Looking for the Wi-Fi Chicken Doors?

Stay tuned... over the next few days I will be catch-up posting the Wi-Fi chicken Doors.

Oh... and my Wi-Fi Bird Feeder.

I'll be back...

Wi-Fi Chook Shed Light

Been meaning to do this for a while and because of Rosie's weird going-to-bed behavior of late we moved it to the top of the job list. For some reason instead of going up the ramp to the roost she's hanging around on the floor and going into a corner under the nesting box table?

We are using a Wi-Fi Switch which requires a ZigBee hub which is already setup and configured on the network.

Wi-Fi Chicken Door - Demo

Wi-Fi Chicken Feeder - Update

I found two metal cat food bowls which got me thinking about how to keep the scratched out food separated which would also make it easier to clean-up.

The food id now contained and the metal cat food bowls sit flush with the bottom making it easier to simply brush the food back into the bowls.

Wi-Fi Chicken Feeder - Update

Replaced the plastic barrier mesh with a plywood cover.

That's working OK

Wi-Fi Chicken Feeder - Part 3

Video clips from the Part 2 session.

These days I have problems just holding and seeing my phone so the clips are pretty shabby.

Wi-Fi Chicken Feeder - Part 2

We finished Part 1 with making a cover frame and mounting the servo motor.

This is where we left off.

Wi-Fi Chicken Feeder - Part 1

Suitable for use in the chook run where there is 240V power for the 12V power supply or powered from 12V SLA battery (also solar panel) for controlled feed sessions the yard or further out within wi-fi range.

The feeder is controlled with the Smart Life app in conjunction with Amazon Alexa. For example to remotely open the feeder 'Alexa... Open Chicken Feeder'. You can also press the button on the feeder itself to manually open and close.

Timber is very expensive so for the prototype I am using timber from the previous coop roost.

Wi-Fi Chicken Annex Door - Upgrade 1

 As planned I have upgraded the 3mm MDF door to a heavy gauge carbon steel Cookie Sheet - Arrruuuuggghh! (Tim Allen).

Product Details

• Dimensions/Size:
• Exterior: 1.8cm (H) x 43.5cm (W) x 28.3cm (D)
• Interior: 1.6cm (H) x 38.1cm (W) x 25.4cm (D)
• Material: Carbon steel
• Colour: Black

Features

• Medium size
• Heavy gauge, carbon steel for enhanced cooking performance and even heat distribution
• Premium 2 layer non-stick coating
• Oven safe up to 230 deg.
• PFOA free coating

Wi-Fi Chicken Door - Painting 2

Still have a few things to do including installing door sill guards and add some trim on the inside of the chook run door. Having said that we are already working on changing the timber doors to metal.

Chicken annex door - standing in the annex looking out.

Wi-Fi Chicken Door - Painting 1

We are painting the frames and surrounding areas that need a touch up.

Wi-Fi Bird Feeder repairs - Part 2

For Part 1 we repaired, modified and strengthened the bird feeder.

For this session we are reducing the height of the stand down to about five and a half feet.

Girls have been with me all the time in the workshop scanning for every individual seed lol.

Wi-Fi Bird Feeder repairs - Part 1

We need to further strengthen the feeder to withstand Cockatoo attacks!

Remove the Wi-Fi Valve aka Actuator from the base mount.

Wi-Fi Chicken Annex Door 5

With a medical appointment this morning and a dental one this afternoon wasn't much left of the day but did manage to fix the wire mesh to the door frames.

Trimming and stapling the wire mesh onto the internal (chook run) door frame.

Wi-Fi Chicken Annex Door - Part 4

With the wi-fi chicken annexe door installed went back this morning to tidy up the wiring for that. Looking around decided to review all the wiring - electrical and networking - and it's a good thing I did that!

Setting up to tidy-up the annexe door wiring.

Wi-Fi Chicken Annexe Door - Part 3

With the annex door installed into the annex gate we can move onto mounting the actuator on a base and make the actuator arm.

The door actuator is ready to install.

Wi-Fi Chicken Annexe Door - Part 2

In this session we installed the wi-fi door into the annexe gate.

Removed the annexe gate and took it into the workshop.

Wi-Fi Chicken Annexe Door - Part 1

 Making another door this time for the chook run annexe gate.

I stuffed around for quite a while making the first one for the chook run this one took less than one hour!

This one will cop the weather so we are using exterior 3mm plywood.

Wi-Fi Chicken Door - Upgrade 1

Yesterday we did the cookie sheet upgrade to external annex door. Today we are doing the same upgrade to the internal chook run door.

Removing the door frame.

Wi-Fi Bird feeder - Part 6

Modifications to stabilise the feeder.

Adding some improvised brackets at the base of the feeder.