Grandpa's Feeder~~do you like yours?

[Al Gerhart]

I saved up for a year to get two of these feeders for my girls. We have been using them for almost a year now. The girls had no problem figuring out how to use them, however, I am not so sure I like them.

The chickens sit on top of them so there is always poo on the lid. They get poo on the treadle as well. There is always food spilled underneath them and they make a heck of a banging noise every single time a chicken steps on the treadle. I had to put them on pavers to keep them level. They also do not keep the food dry as I found out when my contractor over sprays his work area with the hose and gets water into the run.

I had high hopes for these feeders and they were very expensive. Now I am having second thoughts about them but feel stuck keeping them because of the price. I have to clean the treadles and the lids every single week as well as move them and clean under them. I am thinking of just going back to the old fashioned hanging feeders because at least I didn't have to clean poo off of them.

What are you thoughts on these feeders?

Here is a thought for you on the perching on the tops of the Grandpa feeders, go down to the big box hardware store and purchase a few tin flashing pieces, the L shaped ones. They are cheap, under a buck each. Bend a flange on each end of the L and fasten one or two upside down, kind of like a tent. Won't be comfortable to perch on after that. Duct tape to test, screws or pop rivets if it works for you.

Those guillotine style feeders do leak if the water flow is high, that little ridge in back does okay in a gentle rain, not so good for a downpour or a hose happy contractor. You might try adding a bead of silicone across that back ridge. First oil up the lid that touches the ridge with something like Pam cooking spray or WD40 so the silicone won't stick to that side, run a bead of silicone, and block the feeder off so it doesn't get used for five or six hours till the silicone cures enough to take the abuse. Might work.

 

[Al Gerhart]

My husband spent LOTS of time making a wooden pedal (treadle) feeder from some BYC plans. I never used it. (I'll be selling it on CL soon as I can post it )

I did buy the metal pedal (treadle) feeders after re-thinking. I was hoping to keep wild birds and mice out. Squirrels were the first to learn how to use them. Cottontail bunnies learned next. When I hear the "clunk" of the pedal being stepped on it is usually bunnies!

My younger hens finally learned how the feeder works, but I never took time to teach the pullets I bought last year. Basically 3 out of 7 hens (plus all the wildlife) know how to use the feeders at this point. I'm using only one of the two feeders I purchased; it is in the barn. It sits on a metal cookie sheet to keep all the billed out feed from scattering.

I still have hanging feeders in both runs, since we are overrun by ants and I don't want feedstuffs sitting on the ground. In a nutshell, I'm not a big fan of the pedal feeders. My girls bill out feed from all feeder types. I was considering the plastic tub w/pvc elbow openings, too, but haven't constructed one yet.

Not sure what kind of feeder you bought, but in case it is one of mine here are some things to try and a comment or two.

Bunnies, yeah, more reach than a chicken and heavier than a chicken, no stopping rabbits. I have had people ask me if a rabbit could use our feeder.

Squirrels, if this is our feeder many squirrels can overwhelm a feeder and it makes one heck of a squirrel trap in those cases. Generally, unless you are living next to a forest where the squirrels will have their territories staked out and fight to keep them, they will usually share common areas like a nearby farm or farm field to raid. Within their territory, they will usually keep invaders away so the only time you will deal with multiple squirrels is when a litter is almost ready for momma squirrel to chase them away. If it is our feeder be sure the spring is in place and adjusted as stiff as possible. The spring nearly always will stop one squirrel, not so sure on multiple squirrels. One of the reasons why we preach not to block open a treadle feeder while training (unless it is a guillotine type feeder and we do have one that we make and sell) is that once the varmints learn where the feed is they will have a much better chance of learning to overcome the spring loaded door and distant treadle if they are cooperating to operate the treadle.

Billed out feed, if it is one of our feeders that can be fixed cheaply. We have an item called a MLE, Medium lip extender, also one for the small feeder. It costs under $5.00 including shipping, $3.50 of that is the shipping costs. You slip it down into the space between the front edges of the feeder and the lower feed tray front, friction holds it in place or run a couple of screws into it or a pop rivet. That pushes up the lip about 1.5", making it nearly impossible for a chicken to bill feed out on the ground. Also check that too much feed isn't being shaken down into the feed tray, there ought to be a fairly thin layer, usually one layer of pellets, cascading down the angled feed tray deck and maybe 1 to 1.5" piled up at the bottom. If there is more first check that the feeder is solidly secured to a wall or post, that absorbs some of the shock and vibration of the door opening and closing. Next check that the spring has been adjusted (video on our main .net website, not the .com shopping cart). If your spring is too tight it slams with excessive force, shakes down too much feed, and causes springs to snap prematurely.

3 our of 7 hens learned to use the feeder. It sounds like this feeder is outside of the coop. It is very difficult to train chickens to use a treadle feeder unless you can coop them up and get them hungry for a few hours. All birds will learn to use a treadle feeder once they get hungry but they will stuff themselves with grass before they try a scary treadle feeder the first time. The basics are have the feeder securely fasted to a wall or post so it isn't wobbly, the treadle needs to bottom out on something so the aren't trying to balance while eating, the spring should be adjusted so it doesn't slam too hard and scares the birds more than it has to, and the birds need to be hungry, three to four hours after coming off the roost hungry.

Ants, the only sure way of stopping ants is to have an oil barrier in place. Like a cabinet or pie safe with the legs sitting in small cans of oil of some sort. Making an ant proof feeder could be doable. Some sort of bottom tray with a baffle that prevents the chickens from drinking the oil, an oil moat under the baffle preventing the ants from going down into the baffle and marching up the side of the feeder. It would be a lot of maintenance keeping the debris and dirt out of things.

If it isn't our feeder I am sure some of the tricks might be applied to other brands of feeder.