ChickenGuard "All In One" coop door opener and closer review

[@moutasemh4187]

Buff Orpington deserves all the care and protection 🌹

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Definitely!

[@nogames8982]

Thank you for this review. I did not even realize that chicken guard came out with a new model. The battery change thing is huge! I used to hate dealing with unscrewing everything just to change the batteries so I’m happy with that.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@nogames8982 Us too - makes a huge difference!

[@donnamarshall8349]

Fantastic video, as always - thank you Hugh and Fiona! ❤❤

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks Donna! How are you doing?

[@donnamarshall8349]

All good; I’d just finished work when I got notification of your latest video, and that’s set me up for a lovely weekend. Much love from Sussex By The Sea ❤❤

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@donnamarshall8349 Yay for the Weekend 🎉

[@JamesSmith-dt3yf]

Bought one and it’s great 👍

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Great to hear!

[@barbsdee3831]

Great review as alway Huge and the lovely chicken whisperer Fiona 🤣♥️

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks Barbs. It's a solid bit of kit & a lot of people have been asking for a locking door

[@driftingoffgrid9573]

I have just bought two - this was really reassuring as I was putting off installing them!😀

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I'm glad it helped. The only thing to double check is that you have the right length of screw, but I found installation very straightforward 🙂

[@ashslattery7452]

We are very pleased with ours...had it a couple of weeks so early days, but so far so good. It is expensive but hopefully it will serve us well.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

They seem to be reliable - let us know if you encounter any issues?

[@sarahewitt4232]

Thanks!!!! Very helpful 😊

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Glad you liked it Sara - it's not perfect but it's very secure

[@johnthebuilder2023]

Great review, thank you

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Kohn, it's still working well on the coop 🙂

[@sammymaravilla7161]

thanks for all your information God bless you always

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks Sammy. You too!

[@monkeypuzzlefarm]

This is so well timed! I ordered my Chickguard Extreme this week and I am just waiting for it to arrive.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Home you get on well with it. We wouldn't be without closers on our coops!

[@chrishamilton-wearing3232]

The Chicken Whisperer ! Love it 😅 I have this very day received a Titan Cube door opener based largely on your favourable review in a previous video. I haven't even got any chickens yet !

[@EnglishCountryLife]

The cube is an interesting unit. It works well although there are a couple of updates that I would like to see - it does suffer from the screwdriver needed battery change!

[@chrishamilton-wearing3232]

@@EnglishCountryLife I have a couple of triangular welding magnets which are excellent at finding dropped screws and bolts in the grass. I also place a piece of white cloth on the ground which does 2 things. It stops things from bouncing off into a parallel universe and it makes them easier to find. I've used both methods to great effect.

[@chrishamilton-wearing3232]

@@EnglishCountryLife I've just watch video of a chap installing a Titan door opener. It was a chap in the USA and all was going well. He measured for the door rails. He even got the screws in the right place ! 😏 But then it all fell apart when it came to fitting it to the coop. He decided to keep the existing door which was a side hung door with a bolt to secure it just in case they had some strong winds. Then he fitted the Titan door and opener on the inside of the coop !! Well, I haven't got any chickens yet and I haven't fitted my opener but I can see he might have an issue with his set up ! 🤣

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@chrishamilton-wearing3232 Yes that does seem a bit odd. I like their pop hole, it's a nicely made bit of kit

[@chrishamilton-wearing3232]

@@EnglishCountryLife I've treated myself to a Titan door, from your Amazon store of course , once again based on your favourable review and on further investigation it seems everyone else thinks the same. ( note to self :- put screws in right way up ! ) .

[@lewis801]

One thing I wondered when getting a new door opener is if it retries when there is an obstruction when opening or closing purely for peace of mind. The app is an interesting idea and possibly useful on larger scale set ups my concern would be additional setup for WiFi coverage and additional battery consumption for something that may not really be suitable for a back garden setup, nice to have the option though but I can imagine sets the scene for a chicken guard WiFi coop camera

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Lewis. It does retry to close although I'm not sure how many times. You are spot on about WiFi power consumption. My understanding on the WiFi setup is that there will be a mains transformer rather than battery to manage that, but of course that has it's own problems if you don't have outdoor mains power.

