Major Rat Infestation

[Folly's place]

Here we don't use the treadle feeders because we have chicks and bantams, who wouldn't be able to trip the mechanism to get food. Otherwise, i hear that for standard sized birds the right units do work well.
In thirty years, we've had rats in our coop once, and it was enough!
Mary

 

[Al Gerhart]

I've yet to find a treadle feeder that works, because the chickens just bill the feed right out over the trough. They eat on one end and push the feed away until it builds up and overflows. The rats are brazen and come out in the day time. Stand on their hind legs and feed while the chickens are eating. And because of the plastic slippery treadles my birds were not able to activate the treadle. I had to move the spring to a lighter position and the rats could push the door in climb into the feeder and feast. When I would go out to check water levels or eggs I would hear them munching away INSIDE the feeder. Waste of money. I am going to fermented feed in the spring. Feed twice a day and take it up. The birds will learn. I am getting hanging waterers also. With nipples. I have a cheapie feeder now Red feed holder with red trough. The rats were coming in my coop this winter as they gnawed the wood around the threshold, because of the snow pile up unable to fix that. They were feasting in the feeder. I cover the fill area with Duct Tape. They can't get into that part. At the moment I think I only have one rat. In the summer they would come around in groups but I see no groups now. I will move my coop onto a concrete pad and put metal thresholds and vinyl siding so the rats can't get a purchase. Good luck they are very hard to get rid of. One kernel and they are around. Almost impossible not to "feed" them once they invade.

BTW I'm the only person within 4 miles with chickens or any other livestock. There is no where else for them to go. I don't have a garden nor do my neighbors. My neighbors have Bull Mastiffs. Those do a good job keeping out the "big" predators. I inherited these rats when a fox got neighbors chickens early last summer. I've had chickens since the summer of '18 without rats until last summer.

Besides them going doesn't solve the problem. Dead is the only solution. Or depopulation.

Ditto what Howard E said, what kind of feeder do you have so people can learn what doesn't work.

From the "plastic treadle" part of the post I assume it is one of the Feed o matic feeders? Those are terrible, rejected by consumers in Europe, shipped over to the U.S. and sold wholesale 40 to a pallet just to clear out the inventory I heard. Very poorly designed, chicken has to stoop and run their head way up inside (good for rain though if it didn't leak in other places), it did have a weak spring but as you found out, useless.

No real feed tray, a narrow slot with the feed level with the feeder lip.

A decent treadle feeder first has no plastic parts. It has a generous feed lip extending at a 90 degree angle into the feed tray to prevent raking 99% of the time and a feeder lip extension for those rare problem birds.

The treadle on a well designed treadle feeder is narrow and distant, for full size birds. A small percentage of the flock can be banties or silkies that will quickly learn to eat when they can. You can add a duck step/bamtam step, but it lessens the effectiveness of the feeder. It is possible to add it, then back it off a half inch every week till you have taught the banties to stretch to eat or to team up to trip the treadle.

Chicks, short of a RFID chip or collar or an electronic vision device you aren't likely to build a reasonably priced chick feeder that keeps out mice and rats. And having chicks near rats and mice is not a good thing if the feed gets cut off to the rodents. They are small and require a small space, coop them in a rat proof coop till they are up to a couple of pounds.

A decent treadle feeder has a stiff spring to prevent rats from simply lifting the lid or just pushing the lid open. The counterweight is there to help balance the treadle/door set up only. It helps but a spring is needed.

Finally a decently designed treadle feeder must have an inward swinging door, not an overhead guillotine style door so you can keep the feeder closed during training. A good part of the reason a Rat Proof feeder works is because it hides the feed, the rats never see how to get to it and never get to eat from it so they give up trying to find a way in. They smell the feed, cannot see the feed, likely aren't going to stick around more than a few days trying to get to the feed.

 

[WindingRoad]

Which treadle feeder or feeders have you used......exactly. Please provide the name and a photo of it or them if you can. Yours would be a good testimonial on what not to buy.

I have the Rat Proof Treadle feeder and my birds do not.....cannot.....drag feed out of it. I even ordered the extension just in case, and it has never been needed. Nothing gets feed out of it but the chickens.

