oh no...not another feeder question. keeping birds and rats out? treadle designs?

[0die]

I've got double trouble. In the day, sparrows and doves are flying into the coop and feeding. At night rats can come feast. The coop door opens during the day letting wild birds in and no coop is rat proof. It's just predator proof.

My current set up is a PVC tube and wye with a top lid that closes at night. So it's currently rat proof or highly resistant. My rat problem is currently gone/minimal. BUT, the sparrows come all day long and feast.

I'm considering trying a treadle in hopes that it will keep sparrows out during the day and rats out at night. Here are a couple that I think might work. Does anyone use these and what has been your real world experience?

I like this design since it has a screen that might prevent the chickens from digging the food out all over the place.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGLZ1D6...CD3NN2FZ&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

This is a slightly different design but similar concept
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFZT68Z...CD3NN2FZ&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

either one I assume you can add a little weight to the lid to adjust for rat vs chicken size

 

[0die]

actually, If I could keep the wild birds out of the open door that would solve most everything. Maybe a "curtain" of some type to discourage wild bird entry? The automatic coop door opens and closes every morning and evening. The feeder opens and closes with it.

 

[RojoMarz]

I have a Ratproof Chicken Feeder and it works great. Notice the different style than the treadle feeders you linked. You links are guillotine style and have wide step/platform. I prefer the setup of the Ratproof Feeder...no lid to shut on the chicken's head nor will the step smash anything. I do remove my feeder at night and put back in the morning, as I don't want to encourage bears into the run.

 

[0die]

I do like that step design. it's far enough away that a rat probably can't stand on it and reach the food at the same time.

I need something that will be accessible 24/7.

 

[Al Gerhart]

The negative reviews in the first link ought to tell you what you need to know. First, this is another Chinese made feeder like the Grandpa feeder and it has all the same design flaws. You have to leave the feeder open for several weeks, teaching the vermin that feed is in the feeder. The reviews state that rats easily push the lids open. Keep looking please!

The second link is another Chinese made with a lot of the same defects in the design. First you can only fill it about a third full or the birds will rake the feed out. It is also a guillotine design like the Grandpa feeder, easily pushed open, needs the door left open for training. And read the reviews, a lot of the positive reviews were given the feeder through Vine. Having to give a product away hoping to get reviews... not good.

Now, the rats are feeding during the day too if there are any left around the area. Few chickens will tackle a rat and while you might have ran them off before they learned to eat during the day eventually rats will find the coop again. Neither of the feeders you liked to are rat proof, those sort of guillotine doors never are. Again you need a spring loaded door, hopefully that swings inward, and a narrow and distant treadle.

Adjusting the weight required is easily done with a good feeder. There will either be a series of holes for the springs that hold the door closed to increase/decrease the pressure needed. Even better is a threaded rod type adjustment, usually found on soft close feeders. As long as you have some full size chickens you can crank that tension system down to three or four pounds and not worry about taking the feeder in at night.

And watch the negative reviews and give them the highest credibility. Those are the folks that actually had a rat or wild bird problem, the others were just buying a feeder. The good news is that even a poor feeder like the Chinese made Grandpa feeder or one it is many clones will prevent a rat infestation in some cases.

 

[0die]

I think the key is the weight setting. It needs to be high enough that a rat or 2 can't push the lid open but that a chicken can still open it. None of these seem to have an adjustment, or am I not seeing it?

I'm thinking the step should be narrower and further from the lid. A hen can stretch her neck to reach the food I think.

Also, perhaps add some extra weight to the lid to keep a rat from simply pushing the lid up.

A rat is 1# or less and a hen is 4# or a bit more. Seems like a lot of space in between to adjust the feeder.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Odie nailed it, mentioning the weight difference and the reach which is crucial. However, there is the weight of the lid and then there is the weight required to depress the treadle. For years we were short sighted and focused on the treadle weight, then we added the single spring to pre load the door or allow the feeder counter weight to be removed for smaller birds. Eventually we figured out that all the spring tension and weight needed to be concentrated on the door itself to prioritize the tension keeping squirrels from pushing the door open. With that realized we went to a dual spring acting only on the door.