[@veedebee]

Thanks for the really helpful review, its a good job you pointed out about the vent above the door as we have that (annoying). Are there any recommendations for that?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

We find that a string can pass over those vents okay so an opener with a string is probably your best bet. Our favourite is the ChickSafe Advance from Brinsea although ChickenGuard make some very good models kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHKTnWmwh653atk

[@driftingoffgrid9573]

I am building my coop from scratch - its the size of a shed so I was able to select where I cut the doors - but it made me realise that things like doors and vents can be re-cut where you would prefer - and on one side I have mounted a frame around the hole to bring the door forward to avoid hitting the overlapping cladding I used on the outside. That might work for that annoying vent.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@driftingoffgrid9573 That's an excellent idea 💡

[@driftingoffgrid9573]

Thanks - I was inspired by a lot of your videos in the 'diary' series, such as setting up a nursery inside the run - That's why I have put two doors in - so I can redirect the adult chicken traffic when my hens eventually have chicks. I even sourced a Buff Orpington Cockerel (not that common in the West of Ireland) - but when I got him home he was a Bantam - I didn't realise because he was in with small hens 🤣 @@EnglishCountryLife

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@driftingoffgrid9573 If he's anything like the bantams I've met he probably thinks he's the biggest cockerel around 😁

[@MosaicHomestead]

I bought the latest chicken guard string chicken guard door, got practically a weekly door error where the door either didn't open or the door stayed open, it happens less often but I wouldn't trust that door to go on vacation, I paid a lot of money for that door, it should work flawlessly for the price but doesn't, I like the new door, but my confidence in chicken guard isn't as high as it was before.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

That's good information, thanks for that. Is the model that you bought an "All in one" like this one (with the integral door) or a string model for a vertical pop hole?

[@MosaicHomestead]

@EnglishCountryLife It's a chicken guard, I believe it's the 2022 model, the one Carolina coops stopped selling, it's the all in one extreme with the auto locking door , I'm building a unique hurricane 🌀 proof chicken coop called the chicken bunker, I wanted the best door on the market, so I was recommended chicken guard, once my coop is done I'm putting up a tour video, it has a lot of advanced features that work flawlessly except the door, this will come up...I have videos up on the build.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@MosaicHomestead Interesting, would love to see it. Do you know why the ChickenGuard is failing? Is bedding blocking the door (I've seen this on certain door designs). There is an issue with "self calibrating" designs that if anything fouls the door, they report an error. There are other designs (e.g. Nestera) that are manually calibrated and so less prone to errors

[@MosaicHomestead]

@EnglishCountryLife Search: Chicken bunker, Chicken guard install and Diy accessories...Comment on the video only if you are satisfied with the quality of my work.

[@Coxeysbodgering]

Are the units addressable / nameable? Think that would be necessary for any app for multiple coops. Also what was the Ariel lead for by the battery compartment?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

The app isn't out yet but that's a very valid point, if I get a test version of the app I'll check on that, thanks! The string from the battery compartment just helps pop the battery pack out of the water tight compartment. Honestly though it's not really necessary and I think I'll probably just remove it.

[@sajeloequestrian]

Hi How is the chicken guard all in one door coping in the freezing weather, please? Have you had any issues with it not opening/closing since fitting it? Can you manually open/close the door with one button press rather than changing settings? My current doors freeze shut. Aargh! Hope you can help!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi! It's operating absolutely fine in the icy conditions. Because it is geared rather than running in grooves, the cold doesn't seem to affect it. It can be opened and closed manually by pressing the up & down arrows without affecting the program

[@sajeloequestrian]

Thank you for speedy response. Does the motor not sit in the middle slots to run the door up and down like other doors then?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi, the motor is inside the main unit and lifts and lowers the door using the slots that you can see in the door. The door edges are protected but not tight inside rebates like some wooden doors. Our experience is that doors sticking is either caused by water getting into the wooden edge runners & freezing or damp thread on the spool freezing. Since this unit has no tight runners or thread it's not had any problems (so far)

[@somethinggoodisgonnahappen]

Our all in one didn't open this morning... Said battery was OK (5.6v) changed batteries and worked fine. We've only had it 6 weeks. Manual states batteries should do 4 months easy in the Summer. Anyone come across this issue?

[@cassiejohnson9088]

I've had my coop door about 4 months now and really like it. I don't like having to go into the run to change batteries though. Last night was the first issue I had with the door saying it needed to be calibrated and wouldn't close. Do you know what may have caused this?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Cassie, I've only seen this once and it was because our stupid Cockerel had kicked bedding into the doorway. When the door came down this really activated the safety switch that prevents the door hurting a chicken. Is it possible the door came down on something? Interesting point on the batteries. I think they have to be near the motor

[@robburke8867]

I just installed one on one of my coops. Thinking about buying another all in one door. I was wondering if those models would work mounted horizontal because there’s not enough room to install vertically since it has a sprocket instead of the gravity string system. Can anyone confirm that?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Have you thought about the Omet auto door? It's designed to work horizontally

[@robburke8867]

@@EnglishCountryLife I haven’t but I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks for the reply!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@robburke8867 You can see it here kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIPZpI2bpK6kp7c

[@robburke8867]

@@EnglishCountryLife Yep, that’s what I was looking for. 🤙🏽 Much appreciated.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@robburke8867 Any time 😉