Is the Chickcozy Solar Automatic Chicken Coop Door Any Good?

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Living on a rural homestead means that we need to be vigilant to protect our livestock. Despite our best efforts and even setting daily alarms, sometimes we forget to lock the chickens up at night. Sadly, it only takes once for a predator to decimate an entire chicken flock in a single evening. The ChickCozy Solar Automatic Chicken Coop Door Opener provides chicken keepers peace of mind, knowing the chickens are secure every night. In fairness to my readers, I don’t feel I can provide an accurate review of any product by using it for a few weeks. This ChickCozy door review will be a work in progress with quarterly updates regarding performance over the first year. Find the updates here.

Features of the Solar ChickCozy Automatic Door

Automatic coop door openers range in style and price. In a quick internet search, the Chickcozy Automatic Chicken door is at the top of the price range. Priced at $169 USD at the time of this initial review. The ChickCozy Door has a horizontal opening design that opens like an elevator. This is unique for an automatic chicken door, as most open vertically like a guillotine.

Constructed From ASA Vehicle Grade Plastic

Like most automatic doors, it is made from plastic. I found only one automatic chicken door made of aluminum, but it came in over three times the price of the ChickCozy chicken coop door. Admittedly, this is my biggest concern regarding the performance and durability of the ChickCozy automatic chicken door. The ChickCozy site states that the door is made of vehicle-grade ASA material. ASA is an abbreviation of acrylonitrile styrene acrylate material, which is a type of ultra-strong thermoplastic. 

In further research, this type of plastic is an engineering-grade thermoplastic that is UV-resistant. An important distinction for a product used exclusively outside. This plastic is used in many automotive components, medical electronics, and electrical parts. ASA plastic can withstand extreme ambient temperatures to include extreme cold weather and heat. This independent research makes me feel much better about placing the security of my chickens behind a plastic door here in rural Kentucky, where we see temperatures varying from below zero to over 100 degrees. 

Solar-Powered Option

Probably my favorite thing about the ChickCozy automatic door is that it is solar-powered. Included with the door is the solar panel that charges the built-in 3200mAh rechargeable battery. The day before installation, I set the solar panel in the direct sunlight to fully charge the rechargeable battery before installing the door. 

Battery Status Visibility Needs Improvement

One feature that I wish were included in the main menu is the battery charge status. Upon receiving the device, I did not know how to determine the status of the rechargeable batteries. It was only later, through careful reading of the Instruction manual for writing this post, did I realize that battery status was an included feature.

By default, the Solar charger always displays the Solar Charging X1 – X5. This lets you know that your controller is charging.  To determine the Battery Status, you need to cover the light sensor for several seconds. Once the solar panel is no longer charging the battery, the menu changes to Battery Status. It includes four bars that show the current charge of the battery. Four bars indicate the batteries are fully charged. It also includes a Low Battery screen, though I have not yet seen that screen, as the bright sunny days of summer have kept the batteries sufficiently charged.  

Solar Cell Status Monitoring

I felt the manual poorly documented how to determine Battery status (though it’s very thorough in most other features). On page 12, there is a single image of Battery Status but it is unclear how to view the screen.

Personally, I would have liked this important information to be included in the menu without having to manipulate the device to display the battery status. Since Philip and I live off-grid, we check battery status frequently. While I imagine this door uses a very small amount of power to operate, it also has a small battery. On days (or weeks) when weather conditions are not optimal for solar charging, I want to be able to quickly check the battery life status. If the battery is significantly low, I may choose to manually close the door before it runs out of power to secure my chickens.

What If the Battery Dies?

It’s important to note that there is no alternate power source for this device. If the battery does not sufficiently charge the device, the doors will not function.   I suggest chicken owners check on their chickens and battery status to be sure they are secure on days when solar charging is inadequate. This will be something I monitor in my quarterly updates, especially during winter.
If your battery is not charging in sufficent sunlight, you may need to clean the solar panel. Especially in snowy conditions, take a moment and be sure to remove any snow or ice from the solar panel.

Ease of Installation

Philip installed the ChickCozy Solar Automatic Door for me, but honestly, I could have done it myself with my limited construction abilities. We installed this door on our main stationary coop, which houses the majority of our chickens and guineas. This door requires 20″ X 15.5″ of clearance to allow the door to function. This is a relatively small door that is light and would be appropriate for installation on a mobile coop as well.

