Grandpas Automatic chicken feeder

[Altairsky]

Do you have power in the coop? A small wattage incandescent bulb will provide enough warmth to stop the condensation. Keep the feed a few inches away though. Or a heat pad taped to the back of the feeder with some insulation behind the pad to push the heat into the back of the feeder.

No I don't have power. I had issue with humidity when I used crumble. The crumble would get moisture and turn into a block. Pellets and seed recipes had no issues.
Also it is not waterproof in a storm with wind. Wind can push water in from the sides or from the bottom.
None of my feral chicks won the Darwin award so far by using this feeder. But I know sooner or later one might win it. Chicks likes to die in the most creative ways.

 

[Daniel Grey]

As European feeders go that one is better than the Grandpa feeder but it still has some flaws. If it were me I would buy this one instead of importing one unless money wasn't an issue.

First, never trust a treadle feeder with chicks. Period. End of story. They will get caught and crushed.

Wide treadle plates allow wild birds and rats to pile up on the treadle and open the door.

It is good that it has an inward swinging door but they refused to put a door closing spring to pre load tension on the door to prevent mice and even wild birds from just pushing the door open.

The treadle has holes punched in it for traction but like the Grandpa and the Rent a Coop feeder, those holes trap toes and cut toes to the bone when a chicken gets caught. A narrow and distant perch works so much better and is safer.

Plastic, not concerned about the plastic feed tray, when the rats and mice chew it up they might not get into the feed. But it has plastic axle sockets, at the top, bright red color. Those will fail long before the feeder rusts out. It has a latch, nice touch, but again, bright red plastic that will eventually snap off. And the sloped roof is nice but it is sloped the wrong way, a chicken can stay up there all day wedged in against the back wall.

The plastic feet are just marketing, the poop will splash up on the bottom or the feet will just sink into the litter and rust out the bottom of the feeder. If you don't keep a treadle feeder up on patio blocks the bottoms will rust out in five to eight years. 1/4" plastic feed aren't helping.

They warn not to use crumbles in the feeder. Almost certainly due to bridging issues, feed not coming down and back up into the lower feed hopper. Pellets are a lot more slippery, less likely to bridge and flow properly into the lower feed tray.

Far better than the grandpa feeder. Not a great feeder. But shipping a feeder from the U.S to the UK or Europe is going to cost around $60.00 on top the cost of the feeder. Plus any VAT or tariffs which in the UK would add $25 to $30.00. Also, when you ship internationally you will lose a lot of consumer protection and the right of return if there is a problem. I would buy local and live with an okay feeder.

At least this won't happen. This is a Rent a Coop feeder, not a Grandpa feeder but the designs are nearly identical. I think the Rent a Coop has the extra long side guards. So many pinch points, so many points of mechanical failure, what an incredibly stupid design.
View attachment 4098534

So could you suggest a suitable alternative?

 

[Al Gerhart]

I have seen a few UK based treadle feeders with inward swinging doors so they are there if you can find them. I assume you have tried Googling "UK treadle feeder"?

I can ship to the UK but $85 plus at least $60 for shipping plus the VAT and import taxes..... you can likely find something suitable locally.

 

[Al Gerhart]

No I don't have power. I had issue with humidity when I used crumble. The crumble would get moisture and turn into a block. Pellets and seed recipes had no issues.
Also it is not waterproof in a storm with wind. Wind can push water in from the sides or from the bottom.
None of my feral chicks won the Darwin award so far by using this feeder. But I know sooner or later one might win it. Chicks likes to die in the most creative ways.

Their website said not to use crumbles so it isn't surprising they didn't work for you either. Might work if you waxed the inside of the feeder with car wax or floor wax.

That door closes on the yellow plastic strip, so water would hit the face of the door and run straight down. They thought the door was inset enough to protect the feed. That is the problem of someone engineering a feeder without having raised chickens and using the feeder. I designed around that, water hits the door and drips straight down and runs down the outside of the lower front panel. Or customers can bend in the lower front panel enough that even in a heavy wind the rain drops fall straight down to the ground.

Good to hear on the chicks staying out of trouble. I'll say this, that feeder is probably the best treadle feeder if chicks are around. The door is light enough that the impact wouldn't kill them, no spring pre load so less impact from that too, but you trade off with not having a rat proof feeder. Mice, maybe. Squirrels, no way.

 

[tigger19687]

If you have a Rat problem, you need to fix that.... they are Super smart and will figure it out anyway.
If you have to go out every day to get eggs anyway, just feed what they need then... till you get the rat/mouse/etc under control.
I always feed IN the coop. You never know when weather will be bad and they need to stay inside... or the auto door doesn't open.
I use a PVC pipe feeder with V at the bottom as I had billers (used their bills to dig out the feed onto the ground, looking for bits of corn I think)