Chicken Guard celebrates 100,000 self-locking doors sold

Chicken Guard’s founder Ben Braithwaite is celebrating the sale of 100,000 of the world’s first self-locking door kits.

“Six years ago my mum was giving my family some chickens and I was a bit tired of getting up at the crack of dawn and rushing back from work so I designed a chicken door opener,” he told the Cambridge Independent. “After three months it was obvious I couldn’t make them quickly enough myself so I took on Gareth, who is our production manager now.”

The Fulbourn-based company sells into 48 countries right across the world.

“The door features a light sensor and a timer, so most customers use the timer to open the door in the morning, say at 6am, and in the evening they use the light sensor to open and close it, due to the variations in light.”

Sales were up 68 per cent last year and Ben estimates another 50,000 will be sold this year.

“I’m staggered and amazed we’ve sold 100,000 units – where did that come from?” he asks.

When new technology comes along, it is retrofitted for existing customers. Expect some interesting technical developments on their way this summer.