In the box, there are two pamphlets: an Installation Instruction Manual and a Complete User’s Manual. While both have complete installation instructions, the manual goes into more depth. I must say, I love that paper manuals are included in the box rather than a QR code that is scanned to access the necessary information. 

The Hardest Part of the Install

To install the door, you will need to cut an 8.25 ” x 10.25″ hole in your chicken coop. You could measure this; however, we used the manual mode to open the door and simply traced the opening. The door must be installed on a flat surface to function properly. If your chicken coop is older and the wood has warped, you may need to trim the opening to ensure the mounting surface is flat to allow the doors the necessary clearance to function properly. 

Cutting the hole in your existing chicken coop is the hardest part of this entire process! We used a drill and a cordless reciprocating saw, which made cutting the coop door opening very simple. Once the hole is cut, the door is easily installed with a Phillips screwdriver and the four screws that are included with the door.

We used a regular cordless drill to install the screws. Because the screws are inset, we had to use a hex driver adapter that could extend the reach of our shorter bit. Please note, we used our own screws rather than the ones included in the package. While the screws provided were appropriate for the installation, Philip prefers star bit screws instead of Phillips head screws. This ensures that he only needs to carry one bit when working on a project. 

Installing the Solar Controller

The solar controller comes with a quick-release base. It is very easy to install with the two remaining screws that are included with the chicken door. Prior to cutting a hole in the wall of your chicken coop, you will want to consider the best southern exposure for the solar control panel when choosing a location for the automatic door.  The solar controller must be within 6.5′ of the chicken door, as they are attached with a two-piece cable that is secured with a locking ring. 

If you are unsure of the best location, the solar controller display screen displays five charging efficiency levels. When selecting a location for your automatic chicken coop door, consider the Solar Charging rating displayed on the control box. The higher the number, the better the performance of your solar-powered battery charger. 

Programming the ChickCozy Automatic Door

The ChickCozy Door has three modes of operation. When it comes to programming the ChickCozy automatic door, I appreciate the quick-release base for the solar controller. While the controller might need to be placed in an area that is higher than could be easily programmed for optimal charging, the controller easily slides on and off the quick-release base so that I can program it safely. No need to stand on a ladder while I adjust the settings. To awaken the screen, simply press any button.

Using the Control Panel

The control panel is easy to use. Use the arrows to navigate up and down through the different settings. To make changes, push the Ok button to select the setting you want to change. All of the functions work similarly, using the up and down arrows to navigate and the Ok button to confirm your choices. 

Manual Mode

To open the door manually, simply press and hold the Ok button for 3 seconds. The 3 seconds will count down on the screen, and the horizontal door will open or close as indicated. We used this function when installing the door to open it. If you have chicks in your flock, you will want to switch the door temporarily to manual mode since the door is designed for adult birds only.

Light Sensor Mode

Light mode opens and closes the double door based on the intensity of the light received by the Smart Light Sensor.  The sensor is set from 0 to 99. Zero represents very low light, while 99 indicates the brightest light setting. You adjust both the opening and closing sensors separately.

Here in Kentucky, there is a 2-hour and 30-minute time difference (considering the time change) between a winter sunset (around 4:30 PM CST) and a summer sunset (around 8:00 PM CDT). I like this feature as it means that you don’t need to adjust the opening and closing times based on the time of year.

Light-sensing mode will automatically adjust the opening and closing times based on how much light is received by the automatic sensors during daylight hours. You will want to consider the lighting near your chicken coop when programming the light sensitivity. A chicken coop more shaded in the evening hours may need to have less sensitive light settings to allow the doors to remain open longer.  Don’t worry about the chickens; they should adjust their bedtime based on the changing seasons. 

Light Delays

ChickCozy includes both a door open delay and a close delay when used in Light mode. This is useful if your chicken coops are exposed to accidental light that might trip the sensors. Maybe a car drives by and exposes the sensor to bright lights. The ChickCozy has a default delay of 5 minutes. If the sensor remains in the car’s headlights for 5 minutes, the doors will open; however, if the car drives by and the light exposure is less than 5 minutes, the doors will remain securely closed. This automatic opening and closing delay can be adjusted from 3 to 99 minutes to fit any specific light situations that your chicken coops may be exposed to. 

Time Mode

Time mode is used if you want the automatic door to open and close at set times each day. We currently use the Time function since we keep chickens and guineas together. The chickens tend to go to bed much earlier than the guineas. While the light-sensing mode might be the best choice for the chickens, it can be tricky to find the sweet spot to close the doors at the appropriate light for the guineas. They push the limits sometimes!  

