That's precisely why we never got a top lid feeder ~ looked like a death trap for Silkies.
We had 3 bottom treadle feeders & the birds wanted nothing to do w/ them! Followed all the instructions, videos, & BYC advice... nothing worked.
Silkies were our easiest breed to integrate one at a time... as long as there was another Silkie already. They would toodle together... not really bosom buddies... but always together. Later we started getting them in pairs or trios... easy to get here cuz Silkies are so popular. I imagine...
One man on youtube yells at the top of his voice at dusk & all the birds run to the hen house... about 100 of them!
My farm mom used outstretched arms to herd ducks. I found it works pretty well on a stubborn foraging hen too.
c. 1930's
DH got another rat this morning... a really big one. I asked what bait caught this one ~ he uses a cheese or p-nut butter filled cracker w/ a cubelet of pre-packaged cheese cube next to the cracker ~ the rat's choice. ZAP! 2nd rat this week...
Just my 2 cents but I would not traumatize a live chicken in that partitioned trap... maybe use a slab of beef or carcass from the deli market to lure the coyote? A live chicken would have a heart attack in that coyote cage ☹️
Moving a trap makes rats suspicious/wary. Keep it in one place near telltale droppings w/ really yummy food bait & change the bait fresh daily. Leave the yucky droppings alone so other rats know it is a safe well traveled rat trail... then ZAP!
Rats are sneaky burrowers. You may have them in the area & never see them ~ it may depend on whether they are an underground burrowing community type, or junk pile inhabitants, or barn dwellers, or heaven forbid, house/building dwellers, etc. They are everywhere whether we see them or not...
Depending on what style/model treadle feeder it is this could work very well. On the two model types we had it would never have worked cuz our lids were at the bottom.
This model would work using a brick or weight to hold the top lid down. Something like this would scare the crap out of our...
We gave up treadle feeders... the Silkies were too spooked & we had the bigger metal feeders on the ground. Funny that our smaller quieter feeder was on the patio cement & one standard chicken used it but never used the bigger noisier metal feeders on the ground. Such a waste of time, $$$, &...
So glad you got another. I didn't want to say anything earlier but I guess you know by now I believe in getting at least 3 birds at a time to allow for losses... dang, losses do happen. We did the one at a time in the past but after so many failures we started getting 3 chicks at a time so if...
Wouldn't be the 1st time we've done a house chicken & we'll cross that bridge when we get there w / a lone Silkie. Silkies are great no matter where they reside. We've allowed dogs, cats, parrots, cockatiels, budgies, & chickens have free roam in certain areas of the house so we're no strangers...
How do they get in? Good & high fences make good neighbors... specially if they are chickens. Our hens can be noisy for a few seconds but they can't invade a neighbor's yard 💕
Good source of antioxidants & selenium especially for layers.
We always look for the organic labels & while treating the hens I pop a few in my mouth too... irresistible!
I remember having only one great mouser in my lifetime & that was 40 yrs ago when I first moved into this old neighborhood. She spent her youth outdoors (after spaying) & only entered the house for petting or food treats & right back out for more adventures. She brought me more mice, rat, bird...
We did that too... I think our problem is that Silkies are spooky about noises & only one standard hen would use the smaller treadle. Even when we put a brick to hold the treadle down & the feed was exposed the Silkies still would not use it & it was their favorite seed... but the wild birds had...