Last autumn's illness story - your thoughts please

[rachel84 17]

Hello,

I'm contemplating getting the auto door for my Cube but i'm a little concerned by a couple of things:

1. The opening looks quite narrow - the cockerel I have is a big lad (Blue Laced Red Wyandotte) and two of my ladies are quite wide to put it politely (Marans) and I do wonder if they will fit in ok?

2. Reliability: If it failed and I was away for a couple of days they could be trapped inside.

Does anyone have any experience with this yet before I take the plunge and find it wont suit my flock?

Thanks!

Rachel

[Patricia W 121]

No, sorry.  I’m the door opener and closer!  I can do it in my sleep- and sometimes do.....

[Natspringy 33]

Can't say on omlet's but we have the hentronix and it's fab. Had almost a year and never failed.  I have a camera set up too so when away we can just check the camera for peace of mind. But it's never failed. We charged the battery before we went away although didn't need to.

I love our auto door even though I do actually go in morning and night- to take up and down  the water - but it's nice if I oversleep or get stuck in traffic. 

The door on the hentronix is the same as it's attached to a motor; sometimes mine get a bit impatient waiting for it to open slowly but it's not that slow! 

Omlets looks great though too.

Edited October 26, 2018 by Natspringy

[Annaspanner 1]

Someone asked this question on a Facebook forum the other day and of the 3 people that replied, all had returned theirs to omlet. Could be teething issues as a new product but one person said their chicken got its head stuck in the door 😬 consensus seemed to be that hentronix were good ones. 

[Natspringy 33]

16 minutes ago, Annaspanner said:

Someone asked this question on a Facebook forum the other day and of the 3 people that replied, all had returned theirs to omlet. Could be teething issues as a new product but one person said their chicken got its head stuck in the door 😬 consensus seemed to be that hentronix were good ones. 

Head stuck in the door 😱😱😱😱

Hentronix also do a very handy youtube video on how to attach the hentronix to the eglu. It's very easy. Just don't accidentally cover the sensor like I did last night!  Found them all crammed into the outdoor nest box, bless them!  But that was human error. Still love my hentronix.

[Annaspanner 1]

I believe the chicken in question was fine! I think the sensors were misbehaving. I have an cube my 1 so hoping to get a hentronix one in the spring. 

[rachel84 17]

Thanks for the replies - I think I will go for a Hentronix one in that case as it seems more tried and tested! 

[sarkymite 5]

I've got the Omlet one on order but there's been a stock issue or something which means I've been waiting a while. I had been going to get the Hentronix one when Omlet brought theirs out. Having read this thread I am wondering whether to go back to Plan A and get the Hentronix one instead... 

The reason I went for the Omlet one in the end was that it retro fits to the front of the Mk1 cube so the door opening handle on the cube itself isn't being used and so isn't sticking out sideways all night. I had visions of either me walking into the handle or wildlife fiddling with it. That would be preferable to something that doesn't work though. If anyone else has any experience with it do post!!

[sandyhas3chucks 3]

Sarky how did you go with the aurimai opener on your mark 1 cube ?

[Luvachicken 180]

I have one of the Omlet auto doors and it has been one of the best things I've bought.

We tested it on a satsuma and it worked perfectly, opening straight back up as soon as it touches it.

Mine is set to open at 5.10am and closes at 11.30pm at the moment.

I will change it in the winter.

If you go away it does say to leave it open just in case it does happen to fail.

Mine hasn't had any problems so far and I've had it since February.

 

[Patricia W 121]

There was a discussion about this on the Omlet FB Forum.  Everyone who had one seemed happy with the Omlet one and several commented that it didn’t squish chickens, just stopped if they happened to be in the way.   Not an issue for me as they perch outside in the run.  The cube is just an expensive nest box!