Bringing in a feeder at night just teaches the rats to eat during the day. And I have yet to see one of those Youtube baking soda baits actually work, those are just click bait. Could it work? Maybe, but the rodents would quickly figure out what was killing their buddies and unless they were starving they would avoid the bait. If it did work it is a never ending process as new populations moved into the newly vacated territory.
There are a couple of things about the ratproof feeder that you gotta know before buying one.
First, you need some full sized birds, an all bantam or silky flock would require setting the door spring pressure so low that some of the rodent resistance is lost, both spring pressure and adding a duck step so the tiny birds can reach the feed.
Second, avoid using around pullets under say 1.5 to 2 pounds, once again they won't have the reach or weigh enough to use the feeder and any smaller birds might get trapped inside.
Third, you HAVE to follow the assembly and installation instructions.
Assembly is very simple these days, two side bolts to insert, washer on each side, hex nut tightened down, add the treadle bar/step assembly, add the lock nuts and snug up, then back them off enough so the treadle can move. Then insert the pre bent wire link between the door axle and treadle and bend over enough so the wire doesn't pop out, without making it so tight the wire cannot rotate. People generally get this part right. The springs are pre installed, no more customers trying to stretch a six inch spring to connect the 12" distance between the door axle and treadle bar. LOL
Where people do go wrong is on the installation. Feeder HAS to be solidly mounted on a wall or post using the supplied french cleat, or you can stake down some plywood, screw down a couple of 2 x 4 blocks and run some screws in from the side of the bottom of the feeder to lock that feeder down. Or weight the feeder down with a couple of patio blocks on top so it doesn't fall over when empty and a eight pound rooster jumps on the treadle.
It has to have some sort of base unless you have a solid and flat coop floor. The feeder treadle HAS to bottom out or the birds won't feel safe using the feeder. Three or four patio blocks or pavers are the best, two under the feeder, two under the treadle, with six inches or more in front of the treadle bar. You want the hen to be able to hop up on the pavers and have room to push the treadle bar down with one foot while standing on the other foot. Bonus points if you can arrange a paver that is about the width of the treadle bar so the hens naturally approach from the front and not the sides. Two milk jugs of water or sand make great temporary blocking objects to train them to come in from the front.
The end result is a rock solid feeder that can be just lifted up to clean out the feeder if needed but it doesn't wobble around in use. Wobble is bad, chickens don't feel safe and it shakes down too much feed. It is that simple.
But some people, maybe one to two percent of the customers....... well in a perfect world you would be able to walk next door and slap the politician out of them. They won't read the instructions and complain when they have problems they created. Patience, patience, send them a nice email saying basically what I wrote above, hoping against experience that they will at least read what you emailed them.
Am dealing with one such creature right now, four bricks under the feeder on a dirt floor, nothing under the treadle so it is three to four inches off the dirt when fully depressed. And that spiffy french cleat we send to mount the feeder? We don't need no stinking french cleat, a bungee cord around the top hooked to WELDED WIRE COOP SIDES does the trick for them. There would have to be a couple of inches of flopping around every time a hen jumped up on the treadle, and watch that poor bird trying to stand on a flexing, wobbling 1.75" wide wood step and trying to keep its balance while eating. After a few weeks of the hens doing fine they email saying too much feed is flowing down the gravity feed chute. Yeah, about the equivalent of whacking the feeder with a five pound club fifty times a day and they are surprised too much feed is dropping down? Do they read the reply email and fix their mistakes? Heck no, they decide the feeder is defective, demand their money back including the shipping costs, and refuse to ship the feeder back, then they usually try charge back fraud, AKA digital shoplifting. Occasionally one is successful and are surprised to learn it earns them a strike on their credit report. Happens once or twice a year.
So, please, please, please, read and follow the instructions if you buy a ratproof feeder. Those that can't read or won't read instructions need to buy one of the Chinese made guillotine style feeders like the Grandpa feeder or the RentACoop feeder. They don't work very well, they leak, they bend, rats and tiny ground squirrels can lift the lid, pigeons learn to gang up on the huge honking treadle steps, you have a lot more assembly but just plonk them down on the ground when done, and you can return them to
Amazon when you figure out you wasted your cash and they will tape the box back up and resell it.
Us? Returned feeders have to be destroyed to avoid spreading disease. Happens a couple of times a year, weld breaks on a door axle, shipping company totally smashes a feeder to the point it cannot be repaired with new parts. Rarely happens anymore with our new wood cage inner packing in place of the old styrofoam inner packing.
Rant over, blood pressure back down, apologies to those that I offended and please don't order a feeder if you were offended. There is a method to the madness, self selecting customers means more people are happy with their feeder.
