Summary of Mobile Chicken Coop with some automation using Arduino
The article describes a project to build a mobile chicken coop designed for pasture rotation to protect the yard. The coop measures 4x3 feet with a height of 4-5 feet and is elevated 2 feet off the ground. It features mobile fencing to confine the chickens and is equipped with Arduino-based automation to monitor temperature, water usage, and automatically close doors at night. Zigbee technology is used for wireless data transmission to a PC, allowing remote monitoring via a web page. The project aims to combine practical chicken raising with smart home tech.
Parts used in the Mobile Chicken Coop with Arduino Automation:
- Wood for coop frame and siding
- Cedar shingles for siding (searched for)
- Roof materials
- Door and ramp components
- Arduino microcontroller
- Zigbee wireless modules
- Temperature sensors
- Water usage sensors
- Motors for automated door closing
- Mobile fencing
My wife and I have wanted to raise chickens(for the eggs) and we finally decided to do it this spring. I have read a lot about pastured chicken and wanted to create a mobile coop so that the chickens would not destroy the yard. I have a fairly decent sized yard for the burbs so I hope to move the coop every day or every other day if possible. Hopefully there will be enough space to rotate efficiently I am planning on using mobile fencing to limit the chickens to an area around the coop. This would be moved with the coop everyday as well. So coming up with a system to make this simple is an important goal.
Also I have messed around with the Arduino over the years and thought it would be a great tool for reporting the temperature, water use and closing the doors at night. I hope to use Zigbee to transmit the data back to a pc in the house, then display the data on a web page for remote viewing. The general dimensions are 4 feet by 3 feet with a height of 5 feet on the high side and 4 on the low. It will be raised 2 feet off the ground to keep the critters away and have less impact on the grass.
Items left(items will be removed as they are add to the instructable):
Update:
Still searching for some cedar shingles for the siding.
Added Roof Step 5
Added Door and Ramp Step 6
Added Electronics Step 7
Added Software Step 8
Automation(motor problems)
For more detail: Mobile Chicken Coop with some automation using Arduino