VEVOR Automatic Chicken Coop Door Review

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Automatic chicken coop doors are a must-have. Every flock owner will eventually look for an automatic chicken coop door to ease their life. You can sleep as long as you want and you don’t have to worry if you’re a little late.

VEVOR is a worldwide supplier of tough machinery and tools. We took their chicken coop and automatic door opener to the test.

Overview

VEVOR is a global manufacturer of tools and equipment, and they have a line of poultry items, including a series of automatic chicken coop doors. Their door was one of our favorites in our Best Automatic Chicken Coop Door review because they are suited for large breeds.

The package includes a full aluminum door and guides, a door controller, and an infrared safety sensor. While most of the competitors use a cord to open the door, the VEVOR chicken coop door is operated with a solid actuator rod.

Almost everything is pre-assembled, and the door is very easy to install. The door also comes with two remote controllers that you can use to open and close the door at any given time.

We contacted VEVOR, and they offer a discount for chicken fans.

Design

The door is a guillotine-style aluminum gate driven by a solid actuator rod. Two aluminum runners guide the door on both sides. A door controller box is delivered as a separate unit that can be placed conveniently.

The door has an infrared safety sensor attached to the rail, preventing the door from closing when a chicken is underneath. The actuator rod, infrared sensor, and power outlet are wired, so the door requires some cable management to get everything in place properly.

The door comes with two remote controllers that allow you to open and close the door anytime. You can mount the door on the inside or on the outside of the chicken coop. The instruction manual recommends installing the door on the coop’s inside.

All components are level IP44 water resistant, which means they can be submerged under water for 30 minutes without sustaining damage. This door can withstand heavy rainfall.

VEVOR Door Opener Series

VEVOR has many door openers, and the ones in this series come with different options:

• medium-sized door vs. large door
• light sensor vs. time sensor

This gives the following combinations:

	Standard	Sensor	Combi	Large
Door Size (w x h)	12.6” x 11.8”	12.6” x 11.8”	12.6” x 11.8”	18.7 ” x 20”
Opening	Timer	Light Sensor	Light Sensor + Timer	Light Sensor, or Timer
Safety Sensor	✓	✓	✓	✓
Remote Controller	2	2	2	2

VEVOR also has an Automatic Chicken Coop Door Opener with an All-in-One design and a galvanized door. That design resembles many other chicken coop doors you can find online. We won’t tackle that door in this review as it’s an entirely different system.

Predator Proofness

The aluminum door and runners are sturdy and keep most predators like foxes out. There is just no way a predator can bite its way in through that door.

The rod is solid, and it’s a very sturdy design compared to other manufacturers’ strings for their door openers.

The door doesn’t lock in place after closing like some competitors. It doesn’t need to since the rod uses a single-axis worm gear that prevents ingenious raccoons from lifting the door.

If you install the door correctly, it closes all the way down. With the runners fitting tightly, there is not much wiggle room either, and we don’t see any way snakes or rodents could ever get through it. With the door closed, the coop is almost hermetically sealed.

Size

The door comes in two sizes. The normal size is 12.6″ x 11.8″, which is perfect for chickens. If you keep geese, you can opt for the larger door, which is 18.7″ x 20″.

Coop Hole

With the 12.6” x 11.8” door, you can cover an 11″ x 11″ hole in the chicken coop. Remark that the instructions in the installation manual state to cut a hole of 12 9/16 inches, but that would leave too big of a hole for the door to cover.

Here is what the instructions look like compared to real life.

We recommend measuring the door and avoiding relying solely on the instructions.

Coop Door Height

With the actuator rod on top of the door, you need about 30-32 inches for the entire setup. The distance between the holes for installing the actuator rod is 29 11/16 inches.

The actuator rod is mounted to the wall and always extends all the way. There is no configuration to install the door with a slightly smaller opening. You need the full height.

Installation Height

To get the actual height, the installation manual says to connect the controller, power up the door, and cover the light sensor to completely close the door.

However, if you have a door with a timer, that’s not easy to do, as the circuit board does not provide a dedicated OPEN- or CLOSE button unless you have the COMBI type. You can connect one of the remote controllers to close the door, but they need MN27 batteries, which are not included in the box. So you might run into an issue here.

Alternatively, you can align the door with the top and bottom of the runners. When the door is open, the door aligns with the top of the rails. The door reaches the exact bottom of the rails when the rod is fully extended.

All Coop Door Sizes

Here are all the sizes of the automatic chicken coop door system:

Coop Door Component	Size
Medium Size Door Width	12.6″
Medium Size Door Height	11.8″
Large Size Door Width	18.7″
Large Size Door Height	20″
Runner Rail Height	23,5″
Actuator Rod Length	18.5″
Total height of rails and rod	32″

Ease of Installation

The coop door system is very easy to install compared to other doors we’ve tested.

