Chickcozy Automatic Coop Door Review
by Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | August 20, 2024
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The early pioneers wouldn’t have had automatic coop doors on their chicken coops…. but, as modern pioneers, an automatic chicken coop is a convenient addition to have on the homestead coop. In this Chickcozy Automatic Coop Door review I’ll discuss the different features of this door and how it has worked on my homestead coop. Find out how the Chickcozy automatic door compares to other automatic doors I have tried so that if you do choose to invest in an automatic coop door, you can make the best choice for your homestead flock.
This review is sponsored by Chickcozy. All opinions are my own.
The Chickcozy automatic door is a brand of automatic chicken coop door that can be installed on the homestead coop. It automatically opens and closes, allowing your flock to get outside during the day but be securely closed inside the coop at night without you having to open and close doors. There are many automatic chicken coop doors to choose from now, and in this review I will rate the Chickcozy automatic door on various features including:
These rating will be on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest and best rating. I also use two other automatic chicken coop doors on my homestead, the Pullet-Shut automatic door from chickendoors.com and the Run-Chicken T9 automatic door from run-chicken.com. My experience with these other doors has given me a good understanding of what makes a reliable, safe, and worthwhile automatic coop door.
As much as custom size automatic coop doors would be nice, I’ve not come across any brands that offer custom sizes of their doors. So, that does mean you may need to customize the door opening on your coop to accommodate the Chickcozy automatic door. Alternatively, if you are just building your chicken coop, plan the proper door size to fit an automatic door.
To install the standard size Chickcozy automatic door you need a door opening that is no bigger than 8.15″ wide by 10.4″ tall. You will also need to consider the total size of the door to make sure it can open and close properly. The total height of the standard size Chickcozy is 13.9″ tall, and when closed, the total width is 12″. The Chickcozy door has sliding doors that open side to side. The total width when the doors are open is 16.7″ wide.
Once you have the right opening for the Chickcozy automatic door, it is super simple to install. The coop wall that the door will be installed on needs to be flat and there should be nothing that will interfere with the opening of the sliding doors. The door comes with 6 self-tapping screws and all you need is a Phillips screwdriver (preferably a power tool) to screw the door securely onto the coop wall. The screws go into 6 pre-drilled holes along either side of the automatic door, with 3 holes being on each side.
Once mounted on the coop wall, the Chickcozy door is secure and stable. You can install the Chickcozy door on the outside of the coop or on the inside.
The Chickcozy automatic door is pretty simple to use. The control panel on the Chickcozy door is located at the top of the door. The control panel includes a display screen, a scroll up button, a scroll down button, an OK button, and a light sensor.
When you first get your Chickcozy automatic door I strongly recommend you test run the door before installing it on the coop. To test run the door, you will need to install the batteries (more on that later). The door will automatically sense if the double doors are open or close (they should be closed). Press the OK button until the doors start to open, the display screen will read ‘calibrating’. The doors should calibrate 3-5 times by opening and closing. Don’t block or interfere with the doors while they are calibrating. Make sure the doors are open and closing completely, if they are not, contact the Chickcozy customer service.
The simplicity of the buttons, the display screen, and simple control systems (discussed next) makes this automatic coop door easy to use and understand.
The customer service at Chickcozy.com is very easy to communicate with. My first Chickcozy door that they send me wouldn’t close all the way and they immediately sent me a replacement. Also, the Chickcozy door does come with an instruction manual that is easy to read and understand. Illustrations make figuring out the control panel and systems simple and easy.
The Chickcozy door has three modes: manual mode, time mode, and light mode. These modes determine when the automatic door opens and closes. You can select which mode you want to set by using the scroll up/down arrows to get to the MODE section in the menu. Press and hold the OK button until the mode option starts blinking, then use the arrows to scroll through the three mode options. Press the OK button when the desired mode is shown on the display screen. If the screen is blank when you first go to program the door, press any button to wake the screen.
The manual mode allows you to manually open and close the door whenever you choose. When you choose the manual mode in the settings, do not expect the door to automatically open and close.
The time mode allows you to set what specific time you want the door to open and close. First you will need to set the correct time into the menu, then you can set the open time and the close time for the automatic door.
The light mode is the default mode for the door. In the light mode, the automatic door will open and close based on sensing the natural light levels. A unique feature of the Cozychick door is that you can program the desired light sensitivity for when the door opens and closes. The light sensitivity is on a scale of 0-100, with 0 representing the darkest level of light and 100 representing the brightest level of light. You can program both the open sensitivity and the close sensitivity.
There are also settings where you can set open or close delays and do a factory reset. The open delay and close delay menu options allow you to set minute delays for the opening and closing of the door. A factory reset can be done by selecting the factory reset option in the menu, which will set everything back to default times and modes.