The downside to using the Time settings is that you should adjust the open and close times based on the season. While you could leave the times the same year-round, keep in mind predators such as raccoons, foxes, and skunks hunt most actively at dusk. These animals will be adjusting the times they hunt based on the light level. This puts your chickens at risk if the sun sets 2 to 3 hours before the doors close. For optimal protection of your chickens, the doors should close just before sunset and open just after sunrise.  

Chicken Safety

One of my biggest concerns about putting my chickens behind a plastic door on our rural homestead is safety of my chickens. Per the ChickCozy website, the “once the door locks it creates an impenetrable barrier”. The doors have dual motor control, each door having it’s own motor. This prevents transmission errors ensuring the doors both close to make this closure predator-proof. Each is designed with enhanced motor torque that securely locks the door once closed. Admittedly, I have not tried to pry the doors open as I don’t want to damage the door. However, when the door closes, you can hear it secure itself tightly. 

Additionally, I appreciate the anti-pinch safety feature. Should a chicken be in the doorway when it closes, the door will stop and open again fully. I tested this feature by putting my arm in the door. I will admit that it does pinch more securely than I expected, but still, a full-grown chicken should not be injured by the door. Likely, a chicken would move before being pinched just due to the sounds of the motor beginning to close the door. It should be noted again that this door is designed for adult birds. Chicks could be harmed if pinched in the door. 

Weatherproof Design

Per the website, the ChickCozy door is designed to be weatherproof and waterproof.  An important feature for a door exposed to the harsh elements. I appreciate that the door design does not have a track on the bottom where the chickens walk over the door’s track to enter and exit the coop. Here in Kentucky, our mud is serious! When it’s wet, it’s slippery than snot, and when it dries, it’s harder than concrete! The ChickCozy door can be scrubbed and wiped down with a brush to remove excessive mud. I did notice that some of the chickens slip on their way through the door, especially when in a hurry. A little anti-slip tape would solve that.

The track for the doors is in the middle of the doors. It’s placed in such a way that it should not be prone to any buildup of debris that might hinder the operation of the door.

Warranty

Per the website, all ChickCozy products come with a two-year warranty. On the very last page of the User’s manual, there is a QR code to scan and register your product. The website does boast 30 Day Returns in the banner of the home page; however, be aware that this is only applicable if you have not installed and used the door. Returns of used doors are only accepted if there is a quality problem. Refunds are issued upon return of the product, which must be returned to China. Please see the complete return policy on the website.  

Initial Impressions

We’ve been using the ChickCozy Solar Automatic Door for a few weeks now. So far, I am very happy with the door. I have never used an automatic chicken door before, so I have no reference to compare the door to others on the market.

The ChickCozy Solar Automatic Door was VERY easy to install. I waited on my husband to install it since we needed to cut a hole in the side of our chicken coop, however I am confident that I could have done it myself. If your chicken coop is metal or wire, you may need to get creative to install the door securely. I found the Control panel easy to navigate and easy to program.

What About the Chickens? Have They Adapted?

The chickens have adapted to it easily, entering and exiting without problems. I was concerned that my larger backyard mix chickens, especially the rooster, might have problems fitting through the door, but none have. The larger roosters duck and navigate through without problems.

The guineas have been more challenging! If you have raised guineas before, they aren’t the brightest birds in the barnyard! Since I don’t keep water in my chicken coop, I need to make sure that the guineas exit daily. It has taken them a few weeks to learn how to exit without coercion. To help those who couldn’t figure it out, I would enter the coop and herd them through the ChickCozy door.

I keep the main coop door closed during the day to force all the birds to enter through the ChickCozy door to lay eggs and eat. Admittedly, I am still leaving the main coop door open at the end of the day to ensure that all the guineas return each evening.  I don’t want them to roost elsewhere, so I am not progressing too fast with this transition.

Quarterly Updates

To provide the most accurate and honest review for my readers, I don’t feel that using a product for a few weeks in the peak of summer, when the days are bright and sunny, can adequately review a solar-powered product. In order to provide the most thorough review I can, I will be updating this post quarterly for the first year of use. Be sure to bookmark this post and check back throughout the year to read my quarterly updates.  

Three Month Update

We have been using the ChickCozy Solar Automatic Door for three months! So far the automatic door is working as expected, no problems. I switched the mode from “Time” to “Light” mode. With the onset of fall and the changing of the clocks, “Light” mode has worked much better.
We have begun to have stretches of cloudy weather that forces us to run our generator for our own solar system, however the ChickCozy door has been performing perfectly.

