feeder frustration. We need better feeders.

[aart]

Hi there...
New to the forum & thought you might like a look at the feeder we made up... Got the idea from a fellow Aussie..
There is a part 2 clip that covers the 1 issue we were having with it & it now works like a dream.. Smaller ones can be made to hang from the roof of the pen as well..
Hope that helps someone out there...
Off to finish looking for info on Gapeworm...
Cheers..

Great video! Thanks for including the measurement conversions ;-)

 

[2crazy2run]

With the problem being fire ants and rodents, I would get or build a treadle feeder with short legs making sure the treadle doesn't maintain contact with the ground except when a bird is feeding.... The guard takes care of the rats/mice.....Ants... When you setup your feeder put the legs in cups of burnt motor oil.... That will work to deter ants... Cricket boxes(fishing sales) are done that way.

 

[joan1708]

Your chickens don't scratch? Mine would have litter scratched up into the oil in 5 minutes, which would then give ants a way into the feeder, and generally be a big mess.

 

[Rob Bob]

When I was researching molasses based root knot nematode treatments a few sites came up saying that fire ants will move out of an area sprayed with a liquid molasses mix.. Don't know if this is hand to anyone but thought it might be worth a try..
Cheers,
Rob..

 

[Animalsatlarge]

If you make your own feeder using the chicken ports, they usually come with screw on lids, therefore could be closed at night. The ports can be put on any sized container.

 

[Animalsatlarge]

You could make your own feeder and use these chicken ports, they come with screw on lids, therefore can be closed at night. These ports can be put on almost any sized container.

*Picture is just for reference

 

[Island Coppers]

I've never tried this but I have read several posts suggesting it's true. Rodents can taste capsaicin (the hot in peppers) but chickens can't. So if you add powder habaneros or some other hot peeper to the feed mice and rats should be really put off.
Borax kills ants like a charm, no idea if it is toxic to chickens but it's safe for humans.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Hi there...
New to the forum & thought you might like a look at the feeder we made up... Got the idea from a fellow Aussie..
There is a part 2 clip that covers the 1 issue we were having with it & it now works like a dream.. Smaller ones can be made to hang from the roof of the pen as well..
Hope that helps someone out there...
Off to finish looking for info on Gapeworm...
Cheers..

Those are rat buffets, even if hung off the ground.

 

[Al Gerhart]

With the problem being fire ants and rodents, I would get or build a treadle feeder with short legs making sure the treadle doesn't maintain contact with the ground except when a bird is feeding.... The guard takes care of the rats/mice.....Ants... When you setup your feeder put the legs in cups of burnt motor oil.... That will work to deter ants... Cricket boxes(fishing sales) are done that way.

Here in the U.S. the old pie safes always had damaged legs when they turned up in antique shops. Finally figured out they were doing the same, setting the legs in cups of oil to deter ants. With a treadle feeder your idea would work, IF you placed a large pan of oil up on top some hollow blocks/CMU/concrete blocks, high enough that most of the litter being tossed around didn't make it into the oil, with the treadle feeder placed on some patio blocks sitting in the oil filled pan. I'd make the gap small but large enough that a fire ant can't get across, maybe an inch?

The treadle feeder would HAVE to be weighted down with some patio blocks on top to prevent tipping when it was close to empty and I would imagine the oil would need weekly cleaning to prevent a film from forming that the fire ants could use to get across.

I'd use old fryer oil instead of the used motor oil just for safety.

But, with all that, just kill the dang fire ants. Rats are easy to stop with a real ratproof treadle feeder. Even the junk ones like the Chinese made Grandpa feeder will work for some people.

 

[Al Gerhart]

If you make your own feeder using the chicken ports, they usually come with screw on lids, therefore could be closed at night. The ports can be put on any sized container.

Then the rats eat during the day or chew through the plastic at night. There is a place for those plastic feeders but once mice and rats show up, they are always just rat buffets and you are paying for a treadle feeder without even having one in feed waste. I used PVC and hanging metal feeders before I got rats, I just waited too late and wasn't monitoring my feed use and got overran before I realized it.

If you use plastic feeders, watch your feed per bird, no more than 1/4 per pound of feed per bird, ignoring roosters unless you have a lot of them. Four birds, a pound per day, a 50 pound bag should last days. Fifty birds, four days.