Like I mentioned before, the Chickcozy automatic door has a setting where you can adjust the light sensitivity at which the door opens or closes. It took a little observing to figure out just what levels of light triggered the door to open or close based on sensitivity numbers (0-100).
Even when the light sensitivity is set to 0, the darkest setting, the door still closes sooner than either of my other two automatic doors. It closes before sunset and this can be challenging if you have a flock that likes to stay out late. They may not go into their coop early enough and then be locked out. However, you can overcome this challenge by setting a close delay. I set a 45 minute close delay on my Chickcozy door and it now closes at a similar time to the other automatic doors I use.
The same is true of the open time. The Chickcozy door does not open very early even when the light sensitivity is set to 0. There is no way to work around this, so your flock will just have to hang out in their coop until the door opens. As a side note, do not set both the open and close light sensitivities to 0. This will cause the door to close in the evening but then reopen later in the evening. I have the open sensitivity set to 2 and the close sensitivity set to 10 with a 45 minute close delay.
The Chickcozy automatic door is both safe for chickens and it is predator-proof. I like the crush detector that is automatically programmed into the door controls. You can test the crush detector by manually triggering the door to close. While it is closing, hold something in the doorway. Once the doors meet the obstruction, they should stop and reopen. The doors will try to reclose 4 more times. If the obstruction is still present the doors will remain in the fully open position. This prevents a chicken from being injured by the door.
One safety feature that the Chickcozy door does not have is a second open/close system in the evening. Some doors will close, then re-open in a few minutes in case any stragglers didn’t make it into the coop the first time. Then the door will close for good a second time. The Chickcozy door does not have this second open/close cycle.
The Chickcozy door is also fully predator-proof. While I can’t guarantee that large predators (like bears) can’t break the plastic door, I do know that the door is strong enough to deter common predators like raccoons, weasels, or opossums. The two sliding doors fully close and nest together so that they cannot be pried apart. When properly screwed into the coop wall, the door cannot be pried away from the coop either.
The Chickcozy automatic door is powdered by four AA 1.5V batteries. These batteries need to be installed into the battery pack and attached to the door in order for the door to operate. The battery pack is attached to the door using a battery pack connector that allows the pack to nest into the control panel above the door. A silicone cap covers and protects the battery pack. There is also a power adapter and a power adapter port to connect the door to electricity if desired.
I like that the door can be powered by batteries and doesn’t need to be plugged into electricity, which is great for electricity-free coops. However, you will need to remember to replace the batteries once they get low. Thankfully, the display screen shows battery charge in %’s. The screen will also flash when the battery powder is almost gone. Always replace the batteries before they are completely dead.
I have found that the batteries will last well over a year, even enduring cold Mighigan winters. I like to change the batteries once they are 1.5-2 years old.
As of right now, the Chickcozy door only comes in one standard size. The total size of the door is 13.9″ tall by 12″ wide. When the doors are open, the door opening is slightly less than 12″. This size door is not ideal for large breed chickens like Cochins, Brahmas, or Jersey Giants. The door opening is simply not large enough to accommodate large size chickens.
My flock of Svart Honas use this door comfortably, but even standard size Orpingtons may find the door a tight squeeze.
The Chickcozy automatic door is waterproof and easy to clean! You can clean the door when it is installed on the coop, or you can easily unscrew the door from the wall for an annual cleaning, then re-screw it back onto the chicken coop easily enough. Warm water with a splash of soap or vinegar works great for cleaning all aspects of the door. However, make sure the silicon cap is securely over the battery pack to prevent moisture from getting into the batteries. You may also want to remove the batteries when cleaning the door with water.
The reason why I didn’t give this door a 10/10 for ease of cleaning is because there are features about this door that MUST be kept clean in order for the door to work properly. The tracks that the two doors slide back and forth in must be kept free from debris otherwise the doors won’t close properly. I recommend cleaning out the track at least once a month to ensure the door works well.
The ChickCozy automatic door is at the higher end of the price range for automatic coop doors. However, you are getting a quality product for the price. When investing in a Chickcozy automatic door, expect to invest $140-$160 in a door. However, when you order from the Chickcozy site you can free-shipping on your door. It also comes with a 30 free returns policy and a 2-year warranty. I like the 2-year warranty policy since that is a better warranty than what comes with other automatic doors.
I have automatic doors on both of my homestead coops. They make for a low-maintenance homestead coop since I don’t have to worry about closing the flock in every night or letting them out every morning. The Chickcozy automatic door is a dependable, quality door that works great on the homestead. I love how easy it is to use, the adjustable light sensitivity feature, and that it can be battery-powered. Consider investing in an automatic door for your homestead coop!
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