I have learned a few things about using it thus far. The first, and honestly, this makes complete sense now, but I did not consider it before. When I changed the settings to “Light” Mode, I had an instance that I needed to manually close the door so that I could catch some birds inside the coop. Nothing like a captive audience! However what I didn’t expect is that the door would not stay closed while in the “light” mode. It will stay closed for several minutes, then the sensor determines that the ambient light is suitable to open the door, and it opens again. I found this frustrating, because at first I didn’t realize why it would not stay shut, however, it makes perfect sense.

The fix for this problem is easy. First change the settings to “Manual” mode and then close the door. Once you finish what you need to do with the door closed, switch the settings back to the mode you prefer. While it’s an extra step, I do see why the door reopens. It would be nice if there was an override, but I’m not sure how that could be accomplished.

The chickens adjusted to the door with ease! They quickly learned how to enter and exit without problems. We could have mounted ours a bit lower to the ground, but the birds are doing fine with it. The guineas took MUCH longer to adjust. A few months actually… though guineas are not the brightest birds. In the transition, to teach them to exit the coop, I would guide them through. I still had to leave the big door of the coop open so they would return to roost at night for several months until I moved them into their own coop. Recently, I banked on the fact that they did not like the door, wanting to keep them out, but by then, they decided the door must be ok and all of them were roosting inside when I wanted them to go to their own coop.

In recent rainy weather I had to clean the doors where they had gotten muddy. When I walked by the coop I could hear the door trying to close. Mud had caked on the anti-pinch portion of the doors themselves and was preventing the door from closing. Once cleaned, the doors closed as expected and have worked without issue.

Six Month Update

We have been using the Chick Cozy Solar Automatic Door Opener for six months. It’s currently February so we have been using this door through much of the winter. Here in Kentucky we were affected by Winter Storm Fern that dumped not only snow on our homestead but a layer of freezing rain. Throughout it all, my ChickCozy Door performed beautifully! Not once has my door failed to open or close as expected due to weather.

I had one regret that I did not cover the door and it’s solar panel prior to the freezing rain coming in. While the door did open as expected, I was worried as the freezing rain continued to fall that the door would freeze open. My controller was already frozen shut. To access, I had to gentle chip the ice off the controller. Once I removed the ice I manually closed the door before it was frozen open.

I had a small amount of snow that had accumulated in the back of the door, causing an obstruction that prevented the door from fully closing. Once I removed the snow, the door closed correctly. While the door has had minimal issues with snow, be mindful to keep the area free of snow that can harden into ice. While snow is one thing, freezing rain is another! In hindsight, during the ice storm, I should have covered both the door and the controller like I covered my gate latches in anticipation of freezing rain.

On occasion, the anti-pinch mechanism on the side of the door gets obstructed by mud that prevents the door from shutting. If the door does not close the first time it attempts to close again, after three attempts, it will not close. This is an easy fix to remove the debris. Here in Kentucky our mud is serious. I keep a scrub brush hanging next to the door so I can quickly remove any dirt or mud I notice on the doors that might prevent the door from closing.

This winter I have purposely not paid any attention to the battery status. I wanted to see how this door handles low-light situations. I also made no attempts to remove the snow from the solar panel so see what would happen. Let’s be real, making sure the chicken door’s solar panel is clear of snow is low on the homestead priority list! So far, the door has never had any problems regarding enough power to close despite my purposeful neglect.

Early in this post, I showed how to cover the light sensor to check battery status. This is no longer working for me. I can keep my thumb fully covering the sensor, and the battery status does not show. Once the sun sets and it’s no longer charging, the battery status will be on the monitor. However there is no other way to spot check the battery life. Since my door has perfromed well, I don’t let this concern me. When I first posted this review, my ChickCozy representative emailed me and stated they would pass my review of this feature onto their team. Hopefully that will be improved in future models. Overall, it’s a small issue and has not caused any problems for my chickens or left them unprotected.

After using my Chickcozy Solar Automatic Chicken Door for 6 months, I am still pleased with it’s performance. I do switch my open mode on occasion when it suits me. After the winter storm, I switched my door to manual mode so I could keep my chickens locked up during the below-zero temperatures. While most of the chickens didn’t choose to venture into the storm, this helped keep the warmth contained in the chicken coop.

Third Update Expected mid-May 2026!