FAQ
The questions below come up most often from new and prospective customers. If yours is not here, email support.
What it does and does not do
Section titled “What it does and does not do”Does Mother Hen open or close the coop door automatically?
Section titled “Does Mother Hen open or close the coop door automatically?”No. Mother Hen watches the door; it does not actuate it. Your automatic chicken door has its own timer (you set sunrise/sunset open and close times directly on the door). Mother Hen reports whether the door is open or closed and alerts you when the state looks wrong for the time of day.
Can Mother Hen detect a predator?
Section titled “Can Mother Hen detect a predator?”No. Mother Hen reports door states and coop temperature and humidity. It does not see, hear, or identify animals. If a predator opens a coop door at the wrong time, the door’s state changes and that triggers an alert — but Mother Hen does not know what opened it.
Does Mother Hen control the coop temperature?
Section titled “Does Mother Hen control the coop temperature?”No. Mother Hen reports temperature and humidity and alerts you when readings cross the thresholds we have set based on poultry-science research. It does not control fans, heaters, vents, misters, or any other climate equipment. You decide what to do with the information.
My automatic chicken door opens sideways. Does Mother Hen work with it?
Section titled “My automatic chicken door opens sideways. Does Mother Hen work with it?”Not in the current version. The Controller’s built-in limit switch supports vertically-opening automatic doors only — the kind where the door panel slides straight up and down. Horizontally-opening doors (swing or slide sideways) are on the roadmap but not shipping yet. If you have a manual door, you can monitor it with a Coop Climate Sensor instead, regardless of how it opens.
Does Mother Hen replace good locks and routine coop checks?
Section titled “Does Mother Hen replace good locks and routine coop checks?”No. Mother Hen tells you what is happening at the coop; it does not guarantee outcomes. Locks, latches, sturdy fencing, and a daily walk-through are still your responsibility. Mother Hen is built to assist an attentive owner, not to replace one.
How it connects
Section titled “How it connects”Does Mother Hen work without internet at my house?
Section titled “Does Mother Hen work without internet at my house?”The Controller runs on cellular and does not need your home internet. The Egg needs WiFi at the location where you keep it — your house, a vacation rental, anywhere. If you keep an Egg at home and your home internet goes down, the Controller and coop are unaffected; only the Egg goes dark until WiFi returns.
What if the power goes out at the coop?
Section titled “What if the power goes out at the coop?”The Controller runs on 110V. If the coop loses power, the Controller stops reporting. Within a few minutes the system notices the silence and you get a “Controller offline” SMS — that is Mother Hen’s V1 power-loss signal. The Egg also goes dark when the Controller is offline because it has no current coop state to display. A future version may add explicit power-loss detection at the coop; we do not have a date for that.
How does Mother Hen know when sunrise and sunset are?
Section titled “How does Mother Hen know when sunrise and sunset are?”We use your coop’s location (set once during setup) and look up real sunrise and sunset times daily. No calendars, no estimates. This is how Mother Hen can tell that a door open after sunset is a problem rather than just “after some arbitrary clock time.”
Sensors and Eggs
Section titled “Sensors and Eggs”Can I add more sensors?
Section titled “Can I add more sensors?”Yes. Each Controller supports multiple Coop Climate Sensors — additional doors, windows, nest box lids, hatches, or just additional temperature-and-humidity reading points around the coop. Buy additional sensors as add-ons.
Can I have more than one Egg?
Section titled “Can I have more than one Egg?”Yes. Up to 16 Eggs can be paired to a single Controller. Use a second Egg in a bedroom for overnight visibility, in a home office, or at a neighbor’s place while you travel.
Can I take an Egg with me when I travel?
Section titled “Can I take an Egg with me when I travel?”Yes. The Egg works anywhere with WiFi — a hotel room, a vacation rental, a friend’s house. The coop’s status reaches the Egg through the cloud, so geography does not matter.
Can I give an Egg to a friend watching my coop?
Section titled “Can I give an Egg to a friend watching my coop?”Yes. They can plug it into their WiFi and see your coop’s state in real time. Contact support and we will help re-provision the Egg to their WiFi network.
Subscription and support
Section titled “Subscription and support”What does the subscription cover?
Section titled “What does the subscription cover?”Cellular connectivity for the Controller, SMS alerts, Portal access, and customer support. The first year is included with the Base Kit. Renewal is $99/year.
Can I share alerts with a neighbor or family member?
Section titled “Can I share alerts with a neighbor or family member?”Yes. Additional SMS recipients can be added to your account — currently by emailing support; we add the number server-side. There is no extra cost for additional recipients.
How do I reach support?
Section titled “How do I reach support?”Contact support lists the email address and what to include. We aim to respond within 24 hours, and customers in their first year of subscription get priority.
Last updated: 2026-05-14.