Grandpa's Treadle feeder vs. chicken condo feeder

[Sylvester017]

Thanks for the update!

Are you able to change the weight setting?
And I suppose you could use other larger treats on the treadle; berries, etc.

Also, I wonder if having other feeders available means that some chickens don't use it, because they can use something else? Kind of like trying to train chickens to use a nipple waterer when an open water dish is available?

Just thinking out loud.

There was no other feeder available in the yard today. Haven't had a chance to fiddle with the treadle settings today - DS came by to help me shovel dirt from place to place and pack it down and now it's dark and I don't want to fool around with the feeder. We did however notice that all 4 of our chickens - 2 Silkies, an Ameraucana, a Breda - all used the feeder today. I keep the brick on the treadle foot during the day and when I see the wild birds wanting to mooch I take the brick off the treadle. While a chicken has her head poked in the feeder the wild birds can't squeeze in to get any nibbles. The wild birds don't seem to be able to get inside the open bin either while it's open. It's a tight space so I guess that's good. Gotta set the tension though. Contractor coming early morning to start working on the yard and I'll be busy moving things around and answering his questions. The chickens are on their own tomorrow

.

 

[lynnehd]

There was no other feeder available in the yard today. Haven't had a chance to fiddle with the treadle settings today - DS came by to help me shovel dirt from place to place and pack it down and now it's dark and I don't want to fool around with the feeder. We did however notice that all 4 of our chickens - 2 Silkies, an Ameraucana, a Breda - all used the feeder today. I keep the brick on the treadle foot during the day and when I see the wild birds wanting to mooch I take the brick off the treadle. While a chicken has her head poked in the feeder the wild birds can't squeeze in to get any nibbles. The wild birds don't seem to be able to get inside the open bin either while it's open. It's a tight space so I guess that's good. Gotta set the tension though. Contractor coming early morning to start working on the yard and I'll be busy moving things around and answering his questions. The chickens are on their own tomorrow

.

Good grief, you have your hands full! Well, at least they are all eating out of it. Baby steps.

Good luck dodging the contractor!

 

[mamakat74]

@jomoncon or @mamakat74 , did you raise your Feed-O-Matic feeder up on anything like pavers or was this even necessary?
Did your chickens have trouble reaching in for the food?

We raised ours up on pavers so it wouldn't sink into our sand.

 

[Sylvester017]

There was no other feeder available in the yard today. Haven't had a chance to fiddle with the treadle settings today - DS came by to help me shovel dirt from place to place and pack it down and now it's dark and I don't want to fool around with the feeder. We did however notice that all 4 of our chickens - 2 Silkies, an Ameraucana, a Breda - all used the feeder today. I keep the brick on the treadle foot during the day and when I see the wild birds wanting to mooch I take the brick off the treadle. While a chicken has her head poked in the feeder the wild birds can't squeeze in to get any nibbles. The wild birds don't seem to be able to get inside the open bin either while it's open. It's a tight space so I guess that's good. Gotta set the tension though. Contractor coming early morning to start working on the yard and I'll be busy moving things around and answering his questions. The chickens are on their own tomorrow

.

Good grief, you have your hands full! Well, at least they are all eating out of it. Baby steps.

Good luck dodging the contractor!

All 4 hens aren't scared of the Feed-O-Matic any more as long as the treadle foot has a brick on it to keep it open for them. I took the brick off the pedal to close the bin from the mooching Sparrows but our spooky kooky Ameraucana stepped on the foot walking over it and when the lid closed it clanked and scared her. She's a spooky wary bird anyway and she's always the last to learn how to trust nipple waterers and treadle feet. Now I've got mooching Mourning Doves coming around to look for tidbits - sigh.

Here's another reply from Tyler at Rent-A-Coop about the smallest Feed-O-Matic I'm having problems with:
_______________________________

We will convert the chart to pounds and give suggestions of setting based off bantams and regular sized hens. Thanks for the idea.

There should be no gap in the lid at all, that would of course defeat the purpose. If you can send a picture I can let you know what I think is wrong. Email here or text to 202-412-4232.

You do not need to use mealworms to entice them. You can put regular feed on the pedal close to the feed port and it will work just as well. You're just attracting the hens towards the food source so they're able to see it then eat from the feeder.

Video instructions are coming this evening. We will send a link to the setup and training of the hens. This might also solve your gap problem.

Training has taken us between one day and 2 weeks to train a group to use the feeder. Don't give up just yet. You have a 30 day return policy if you purchased with prime.

Please keep us updated on your progress as we're here to help every step of the way,

Tyler

 

[Sylvester017]

Good grief, you have your hands full! Well, at least they are all eating out of it. Baby steps.

