Door opener/closer for small (12" square?) door

Can anyone suggest where I might be able to get a mechanism for opening and closing a small door. The door will probably be about 12" square and can be hinged so that it swings like a full-sized door so the effort to open and close it should be quite small.

It needs to be secure against small animals (foxes etc.) when closed.

I want to operate it electrically so it can be opened and closed at set times (with a time clock from the mains) or possibly be driven by a photocell.

Searching for door opener only produces electronics for door latches and/or garage door openers.

Reply to
usenet
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A hen house door?

Reply to
Colin

These are made for poultry coops but I can't find the reference.

Ask on sci.agriculture.poultry

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Yes, and - any suggestions?

Reply to
usenet

Good point, will do.

Reply to
usenet

Why not look at using a car electric window mechanism, or even better a windscreen wiper mechanism.

Cheers

Peter

Reply to
puffernutter

Having just replaced a Honeywell CH valve motor, I think one of these might be OK. The torque is large, they rotate very slowly exactly 90 deg when the mains is applied and are spring loaded to return when its off. Gotten from any plumbing shop for a few quid or even less on the electronics surplus market.

rusty.

Reply to
Rusty

I found this from some old correspondence:

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chap who used it was very keen.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

I got pointed to the same device on the poultry newsgroup, thanks, I'll look into it.

Reply to
usenet

I have thought about this but have always worried about door failing or a hen being shut out overnight.

This time of year our hens could go into the house any time between 7pm and

9pm. I was thinking of some sort of perch sensor to detect hens being inside... but this got to complicated.

Another tack is to raise the hen house, see H-F Wittingstall (sp?) Riverside Cottage books, or Bunny Guinness. These seem to work in France but it does make cleaning and collecting eggs more difficult.

Colin

Reply to
Colin

No system is 100% foolproof. You might die before they go in and then what would happen :-)

Ours aren't going in until well after nine at the moment, we're in Yorkshire.

It's only suitable for small coops. I can't see why they should make anything else difficult.

Another method (this should be on s.a.p.) is to have the coop well off the floor with a pole sticking out at right angles to the opening. Hens can jump or fly onto the pole to get access to the coop, the fox can jump but can't get into the coop from the pole because it can't hold on to it. I've tried a version of this, it works but now that I have the Eglu it wouldn't be easy.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

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