Almost all items are pre-assembled, and you can’t really mess up. Just make sure that the rails are installed parallel so that the door slides nicely. And don’t cut out too big of a hole in the coop.

The door needs external power to operate, so you will need to have a power outlet available.

To install the VEVOR automatic chicken coop door:

1. Cut a hole in your chicken coop with a maximum of 11″ x 11″
2. Install the guide rails and the door leaf, and ensure the door can slide easily
3. Open the folded door and fix it into the open position with the supplied bolt
4. Attach the actuator rod to the door
5. Mount the actuator rod to the wall of the chicken coop
6. Mount the door controller box in a convenient location
7. Install the infrared safety sensor
8. Connect the supply barrel plug to the controller’s IN-side
9. Plug the barrel connector in the right OUT-side

As you can see in the picture above, we installed the door horizontally on a piece of plywood before attaching it to the chicken coop, making the rod installation even easier.

What’s In The Box

The VEVOR door is shipped in a long box and sits nicely in its tight-fit styrofoam protection.

The door is folded and sits on the bottom of the box. Everything is wrapped in plastic, and there are even some nice small boxes that contain the fasteners.

The box contains:

• The door leaf and a bolt to fix it into position
• The actuator rod with the motor of the door
• The infrared safety sensor
• The controller box unit
• Installation tools and measuring tape
• Nuts, bolts, and spacers to install the rod
• A power cord

The box does NOT contain:

• 27A (MN27) batteries for the remote controllers

The controllers need 27A batteries. These are small 28mm batteries (1,1 inches) that are typically used in remote controllers, but most people don’t have them lying around.

Power

The chicken coop door needs a power outlet to work. You can’t install batteries in the controller box.

The unit can operate on a 110-volt line and a 220v (Europe).

If you don’t have a power outlet available on your chicken coop, you need an alternative 12V supply. You can power the door with:

• a 12V car battery
• a 12V solar panel setup

Problem with Power Outages

There is one huge problem with the configuration when it’s attached to a power outlet. The unit doesn’t have a battery backup.

The timers reset whenever there is a power outage, and the door stays open or closed until you re-program the unit. If you’re leaving the house, you risk your chickens being locked out of the coop when the power drops.

This chicken coop door won’t be a good match if you live in an area with regular power outages. If you choose the door with a light sensor, this probably is less of a problem, but we didn’t get one to take it to the test.

If you live in an intermittent power area, you can solder a pair of leads on a 12v battery and connect it to the power feed. It won’t be enough to open and close the door, but it will prevent short-term blips from resetting the times you programmed in the unit.

Remote Controllers

All chicken coop doors in this VEVOR series come with two remote controllers. The buttons are protected, and you can slide them open to access the controls.

The remote controllers have three buttons:

• UP
• DOWN
• STOP

The stop button stops the door when it’s moving in either direction. There is a fourth circular button, but that button is not in use.

The controllers need 27A 12V batteries, which are not included in the box. Although commonly used for remote controllers (e.g., for car keys), they might not be available in your local store. However, you can get the batteries on Amazon.

Linking the remote controllers to the chicken coop door

The remotes are linked to a specific door. So, if you have multiple coops and doors, they won’t all react on a single button push. Or, if your neighbors have the same VEVOR chicken coop door, your door won’t react on their remote.

Linking the remotes was very easy. A single push on the K5 button and a push on one of the buttons of the remotes does the job. Both remotes are linked simultaneously, so you don’t have to link them separately.

Sensor vs. Timer

The chicken coop door comes with a light sensor, timer, or both. If you have a unit with a light sensor, you can’t have a fallback on the clock unless you have the newer combi model.

With the combi model, you can choose to let the door close when it’s getting dark or specify an ultimate hour in case it’s still too light outside. However, we did not get our hands on the new model yet, so we could not test that functionality.

The units with a timer have a clock display on the top left. It’s used to program the opening and closing times and displays the current time. The time can easily be configured with the buttons on the right of the panel.

You have to remove the cover of the box to reach the buttons for the configuration. Only the combi model has buttons on the box for the chicken coop door configuration.

For units with a light sensor, you can mount the light sensor outside the coop even when you have the door installed on the inside.

Manually Opening and Closing the Chicken Coop Door

Normally, the door opens automatically with a timer or light sensor.

But there are always cases when you want to temporarily close or open the door for a moment. We close the door when we clean the coop or to keep a broody hen out of the nesting boxes for a while.

With the VEVOR chicken coop door, you can manually open and close the door with the remote controllers. The one thing we feel that’s missing is a button on the control box.

If you don’t have the batteries for the remotes, or you lost the remote, or the remote is not working anymore, there is no button on the door panel to force the door to open or close.