Good luck dodging the contractor!

We raised ours up on pavers so it wouldn't sink into our sand.

Hi all - Just received an email from Tyler re the Feed-O-Matic youtube video in the small size we purchased plus assembly video with settings info. After my emails to him he posted these videos yesterday - he's really into good customer service. I used the recommended A3 setting but the girls still don't step on the treadle unless I keep a brick weighted on it to keep the feed bin open - meanwhile I'm battling the Sparrows while the bin is open - I have a spooky kooky Ameraucana that won't use the feeder because she avoids the moving lid - these Amers are supercillious cautious on anything that moves but my Breda jumps right in:

 

[lynnehd]

Hi all - Just received an email from Tyler re the Feed-O-Matic youtube video in the small size we purchased plus assembly video with settings info. After my emails to him he posted these videos yesterday - he's really into good customer service. I used the recommended A3 setting but the girls still don't step on the treadle unless I keep a brick weighted on it to keep the feed bin open - meanwhile I'm battling the Sparrows while the bin is open - I have a spooky kooky Ameraucana that won't use the feeder because she avoids the moving lid - these Amers are supercillious cautious on anything that moves but my Breda jumps right in:

This has been really helpful, step by step. Glad you posted the videos.

 

[Sylvester017]

This has been really helpful, step by step. Glad you posted the videos.

Well, the videos were a day late and a dollar short for my purposes. They will help future customers though. I have been following all Tyler's suggestions and following the video training. My hens are just too spooked by the treadle movement with anticipation of the clank of the closing lid. Training my old chickens from open waterers to nipple valve waterers was easier than training them on this feeder. Supposedly it takes only one chicken to start the process of using something new and the others follow -- but I have this stupid kooky spooky Ameraucana that scared all the other chickens when she hyper-reacted to the feeder lid closing. I asked Tyler if a foam or rubber strip would muffle the clanking any and he is sending to me one out of 5 strips they tested. I suggested to him that maybe using the mechanics like that of the automatic slow-closing toilet lid might solve the harsh and sudden dropping of the feeder lid. Here's the email I sent to Rent-A-Coop:

Believe it or not, yesterday I already moved the foot treadle several times to show nearby chickens there's nothing to fear to get them accustomed to the movement/noise. However, they've been so spooked stepping on the treadle that they won't venture into the feeder even when the brick is holding it firmly down.

The damage is done for getting all the chickens to use the feeder since the stupid jittery Ameraucana spooked all the other chickens with her very violent reaction to the treadle foot and clanking movement of the lid. Because of her intense hyperaction response the 2 Silkies will not venture into the feeder. They will stand at the side of the treadle trying to stretch to get to the goodies I leave on the treadle foot but will not step on it even though stabilized with a brick. I've coaxed, fed them from my hand to get up on the brick-stabilized treadle, but they will not step on it. I've kept the fireplace brick on the treadle foot to allow the Breda to eat (the only chicken unafraid of getting back into eating from the feed tray but still will not step on a moving treadle foot).

Since I still have the problem of uneven contact of the lid with the tray where there's still a gap on the right side (even after adjusting tension rods from B2 to A3) I taped a napkin on the left corner of the feed tray lip where the lid crashes down making contact with the tray but it hasn't muffled the sound much at all. I realize the movement of the lid can't be helped but the clanking noise doesn't help the spooked chickens. I've kept the fireplace brick on the treadle foot and in the meantime am battling the mooching Sparrows while it is open. So exasperating the way mfrs make a product look so easy to use but when you buy the product its nothing at all like its featured.

I was chuckling last night with a funny thought that could solve problems of crashing treadle lids if there's any way to engineer it. Have you seen those toilet lids that come down slowly to close instead of crashing down onto the toilet seat? There's nothing fancy in that engineering and there's gotta be a way it can be modified mechanically into a treadle lid? Cost would be more but the feeder is already expensive enough that some owners would find it worth the extra option since the feeder is not functioning with its current mechanics for my flock.

I appreciate your sympathetic response to our issues with the feeder -- Your customer service is super great but the feeder is a bust. Will I have to keep the treadle foot bricked for the life of the feeder now? Kinda defeats the purpose of preventing wild bird access to our expensive organic feed. I might as well buy a 99 cents dish to feed the chickens since they won't use the $75 Feed-O-Matic. Only one chicken out of four is eating out of it but not without keeping the brick on the treadle foot in open position.

