Grandpas vs RentACoop Treadle Feeder

[My Three Chicks]

Last week I discovered rats coming out during the day and eating my chicken feed in the run while they are in there!

I've got an exterminator coming Thursday.

Now I need a treadle feeder for my 6 girls. I've been looking at the Grandpas feeder and the RentACoop feeder. Anyone look into these and can recommend one over the other?

 

[RojoMarz]

I have the Ratproof Chicken Feeder and like it.

 

[Captain13]

I have the Grandpas and I like it. I started the chicks on it when they were about eight weeks old. I added a 2x4 to the platform to give it weight and boost them up to the feed. It’s in the run, the feed stays dry and it holds a lot of feed. I bought the larger version and 4 chickens can feed at a time. Usually only two feed at once but I have seen 4 four on the treadle.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Last week I discovered rats coming out during the day and eating my chicken feed in the run while they are in there!

I've got an exterminator coming Thursday.

Now I need a treadle feeder for my 6 girls. I've been looking at the Grandpas feeder and the RentACoop feeder. Anyone look into these and can recommend one over the other?

While an exterminator sounds like a good idea the rats are not likely to take bait when they have a steady supply of chicken feed available. Once you have an actual rodent proof feeder those rats will disappear in a few days if you haven't already spent your money on the exterminator. And thank you for bringing up the fact that rats do eat feed during the day so removing the feed at night helps some but not much.

As to the two feeders, both are made in China and who knows what kind of labor is used. China has a ton of child labor and slave labor. I have looked at both feeders and the RentACoop feeder is just slightly better in construction/materials but both require blocking open for weeks due to the guillotine style door. Both have a large number of negative reviews off Amazon and I would read those very carefully because there are a lot of reviews that make it clear that they leak and are NOT rat proof. Or squirrel proof. Or pigeon proof. Or mouse proof. Both are about 50% more expensive than the better feeder with the RentACoop feeder being slightly cheaper.

Both have the same clunky and fragile linkages that are prone to bending and fasteners falling out, both have the same wide step that invites vermin to stand close to the feeder to eat. Both have no spring loaded door to prevent critters from just pushing the lid up and crawling inside. And both have that wide treadle step that has to be kept clean underneath or it will not open.

On the plus side, if you order from Amazon you can return the feeder for almost any reason if it doesn't work out for you. They have no compunctions about re selling the returns, indeed there are negative posts about that very thing. Chicken disease is a real danger, feeders ought to be destroyed if they have been used or even opened up by a flock owner or feather daddy/momma.

Read those negative reviews. The positive reviews are usually people that just needed a feeder and any sort of treadle feeder is better than none but the negative reviews were the folks with real rodent problems and that is the test standard, not a new flock without a rodent problem.

So do your research and protect your hard earned money! You are smart in dealing with the first step of rat control, sanitation, before trying the other two steps which are exclusion and extermination.

Edit: Oh, you are from Seattle. You guys have epic rat problems there, Washington state is usually one of the states that we sell the most feeders to.

 

[Captain13]

Grandpas feeders are manufactured in Mexico and China. Before, it was the Philippines and China. I have had a¿zero problems with fasteners falling out. The hinge mechanisms aren’t flimsy at all in the one I bought earlier this year. Plus, the hinge lever fasteners use nylock nuts on the bolts so they don’t work loose. When I transitioned my chicks to the feeder, I had to add weight to the treadle so that they could open the feeder. I used a 2x4 so they could stand on it to reach the feed. Also, if a mouse/rat were to push the lid up, the lid up to eat, the treadle drops down. Maybe the rodent would be long enough to reach into the feeder but it would have to be pretty long. The lid over the feed bin locks on really well so I’m not worried about anything going in that way

Anyway, my Grandpas feeder has worked flawlessly and I would have no issues with buying another if I need one. The workmanship is very good and the treadle action is smooth. My grown chickens have no problem at all with it. It’s not as noisy as some reviewers have mentioned and I do like hearing it close when I’m around the run area cause I know they are feeding.

I have no experience with the ratproof chicken feeder so I won’t attempt to comment on it.

 

[Al Gerhart]

It is good that their feeder has worked out for you.

