Late this summer we purchased four chicks to occupy the chicken coop that came with our house. Depending on the events of the day, we don't always remember to let the hens out of their coop until later in the day. It would be great if we could automate this daily chore to let the chickens out with the sun rise and protect them when the sun sets.

Additionally, this project might provide a great platform for monitor the chicken coop environment and log the hen's living conditions. Included in this project is a temperature and humidity sensor that can ping and log the temperature of the system. Eventually, this could be used to trigger a deicer or heating system for the hens.