Auto coop doors for harsh winters

Tried to search previous forums but didn’t find much for this specifically.

I have an automatic coop door, had good reviews on Amazon. Worked great all summer. But…one snow event and some chilly weather and it’s failing to close. From what I can tell, there may be ice crystals or something forming in the tracks and the “anti-pinch” feature is encountering that resistance and then reopening, but never closing again. Quite annoying.

So, what’s your best “we have real winter here” recommendation for an automatic coop door, and are there any tips and tricks (locate on a certain side of the coop for better success, etc).

We have temps to -40 F. Snowfall is incredibly variable year to year, last year we had only a few light snowfalls. A few years ago we had 8 feet of snow over the course of the winter. Prevailing winds from northwest but storms can blow in from the north, east, south, or west. North Dakota has a mind of its own 🤷‍♀️. My current coop I can really only locate the door on the south side. I plan to move to a larger coop for next winter, and there it would be easiest to put the door on any side except for the south. I can live with a door that I might need to manage in the most extreme weather. But I mean it wasn’t even 0 yet and this one was failing.

I'm a fanboy of this product but it is on the more spendy side. The reason I like it is because it is built rugged and can feasibly be tinkered on at home.

Check out the ADOR1 Automatic Chicken Door.

I am on my third year with winters (ice storms) in Upstate New York using the same lantern battery with no issues. I would recommend having some sort of small overhang at the least to prevent drips from getting on the door and potentially freezing but my run has a roof over it so it hasn't been an issue.

I like the suggestion by Timothy to add an overhang, sort of like a roof.

I have also read that adding a light film of cooking oil might help.

I would go beyond an awning/overhang and build an entry/mudroom. That will block the wind all day to make the coop more comfortable. Dakota winds are no joke!  

Not sure how to keep a light sensor working for the door, however…

Tim: I will definitely be considering purchase of one of these. Looks great.

Anne: some oil is a good idea. I’ll give it a shot before buying a new door. I think I will take R Scott’s suggestion and do a full “entryway”.

R Scott: the entryway idea is something I had thought of myself. The question in my mind was, what sort of door do I put on the outside so that the entryway doesn’t just blow full of snow? A traditional doggie door? Will the chickens push it open or will it confuse them? I think I may have a design in mind that will minimize snow blowing in even with no door at all.
As far as keeping a light sensor working, I use the timer function as I found the light sensor closed the door about an hour before the chickens went in for the night. So that’s not an issue, just need to make sure I build in access so I can change the settings, and clean out snow if it would blow in. Not that my terrified chickens will leave the coop if there’s a snowflake on the ground anyway 🙄.
If you would want to use the light sensor, simply build the entryway out of clear corrugated plastic, like for skylights in pole buildings. Then you just have to clean snow off the top of it when you get a fresh snowfall. I think I would build out of that material regardless, as the chickens would likely be more willing to walk through it if it’s not a dark tunnel. Last year I tried to stack small square hay bales and leave a gap for them to walk through and I could not get those birds to go out even when I tried to train them. Once I took the bale tunnel down they went out every day.

I use the chicksafe automatic door by brinsea all year. It uses four AA batteries and does not come with a frame or door. I made my own door out of sheet steel and made the frame extra loose so no matter what nothing can jam the door. It also is covered by a tarp connecting the coop with the run. I even used one to finagle an automatic feeder. I live in SE MA