But, their feeders have been made in China since the early 2000's. GAODENG FURNITURE CO., LTDXINTIAN, if they have ever been made in Mexico it doesn't show up on the import records. And the only treadle feeder out of the Philippines was our feeders between 2015 and 2019, then Covid hit. Here is a link to Grandpa feeders import records. They do business under Fowl Play and you can verify that by clicking on the About tab at this link. https://www.importgenius.com/importers/fowl-play

I would love to find someone that has bought a Grandpa feeder and found the country of origin marked on the box. So far no one has been able to find that on one of their boxes. That is breaking the law BTW.

The owners of the Grandpa feeder have been reacting to the criticism of the point of origin of their feeders and are claiming that some of the feeders are assembled in the U.S. but have offered no proof. And not one shipment shown coming out of Mexico from these U.S. Customs records. This really makes little sense to assemble them here as the labor is around 15 times higher and it isn't the sort of product that can be flat packed. And the assembly on a feeder like this is around 40% of the labor. Even then they would have to market as "assembled in the U.S." And look at the package numbers in their 2023 and 2022 shipments, all but two are in the 8000kg range and the package number is consistent for a 40' container. The two odd ball shipments might have been a 20' container due to a lack of product due to Covid in 2021 and 2022.

 

[Captain13]

Under the GS1 system, the first three digits of the barcode identify the country of origin. The barcode is on the box.

I believe Fowl Play is merely an importer from looking at their website. Probably just a customs broker. Looking at Importyeti and SeaAirs import data, Fowl Play was also importing the feeders to Savannah, GA for shipment to Griffin, Ga before their current west coast operations. I don’t know how truck shipments out of Mexico work regarding import logs. All I know is that Grandpas told me they are now manufacturing in Mexico and China. I don’t know if that’s piece parts or assembled units. I do remember the box mine came in was made in Juárez Mexico by Boxpak. Maybe Boxpak is shipping flat boxes to Ohio. I don’t have any idea.

I bought my feeder from the Grandpas website direct because the price was the same as Amazon and I received a discount making it cheaper.

The shipment came from TFG (Team Fisher Group) in Cincinnati, OH. They do contract manufacturing, distribution, etc. I do remember the box mine came in was made in Juárez Mexico by Boxpak. Maybe Boxpak is shipping flat boxes to Ohio. I don’t have any idea. Nor do I care.

I think the original poster was asking opinions about the different feeders. I won’t flame anybody’s choice in what they buy. All I can say is my Grandpas Feeder has met my expectations. To me it was a good investment and I would buy another.

 

[Al Gerhart]

I used to believe that the bar codes were indicators but a few months ago a gentleman on this very site debunked that for us. Anyway, Fowl Play is Grandpa feeders, not a broker.
This is the info from the U.S. Customs data off the Import Genuis page on their company:

• Importer
  
  Fowl Play
• T A Grandpas Feeders Oia, 14601 N Bybee Lake Ct, Portland, Or 97203, Usa

As you can see it matches the info on the pages of their own website, so Fowl Play is Grandpa feeder, again, not a broker. And all imports go through U.S. Customs including truck shipments. The info on Import Key matches the Import Genius data, and like I said, it all comes directly from the U.S. Customs import records. https://importkey.com/i/fowl-play

Your importyeti source had more info but again, 95% of the products are coming from China but it seems to be chicken swings. I gotta go see what that is. Most of the data was pre covid it seems. https://www.importyeti.com/company/fowl-play-products

Seaair is showing bird feeders. To a logistics broker in that area, you already pointed that out, good find. But it is the same Fowl Play/Grandpa feeder company. Another point you made makes sense, they are using 3PL for distribution which is a lot more effective than company warehousing.

But the product box itself HAS to include the point of origin for all products or their entire shipment can be seized at the port and they would have to pay a fortune to unload, label all the product, and re load after Customs inspection. That is the nightmare, getting inspected by Customs. If the retail box isn't marked with country of origin it could cost them millions in fines and fees as they can go back five years if I recall correctly.

And hey, no flaming here, just a discussion. I learn so much from this site. You are making some good points.

 

[Captain13]

You are correct and I mispoke Regarding the country of origin. What I should have said is the first three digits are the country code for the company is headquartered that manufactured the product. The product could be made in another country.

https://www.workplacepub.com/news-headlines/barcode-prefixes-and-product-country-of-origin/

I spent 24 years in the USCG often working with Customs checking shipping containers coming in the US and always think in terms of country of origin.

 

[Al Gerhart]

No problem, you were just advancing the conversation. It is all good.

And thank you for your service with the Coast Guard.