Who makes this great rat proof feeder. Your post tells me nothing because everybody and their grandmothers call their knock off rat proof.

 

[WindingRoad]

Ditto what Howard E said, what kind of feeder do you have so people can learn what doesn't work.

From the "plastic treadle" part of the post I assume it is one of the Feed o matic feeders? Those are terrible, rejected by consumers in Europe, shipped over to the U.S. and sold wholesale 40 to a pallet just to clear out the inventory I heard. Very poorly designed, chicken has to stoop and run their head way up inside (good for rain though if it didn't leak in other places), it did have a weak spring but as you found out, useless.

No real feed tray, a narrow slot with the feed level with the feeder lip.

A decent treadle feeder first has no plastic parts. It has a generous feed lip extending at a 90 degree angle into the feed tray to prevent raking 99% of the time and a feeder lip extension for those rare problem birds.

The treadle on a well designed treadle feeder is narrow and distant, for full size birds. A small percentage of the flock can be banties or silkies that will quickly learn to eat when they can. You can add a duck step/bamtam step, but it lessens the effectiveness of the feeder. It is possible to add it, then back it off a half inch every week till you have taught the banties to stretch to eat or to team up to trip the treadle.

Chicks, short of a RFID chip or collar or an electronic vision device you aren't likely to build a reasonably priced chick feeder that keeps out mice and rats. And having chicks near rats and mice is not a good thing if the feed gets cut off to the rodents. They are small and require a small space, coop them in a rat proof coop till they are up to a couple of pounds.

A decent treadle feeder has a stiff spring to prevent rats from simply lifting the lid or just pushing the lid open. The counterweight is there to help balance the treadle/door set up only. It helps but a spring is needed.

Finally a decently designed treadle feeder must have an inward swinging door, not an overhead guillotine style door so you can keep the feeder closed during training. A good part of the reason a Rat Proof feeder works is because it hides the feed, the rats never see how to get to it and never get to eat from it so they give up trying to find a way in. They smell the feed, cannot see the feed, likely aren't going to stick around more than a few days trying to get to the feed.

LOL. Then prove it by selling my one or two. I double dare you......... VBG.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Who makes this great rat proof feeder. Your post tells me nothing because everybody and their grandmothers call their knock off rat proof.

Google the term, there is only one feeder by that name. Others have marketed their feeder as rat proof even with pictures in the reviews showing rats using the feeder.

 

[Howard E]

It is in fact Al's feeder. Going on 4 years with it now. No spilt feed, so no rats or mice.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-proof-feeder-review.1180514/

But would still like to know what feeder you have that didn't work. Product name and a picture if you please.

 

[WindingRoad]

It is in fact Al's feeder. Going on 4 years with it now. No spilt feed, so no rats or mice.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-proof-feeder-review.1180514/

But would still like to know what feeder you have that didn't work. Product name and a picture if you please.

Government secret. Never post pictures.

 

[WindingRoad]

It is in fact Al's feeder. Going on 4 years with it now. No spilt feed, so no rats or mice.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-proof-feeder-review.1180514/

But would still like to know what feeder you have that didn't work. Product name and a picture if you please.

And the fact that he hasn't/won't prove it to me says it all. Talk is cheap.

 

[KingD]

Hey OP. Use poison. It's the only thing that gets rid of the nests as well with all the babies in.
I'm not trying to cause a stir, I've just proved it many many times.

I wish you good luck.

Edited as I've just noticed the thread is from the last century.

Anyways, the facts are still the same.

 

[dawg53]

Hey OP. Use poison. It's the only thing that gets rid of the nests as well with all the babies in.
I'm not trying to cause a stir, I've just proved it many many times.

I wish you good luck.

Edited as I've just noticed the thread is from the last century.

Anyways, the facts are still the same.

Agreed. Poison is the way to go. Also hanging ammonia soaked rags around the outside of all the pens after the birds go to roost for the night works great. Simply retrieve the rags the next morning and soak them again for the next several nights. No more rats or mice.