Infrared Safety Sensor

The automatic chicken coop door has a safety sensor to prevent the door from closing when a chicken is underneath. The infrared sensor is mounted on the side of the coop door rail.

It’s easy to install and worked perfectly out of the box for us.

Noise Level

The full aluminum door and rails don’t make too much noise when operating. The actuator rod noise level is below 35 dB.

However, there is a ‘clicking’ noise when the system activates.

Also, the metal can make sharp scratching noises when the rails are not completely in parallel. As shown in the video, we mounted the door on a single piece of plywood, and we still had this issue.

Keeping the chickens quiet

The aluminum door does a decent job of blocking out noise. The aluminum reflects sound waves back into the coop, lowering noise levels. It’s also a good insulator, reducing outside noise and allowing your chickens to roost.

However, since it is still a thin sheet of highly conductive aluminum, it will be less effective at noise reduction than other materials, such as wood.

Overall, the noise level is significantly reduced once the coop is sealed.

Maintenance & Durability

The aluminum door, actuator rod, and sealed controller box don’t have many moving parts that would need regular maintenance.

Some jobs you have to keep in mind:

• if you have a clock with a timer, you have to adjust for sunset every now and then
• if you live in an area with daylight saving time, you will have to adjust the timers to avoid clock skew
• you have to change the batteries in the remote controllers when they drain

Cold Temperatures

In freezing temperatures, the chicken coop door motor seems to run slowly. It’s not immediately clear to us whether the motor is frozen or the circuit board draws too much power.

We tested the doors on several cold nights, hitting 20F (-6°C) without any problems. However, people on the internet complain that the door struggles when temperatures drop below 5F (-15°C) and stops working in sub-zero temperatures (-18°C). For some people, the door only opens partway when temperatures drop below 5F.

If you live in snowy areas, keep the door dry and free from ice.

Blue Light Shiny in the Dark

The standard units have a transparent cover with a blue LED light.

The light of the clock and the blue LED are quite bright and can attract insects and mosquitos in the late evening. We had to cover the box to prevent this from happening.

Price and Availability

The VEVOR automatic chicken coop door is available worldwide and can be bought from the VEVOR website or retailers. We’ve seen some types of doors in the series unavailable for a while.

Pricing starts around $100, which is pretty competitive considering the fact that it is a full aluminum door that’s driven with a solid actuator rod (compared to the much cheaper cords that competitors use).

VEVOR ships its automatic chicken coop doors worldwide and has warehouses from its warehouses in America, Europe, and Australia.

Shipping of the coop doors is currently free, except for some remote areas like Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii, Cyprus, Iceland, Tasmania, and Western Australia, and some European countries like Finland, Switzerland, North Macedonia, and Norway.

Warranty

VEVOR offers a 1-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee on its website. This warranty includes manufacturing issues and assembly defects. The same warranty applies to replacement products.

If there is a problem with the automatic chicken coop door, VEVOR asks to contact customer service and provide them with pictures or videos to illustrate the issue. The customer service team will investigate the issue and offers a solution based on the warranty policy.

VEVOR provides a refund within 2-14 business days when the product is returned, depending on the financial institutions involved. VEVOR will not charge any processing fee for a refunded chicken coop door.

Reasons for the immediate return of a coop door include DOA (dead on arrival), wrong item (e.g., sensor vs. timer), or quality issues (damage). VEVOR will not offer free returns if the delivery is delayed or when you made an order by mistake.

If the manual of your chicken coop door is missing, or you get one from another continent, you can contact VEVOR for an electronic or video manual.

VEVOR’s customer service has a good reputation and responsiveness. We’ve heard about chicken coop doors that were out of warranty, where they offered a 20% discount for a replacement.

About Vevor

VEVOR is a company brand name specializing in equipment and tools for DIYers and professionals. They have been a well-established cross-border e-commerce business for over 15 years, serving millions of customers in more than 200 countries.

The company has 40+ warehouses worldwide in the U.S., Europe, the UK, and Australia. If you buy a coop door from the VEVOR website, they will ship the parcel from a warehouse close to your location. The organization behind the website is HK SISHUN TRADE CO., LIMITED, located in Hong Kong, China.

Manufacturing for the supply chain is governed by Taicang Vevor Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd. They cover the world with warehouses in Los Angeles, Portsmouth (England), and Sydney.

They produce machinery for several industries and sectors, such as home & garden, restaurants, automotive, power, electrical, lab furniture, hardware, and hand tools.

VEVOR also provides tools for the poultry industry, such as lab incubators, egg peeling machines, and full aluminum automatic chicken coop doors.

If you want to know more about automatic chicken coop doors: We’ve thoroughly tested many chicken coop doors and made a list of our Best Automatic chicken coop doors, including major brands like Omlet, ChickenGuard, Vevor Premium, Happy Henhouse, Chickcozy and Run Chicken.