I WON!!!

[SemiSweet2391]

We’ve been battling rats for a couple months, and I have to admit, they’ve earned my grudging respect. They have been clever, resourceful, and determined, systematically defeating each of our many attempts to foil them with a genius that belies their tiny size. However, I hate them all haha.

We have two separate coops and runs, and finally decided to just get the treadle feeder. We just got one to start with to see if it would work. We taught the girls to use it and now that they’ve got it figured out there is no more accessible feed outside at night, since I put the other feeder in our garage tonight.

Feeling an undeniable need to personally witness the conquest of my fiercest enemies, I set up a camera and have not been disappointed. Behold, my foes languishing in defeat, unable to access their once constant food source!!

Haha in all seriousness it’s just the first night, but yeah I’m not ashamed to admit I am proud to finally outsmart a rodent!

Now I just have to worry if they will instead eat my strawberries in my garden can’t stand rats.

 

[Debbie292d]

We’ve been battling rats for a couple months, and I have to admit, they’ve earned my grudging respect. They have been clever, resourceful, and determined, systematically defeating each of our many attempts to foil them with a genius that belies their tiny size. However, I hate them all haha.

We have two separate coops and runs, and finally decided to just get the treadle feeder. We just got one to start with to see if it would work. We taught the girls to use it and now that they’ve got it figured out there is no more accessible feed outside at night, since I put the other feeder in our garage tonight.

Feeling an undeniable need to personally witness the conquest of my fiercest enemies, I set up a camera and have not been disappointed. Behold, my foes languishing in defeat, unable to access their once constant food source!!

Haha in all seriousness it’s just the first night, but yeah I’m not ashamed to admit I am proud to finally outsmart a rodent!

Now I just have to worry if they will instead eat my strawberries in my garden can’t stand rats.

Congratulations! Hoping this does the trick. No food, they move on.

 

[SemiSweet2391]

Congratulations! Hoping this does the trick. No food, they move on.

Me too! It would be such a relief to be rid of them.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Semisweet, may I use those pictures? Sometimes customers complain about the gap, needed by the mechanics of the door swing, but your picture shows the difference in width between the gap and a rat's head. It is shocking too how a rat can climb a 1/8" diameter wire like that.

Keep those springs replaced. If one breaks, the other becomes nearly useless unless you drilled another hole right in the center and moved the spring there. The door will not close without the springs and one spring might not stop a rat from pushing the door open unless you increase the spring tension. Hopefully you bought a three pack of springs when you ordered the feeder because they are nearly half price without the shipping that happens when you order just springs.

You holler at me if you ever need parts. Most commonly used parts are listed in the upgrade kit and repair parts section but we can provide almost any part for the newer feeders. Older feeders, you might have to send some measurements so we can be sure everything still matches up. A few years ago we made a major re design, one inch shorter feeder to save on shipping, with an increased feed capacity done by changing the angle of the inside feed tray. The original feeder was unchanged between around 2013 and 2019 roughly.

Glad the feeder is doing its job. You read and followed the instructions, that is the most important reason people are successful.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Me too! It would be such a relief to be rid of them.

Oh, you have it fastened down to that pallet, correct? If you can't fasten it to a wall or post consider setting a heavy patio block on top the feeder to stabilize it when it gets empty or it will tip over if not fastened down to something. You might need to block the gap in back, the cleat that holds the feeder to the wall also blocks a one inch gap between the bottom side of the lid and the back panel. Maybe screw a 2 x 6 to the side of the pallet, put a 12" long cross piece on the 2 x 4, then mount the cleat to that 2 x 6, then hang the feeder on the cleat.

Another thing that will help is to set two milk jugs filled with sand or dirt on either side of the feeder to force the hens to come in from the front.