I've been playing about with the code and have now tested it on the development board over and over again, simulating the process of the door actuator being manually closed, and then opened triggered by the increasing light levels at dawn. Next step will be to transfer the PIC to a bit of strip board and add the regulators etc and then test it for real and monitor the current drawn to close the door on the coop. I plan on using a motorcycle battery 12v /4Ah which should be plenty. If funds permit I may add solar charging as a project at a later date.

Anyway, thanks guys for the assistance with this...

Malc