The guillotine style feeders like the Chinese made Grandpa feeder cannot weight the lid though for obvious safety reasons. Some have a series of holes to affect the required treadle weight for use but no where near the amount needed to keep a squirrel or a couple of rats out. But the lid remains counter balanced so it is feather light, allowing tiny critters like ground squirrels just push the lid open. I am fairly certain that the only feeder on the market that does have the adjustable door tension is the Ratproof Chicken feeder.

And Odie mentioned stretching the chicken out, so true. A bonus is that a stretched out hen isn't going to be raking feed or lollygagging around while eating. But the reach difference between a chicken and a rat or a squirrel is the second biggest reason a ratproof feeder works while the Chinese made feeders fail.

 

[lizo97]

The negative reviews in the first link ought to tell you what you need to know. First, this is another Chinese made feeder like the Grandpa feeder and it has all the same design flaws. You have to leave the feeder open for several weeks, teaching the vermin that feed is in the feeder. The reviews state that rats easily push the lids open. Keep looking please!

The second link is another Chinese made with a lot of the same defects in the design. First you can only fill it about a third full or the birds will rake the feed out. It is also a guillotine design like the Grandpa feeder, easily pushed open, needs the door left open for training. And read the reviews, a lot of the positive reviews were given the feeder through Vine. Having to give a product away hoping to get reviews... not good.

Now, the rats are feeding during the day too if there are any left around the area. Few chickens will tackle a rat and while you might have ran them off before they learned to eat during the day eventually rats will find the coop again. Neither of the feeders you liked to are rat proof, those sort of guillotine doors never are. Again you need a spring loaded door, hopefully that swings inward, and a narrow and distant treadle.

Adjusting the weight required is easily done with a good feeder. There will either be a series of holes for the springs that hold the door closed to increase/decrease the pressure needed. Even better is a threaded rod type adjustment, usually found on soft close feeders. As long as you have some full size chickens you can crank that tension system down to three or four pounds and not worry about taking the feeder in at night.

And watch the negative reviews and give them the highest credibility. Those are the folks that actually had a rat or wild bird problem, the others were just buying a feeder. The good news is that even a poor feeder like the Chinese made Grandpa feeder or one it is many clones will prevent a rat infestation in some cases.

Al, I am curious about your largest treadle chicken/dog feeder. How big of a dog is it made for? I have 120 lb dogs with big heads.

 

[Al Gerhart]

I designed the extra large feeder both as a chicken feeder and a dog feeder using my own dog at the time, Teddy, AKA Teddy Bear, an 85 pound black Border Collie, normal for a Border Collie/Pyrenees cross. Teddy is gone now, he had gotten old and fell going down some stairs and broke his neck. He was a shelter rescue but I think he was around 5 months old in early 2009 and he died this last summer. He was a very smart dog but he never bothered with the treadle step on his feeder, just pushed the door open with his fat head and ate.

Not sure how a 120 pound dog would scale up from an 85 pound dog. I hesitate to make a prediction. The opening for the door would be around12" wide. We have sold maybe a hundred of the dog feeder/extra large chicken feeder and never had any negative feed back other than the cost of shipping. But it holds 63 pounds of feed, huge box that weighs 21 pounds but dimensional weight charges causes it to ship the same cost a a fifty pound package.

 

[Al Gerhart]

My chickens had a treadle feeder like that (not sure which brand because there are so many) but they would never eat out of it. It almost closed on one’s head while she was trying to eat! Tried everything but they were always scared of it. Not sure what went wrong.

I bet with a little advice you can get that feeder working for you. Even the poorly designed feeders can help reduce feed loss. If you still have it, post a picture of it so any advice offered is germane.