[HN Gopher] Weekend projects: Chicken Squisher 3000
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Weekend projects: Chicken Squisher 3000
Author : robinhouston
Score : 60 points
Date : 2025-10-14 09:41 UTC (7 days ago)
(HTM) web link (lcamtuf.substack.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (lcamtuf.substack.com)
| jcjmcclean wrote:
| Really enjoyed this write up, good level of detail. Also what an
| excellent product name!
| nadis wrote:
| +1 to this comment! This is a cool build and I loved the
| details in the write up.
| HeyLaughingBoy wrote:
| That's a _really_ nice coop. I don 't have to deal with anything
| bigger than raccoons or possums so my coop is pretty basic: built
| from a leftover grain bin.
|
| But this is a nice reminder that I've been meaning to automate
| the door. It gets dark earlier than I expect and so far I've been
| lucky that the raccoon that was showing up at dusk and climbing
| into the run has taken a hiatus for now.
|
| Have a couple car window actuators. Just need to remember to pick
| up some solar cells from Amazon since it's too far from the house
| to run power.
| pavel_lishin wrote:
| > That's a really nice coop.
|
| I've stayed in houses that were less nice than this coop!
| baconbrand wrote:
| Love this. My brother's chickens like to try to sleep in the
| trees at night. Guess we'll have to put together the Chicken
| Fetcher 3000 :)
| amflare wrote:
| As someone who grew up on a farm.... I think this is what your
| nieces and/or nephews are for xD
| LeifCarrotson wrote:
| Need to add peck-to-enter codes to the door to prevent the
| chickens from getting locked out if they get home late :)
| rectang wrote:
| Does the product live up to its name? By which I mean, how often
| will chickens get squished (or more likely, maimed) because they
| fail to get out of the way of the door as it closes?
|
| Power windows in cars often come with automatic reversal
| mechanisms, which are designed to detect obstructions and prevent
| the window from closing on them. I don't see mention of such a
| safety feature here, though.
|
| Maybe making the Chicken Squisher 3000(tm) close very slowly
| would reduce the likelihood of a squish event? In the video, it's
| not like the door slams shut, but it's not slow.
|
| Or maybe chickens, dumb as they are, have quick enough reaction
| speed that the danger of squishing is negligible.
| ethersteeds wrote:
| I was curious about this as well. He mentioned using a slow
| speed in mid-span and ramping up at the end, but without some
| safety a grizzly accident is possible.
| hex4def6 wrote:
| Yeah, agree. My concern would be a chicken sticking it's head
| through the gap to take a peek as its closing, and getting
| stuck.
|
| I think the OP may have mitigation (or at least the
| possibility to mitigate).
|
| This looks like an open-loop system (eg, the MCU doesn't know
| where in the swing the motor is), which makes it a bit more
| difficult. But it looks like they have limit switches.
|
| Not quite sure how it determines the point to go to 100%
| power, but I assume it's a timing thing. I can't think of a
| good way to determine the difference between "chicken neck
| stuck in door" vs "snow / ice preventing door from closing"
| without some sort of position feedback.
|
| I suppose you could have a timeout -- it gets 3 seconds at
| high power, and if it hasn't triggered the door close limit
| switch, it opens completely, then tries again. This would
| probably be ok, as long as 100% power doesn't decapitate the
| chicken...
| kulahan wrote:
| Chickens are dumb, but they still have plenty of natural
| reactions. If you throw something at them, they don't just
| "take it", they'll try to dodge. I imagine this speed is
| absolutely sufficient.
|
| That being said, if this _is_ a problem, you could just switch
| to ducks. As my rancher friend often says "ducks are much
| better at not-dying."
| tlavoie wrote:
| Hm. My ducks (Indian runners) weren't, between eagles and
| raccoons gunning for them.
| ethersteeds wrote:
| This is a glorious project! I appreciate the commentary on how
| modern components simplified the build.
|
| As a chicken enthusiast and chronic over-builder, I'd love a tour
| of that coup and its features!
| water-data-dude wrote:
| I appreciate the author's choice to use Vimeo instead of YouTube
| for the video. It's not much, but I like the little piece of
| resistance to the Video Hegemon
| the_gipsy wrote:
| Do the chicken go back in to sleep before dusk?
|
| Do the predators never attack during the day?
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