Grandpa's Feeder (treadle feeder) and my clueless chickens (I'd love to receive any helpful suggest

[Dephora]

got you. Are all the girls comfortable using the feeder at the second setting? I love treadle feeders myself, but yes it can take a long time for all the girls to get use to stepping on the noisy metal pedal. Especially, if they are older hens or small. In my free ranging flock it took the skittish hens (which is most of them as they are free range) a week of rushing over whenever they heard it open before they started stepping on it. My other calm chickens had no issues getting on it. But for some they didnt like stepping so high up, so I did need to add bricks to create a "step up"

If that grandpa style feeder isn't going to work out, send it back. I find this type of treadle feeder works well with skittish and small chickens.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/smartstep-treadle-chicken-feeders?cat_id=143

You might have better success as the noise it makes when it opens isn't so scary.

 

[YellowBrahmaBarn]

Nope - not comfortable with it at all. Once in a great while someone would step on it, but as soon as the lid moved they would startle and everyone would run away. The premier1 feeder is the one I'm probably going to change to. Wish me luck with the Grandpa's return and the new feeder! The wild birds and their mites have got to go!

 

[Al Gerhart]

That premier 1 feeder has a wire treadle, gonna bend and need bending back into place often till metal fatigue sets in and it snaps. No spring loading on the door, rodents are going to just push the door open.

Do your research online before spending this kind of money. There is a website that reviews chicken feeders, google will find it for you. They do a good job and don't have affiliate links so they are pretty trustworthy.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Where do you have the feeder set up? Mine is in the roofed run, so the girls don’t have to be looking for predators while they’re eating. It took a couple of weeks with the training bolts before they all got comfortable with the “thing” over their head and the movement and noise. Now they use it all the time, no problems.

 

[YellowBrahmaBarn]

Where do you have the feeder set up? Mine is in the roofed run, so the girls don’t have to be looking for predators while they’re eating. It took a couple of weeks with the training bolts before they all got comfortable with the “thing” over their head and the movement and noise. Now they use it all the time, no problems.

View attachment 2579584

Mine is also in the covered run. I sure wish the ladies would use it. BTW, Your run and your flock look awesome,

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Mine is also in the covered run. I sure wish the ladies would use it. BTW, Your run and your flock look awesome,

Thanks! Try sneaking a little crack or some mealworms into the dispenser part of the feeder, they’ll figure out how to use it real quick!

 

[UrbanChickie]

I'm months in and still not seeing my birds eat from it without assistance (propping partially open). I had high hopes for this, but I'm tired of continual training efforts.