Looking for mouse-proof feeder

[homesteader824]

Finishing up my new coop, and looking for ideas for a mouse-proof feeder. I like the feeders with the PVC elbows in a bucket, but it look like a mouse could still get into them. I saw some reviews of the treadle-operated feeders, and saw video of mice in them. Is there such a thing as a mouse-proof feeder?

 

[112Days]

Sadly, there are always going to be mice and there's no such thing as a mouse-proof feeder because every individual mouse is different in intelligence and ability. What you CAN do is set out traps or adopt a mousing barn animal. Make sure your feed is stored in a mouse-proof fashion, however, and you'll likely see their numbers start to dwindle.

 

[Folly's place]

So true! Storing feed in metal garbage cans is best, and then, having a good mouser is wonderful. Carefully placed traps help, and sometimes very carefully placed bait stations are needed. Mice are opportunists and will arrive!
Rats are worse, and will eat eggs and kill chickens, and only bait stations are effective then.
Mary

 

[blackdog043]

I use no waste feeders (PVC elbows) and don't have a problem, but my run is all 1/2 hardware cloth with a solid roof.
If you like the PVC elbow, you could put PVC caps on them at night if you started having problems or use a PVC test plug, which would be easier.

 

[homesteader824]

I hadn't seen that test plug before; looks like it would be very handy.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

X2 to any feeder built of PVC (pipe with y or elbow on tub) with caps placed at night.....or simply remove other type feeder at night/ place in metal can, etc

 

[Farmgirl1878]

We live in the middle of a hardwood tree farm, so if I had a nickel for every mouse around, I’d be richer than Bill Gates... We use Grandpa’s Feeders in the run and have had great success. And obtw, little known secret here - if you call the customer service number on the Grandpa’s Feeders website, Grandpa will sell you a “returned” feeder for half price! I bought two feeders that had been returned by someone else and both were in perfect condition.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Rats do vary in intelligence but they are basically the same size and weight. A feeder needs three things to stop them and I know, I have sold close to ten thousand of the contraptions since 2012.

First is reach difference, the treadle needs to be distant and narrow to prevent rats from piling up on the treadle and operating the feeder. Wide treadles are more comfortable for the birds but birds have grasping talons, not feet, they naturally grasp a narrow treadle and as long as that treadle is bottoming out they will learn to grasp the treadle with one foot, stand on the other foot, and have no problems eating.

Second is weight difference. Around three pounds difference between the critter you are trying to keep out and the one you are trying to feed. This is past the balance weight, that amount of weight of the door and treadle assembly that has been designed to balance out. If it is easy for small birds to open the feeder then the mice will get in because they can just push the door open while standing on the treadle or on the ground in front of the feeder. That is why I went with a heavy concrete counterweight instead of attempting to balance the door/treadle. There is mass, which is different that weight, even in orbit there is mass (no such thing as zero gravity BTW), you need that mass for the mouse to push against to keep his furry behind out.

Third, the door HAS to be spring loaded. Without the spring loaded door a good sized rat can just push the door open, remember mass is different than weight. If you put aside friction, a smaller person can get a much larger mass moving if given enough time and distance, i.e., as in pushing a car on a flat surface. The spring provides weight that increases as the spring stretches out, very little mass in a spring but they provide excellent "weight" which is equivalent to gravity, AKA "weight".

One caveat, massive populations of actual rats can overwhelm any treadle feeder but one of the reasons why I pushed the door back instead of up is that it allowed rats to be trapped inside if one or two managed to get inside during a massive rat pack attack. This has happened to one of the commercial free range flocks that bought our feeders but they had thousands of rats. One by one the feeders were choked with dead rats till all the feeders had killed a gallon of rats and the surviving rats would refuse to return to a feeder again after that happened. If I recall correctly they had twenty four of our feeders and either ran out of rats or the rats departed to a better feeding grounds. Even the Grandpa feeder has reports of rats lifting the lid because it is a balanced door/treadle constructed feeder. The large rats can push the lid up to get in and push the lid back up to get out. My feeder is impossible to push open from the inside resulting in smothered rats. One tip that a customer gave us was moving a feeder out into the summer sun if they catch a rat or squirrel. A few hours later you have one dead varmint. If that would work with politicians I would be a wealthy man for sure.

 

[homesteader824]

That looks like a good feeder. I may get one.

 

[Naser]

I use treadle feeders all the time for years, the ones I bought weren't spring loaded so I drilled small holes and fixed springs in them using small bolts and nuts, they are absolutely mice proof but I guess rats can team up and open it, "I haven't seen that happening though".
They take large load of feed so you don't need to worry about them everyday
But they have to be in a dry place and if you leave them in open area, I guess crows and raven will learn how to use them.