slippy door.

The latch assembly slides into a snick in the plyboard door, and the base of the latch is concave in a well-defined retired notch, so it sits flush with the back of the door. I wanted to add some extra weight to the door and also wanted to beef up the latch assembly, so I cut a pass in a piece of scrap 2-past-six, and used that to strengthen the door and provide backing for the door latch assembly.

The latch also needs a return spring. I used a steel bristle from a street sweeper machine (I find these all the metre walking around town). I bent the spring in a "U" between the latch mechanics and the new rivet I installed at the lower end of the latch. The reverberate keeps the hook extended past the inner face of the door (I may double on this spring, equally it seems a minute weak). This spring is too a bit slick because you don't want the end of it wearing on the string that has to glide all over the new rivet. With a bit of patience, I was able to pinch the spring in place when I reset the rivet that holds the lif in place.

When the hook is extended past the room access, information technology engages a abbreviated pick of metal lather (impartial an experient corner brace that I flattened out) adorned against the hen house wall. I cut a one-armed bandit in the hen house wall for the hook to microscope slide in so it can catch against the metal strap. I also did a fiddling filing on the plume part to make it catch the hook a little easier.

A short while of string up connects the latch release arm to the door-raising string in such a way that when you pull on the door string, the short string that disengages the hook gets tight before the door starts to slide up. This mechanism worked well plenty, but the plywood just didn't work as smooth as I wanted it to be. In the end I made a new door from quarter-inch thick plexiglass. It's got a good weight to it, is somewhat easy to ignore with a jig saw, and you can bond pieces together with acetone.

Step 10: Follow-up, Two Eld Later

Arduino Microcontroller:

I finally got the biddy theatre room access to work with an Arduino Microcontroller. This is essentially a VERY stripped down version of the excellent instructable for the "Elevated Pollio Palace" posted by David Naves. I used completely the same components that he listed, except for the ambient light sensor (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K563B22/ref=o...) that I substituted for the photo cell that Mr. Naves victimised. Otherwise, all credit goes to Dave Naves, WHO has my eternal gratitude; I ne'er would have gotten this project off the ground without his handsome assistance in posting a really fantabulous instructable. Thanks Dave! (https://www.instructables.com/id/Automatic-Chicken-Henhouse-Threshold-2/ )

I ready-made minor modifications to his code, solely because I didn't know what I was doing and I successful changes to sample to fix something that in the conclusion turned out to be something I had added. If I knew then what I know nowadays, I wouldn't let had to make changes to his code (except for commenting out parts that this figure doesn't include). For this intellect, I wasn't going to post the sight that I made of Dave's fantabulous code, but since information technology might help someone, and with apologies to Dave and anyone else WHO I borrowed code from, I am posting the "Coop de Ville" code. It's a minor miracle that IT whole kit and boodle the least bit; I get into't pretend to understand all of what it does, and I'm indisputable there are parts that don't coiffe anything, so please don't ask. I would urge you to FIRST try Dave Naves original code. It is a work of art.

I simply used the parts of Dave's code that open and close the door. Due to my personal errors, I messed up Dave's code for the indicator lights, and ended up having to write a tiny flake of code for that. I am predestinate that there is nothing awry with Dave's indicator light function, I just didn't know what I was doing, and at this tip I'm triskaidekaphobic to ask.

IT was wonderful the first time that the door staring the way it was theoretical to, and I tested information technology many times before I was confident that information technology worked. The second day of operation, the upper door switch did not stop the motor from continuing to spin around up strand, and the efferent made some gruesome snapping noises (probably jumping gear teeth) in front I got IT shut down. This intermittent problem was really mind boggling, and I terminated up meter reading a lengthy thread about a similar problem that was discussed on the Arduino Forums. I did non have the sum to turn back and change the wiring to pull-in resistors (instead of a pull out-down resistors for the threshold switches), which would also have required rewriting the encrypt (I think). Present's a link to the thread:[ http://forum.arduino.cc/power.php?topic=437162.0 ]

Since I couldn't bring myself to name those changes, I gave the issue some thought and realized that IT was probably a rattling spoiled estimate to deliver bundled all my wires in collaboration in the flow from from the door and motor setup to the controller box. I had the might cord for the motor nestled in with those threshold switch wires, and I suspect the juice to the motor was intrusive with meter reading the status of the room access switches. I rerouted the office electric cord, and it seemed to process perfectly. However, I would ever wonder what if the thing glitched again.

I ended up mounting a cheap momentary flip that I saved at the hardware store (see photo) in a block of wood, and mounting that above the door switch. If, for some reason a permutation does not do its thing, the kill switch stops the motor, and the door lights winkle to let me know the door is stuck. I am reliable that this base hit feature could have been written into the code, but non by me. I variety of same having the kill switch, for peace of mind, and I'm planning to place a little rubber cap finished the button to raincoat that character.

Early Changes:

I ne'er did get the door to slide correctly in the atomic number 13 channel material I started with. The way I had mounted it, in that respect were screw heads on the inside of the channel. I finally found some stuff known as "file rail" that has an "h" cross section (http://www.orangealuminum.com/indicator.php/squeeze-outfit-.... It was really pretty garish, but it took me weeks to notic the stuff and nonsense. This provides a unsullied channel for the door to slide in, and a flange to put screws into.

As much as I liked the locking mechanism, the linkage was unstable and it kept causation jams. I ended up disabling the latching part, and just fixed the magnet that engages the lower door switch thusly it stays in the forward status. The door is pretty heavy, and if an animal proven to raise the door, the causative would turn on, which I think would spook to the highest degree vermin.

My idea of having a screen floor didn't really work out the way I thought it would. I ended leading covering the sort floor with a few pieces of cardboard and adding a couple of inches of shavings/litter. This worked much better, as information technology kept the hens warmer during the winter. I think I'll keep the cardboard/bedding floor, as it seems healthier for the hens, and they already have plenty of ventilation. Also, they seem to spend a lot of sentence scratching and dust-bathing nether the hen house (about the only alcoholic situatio during our squiffy winter), and I didn't want all that poop accumulating where they bathe. It's pretty easy to just lift tabu the cardboard pieces with all the waste and bedding material, and just use new cardboard pieces to pop fresh.

I also happened to have some door-CRT screen left ended from a different project, and I covered the front and back openings of the hen house with this riddle to maintain the mosquitoes from bothering the hens at night.

The weewe cups seemed to constantly get dirty, so I swapped them out and use little dribblers that fit in the same holes. The hens use them thin and their water is a lot cleaner.

July 2022 update: I had intermittent problems with the door motor not fillet when the door passed the reed switch. I suspect that there was a problem with the debounce function in the inscribe that I had antecedently posted. I altered that part of the code and have uploaded the newer version, which seems to be working consistently. I likewise deleted the kinda lengthy set of instructions for UN-jam the door, every bit these instruction manual are no longer necessary (I fervently hope they are no more necessary). It's a good idea to see something you can use to cover the light sensor, sol you rear test the system.

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