 

[Sylvester017]

Has any one heard of GM chickens that don't transmit bird flu? Read this on the University of Edinburgh website. There's no date on the article so I assume nothing came of it:

http://www.roslin.ed.ac.uk/public-interest/gm-chickens/

 

[lynnehd]

Well, the videos were a day late and a dollar short for my purposes. They will help future customers though. I have been following all Tyler's suggestions and following the video training. My hens are just too spooked by the treadle movement with anticipation of the clank of the closing lid. Training my old chickens from open waterers to nipple valve waterers was easier than training them on this feeder. Supposedly it takes only one chicken to start the process of using something new and the others follow -- but I have this stupid kooky spooky Ameraucana that scared all the other chickens when she hyper-reacted to the feeder lid closing. I asked Tyler if a foam or rubber strip would muffle the clanking any and he is sending to me one out of 5 strips they tested. I suggested to him that maybe using the mechanics like that of the automatic slow-closing toilet lid might solve the harsh and sudden dropping of the feeder lid. Here's the email I sent to Rent-A-Coop:

Believe it or not, yesterday I already moved the foot treadle several times to show nearby chickens there's nothing to fear to get them accustomed to the movement/noise. However, they've been so spooked stepping on the treadle that they won't venture into the feeder even when the brick is holding it firmly down.

The damage is done for getting all the chickens to use the feeder since the stupid jittery Ameraucana spooked all the other chickens with her very violent reaction to the treadle foot and clanking movement of the lid. Because of her intense hyperaction response the 2 Silkies will not venture into the feeder. They will stand at the side of the treadle trying to stretch to get to the goodies I leave on the treadle foot but will not step on it even though stabilized with a brick. I've coaxed, fed them from my hand to get up on the brick-stabilized treadle, but they will not step on it. I've kept the fireplace brick on the treadle foot to allow the Breda to eat (the only chicken unafraid of getting back into eating from the feed tray but still will not step on a moving treadle foot).

Since I still have the problem of uneven contact of the lid with the tray where there's still a gap on the right side (even after adjusting tension rods from B2 to A3) I taped a napkin on the left corner of the feed tray lip where the lid crashes down making contact with the tray but it hasn't muffled the sound much at all. I realize the movement of the lid can't be helped but the clanking noise doesn't help the spooked chickens. I've kept the fireplace brick on the treadle foot and in the meantime am battling the mooching Sparrows while it is open. So exasperating the way mfrs make a product look so easy to use but when you buy the product its nothing at all like its featured.

I was chuckling last night with a funny thought that could solve problems of crashing treadle lids if there's any way to engineer it. Have you seen those toilet lids that come down slowly to close instead of crashing down onto the toilet seat? There's nothing fancy in that engineering and there's gotta be a way it can be modified mechanically into a treadle lid? Cost would be more but the feeder is already expensive enough that some owners would find it worth the extra option since the feeder is not functioning with its current mechanics for my flock.

I appreciate your sympathetic response to our issues with the feeder -- Your customer service is super great but the feeder is a bust. Will I have to keep the treadle foot bricked for the life of the feeder now? Kinda defeats the purpose of preventing wild bird access to our expensive organic feed. I might as well buy a 99 cents dish to feed the chickens since they won't use the $75 Feed-O-Matic. Only one chicken out of four is eating out of it but not without keeping the brick on the treadle foot in open position.
Thanks for making the effort. I wonder where the 'anti clank' strips will be placed? On the back of the base lip, or over the edge of the lid to muffle it when it closes?
Hope your yard remodel is coming along.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks for making the effort. I wonder where the 'anti clank' strips will be placed? On the back of the base lip, or over the edge of the lid to muffle it when it closes?
Hope your yard remodel is coming along.

Well, as the saying goes, "The anti clank strip is in the mail," so we'll see if Tyler has a suggestion where to use it. Obviously he's tried it after I asked him if a cushion would help. I kept the brick on the treadle all day and kept putting feed into the bin tray with no other food available and the Breda and oldest Silkie have ventured onto the treadle to eat out of the open tray and the spooky kooky Ameraucana finally got hungry enough to step up to eat out of it. My little Black Silkie is still crying for a treat but I'm ignoring the impulse to give her anything other than what's in the feeder tray. Like Tyler said, when the hens get hungry enough they'll eat out of it. It's just the motion and noise and insecure treadle foot that will be the challenge. Meanwhile I keep the lid open and battle the Sparrows and Mourning Doves best I can.

Thanks for the good wishes on the remodel. The contractor finished a few straggly jobs today but the major remodel is still coming - 2 large patio roofs - one roof for the chickens' big coop, and one roof for our backyard patio dining, and a connecting walkway roof between the two patios. We now have a dog run if ever we needed to puppysit DD's dog.

Will post when Tyler's "anti clank" strip gets here -- gotta give them 5 stars for quality customer service and caring responses