Thanks for posting the link to the
eBay listing folks but you can save some money by just Googling to find our main website.
eBay charges a pretty hefty fee for selling and the lower the shipping costs to about 60% of what it costs us to ship a feeder to most states so we tack on $15.00 to the selling price on
eBay.
Just Google Rat Proof Chicken Feeder, we have been the top Google result for about two years now thanks to our customers posting links for us. Finally got our first shipment of feeders from my Philippines shop a week or so ago so I have about eight tons of feeders. LOL, won't be staying up assembling feeders till ten pm any longer when my cabinet business is busy. We have much cheaper labor over there so we used thicker gauge steel and were able to fold safety seams on two additional lid edges and both top and bottom of the feed tray, and we have a great bunch of very happy workers that are grateful for a job that pays about double the going rate and they get health insurance and social security,something that literally most of them have ever had.
I always warn folks that our feeder is a bit "rustic", for lack of a better word. If you are picky the Grandpa feeders have a wonderful fit and finish and might be a be a better match for you. Not a lot of money in a $65.00 budget to come close to what the more expensive feeders can do but if you want an inexpensive solution to a rat problem the feeder works like a charm. Watch out for the feeders that have the wide plate instead of a narrow treadle, rats can overwhelm that type of feeder. Make sure the door is spring loaded too because those that are not can be simply pushed open by rats,squirrels, and large wild birds. There is a commercial flock called Fifth Crow Farms that installed a couple dozen of our feeders last year and they gave high marks on the feeder.
http://fifthcrowfarm.com/new-grant-funded-chicken-feeders-installed/
What was interesting about that story was how the feeders saved a lot more than 20 pounds of feed a day for the flock owner, it also saved their other vegetable crops that the birds were destroying. They said once the feed was out of reach for the birds, the birds simply abandoned the area for good instead of sticking around for the entire year. Rats will do the same, they will move on to the next coop that doesn't have a rat proof feeder.
We have a new shopping cart too so ordering is a lot easier and it captures your phone number for the shipping label. We use FedEx Ground and they do a great job once we learned to package that dang heavy counterweight so it didn't bang the bottom of the feeder. Haven't had a damaged feeder in many months now (knock on wood!).
Next up is to start a display ad here on BYC as soon as I can afford it. I pumped about 50 K into this project for just over two years before the first container load arrived so I need to sell some feeders before I invest in advertising. Kind of a catch 22 situation.
