Question about bantam weight on treadle feeders…

[Bantam bell Wood]

Keeping rats out of the feed with bantams is tougher than with full size birds. But, since you haven't drawn rodents yet, that helps. The other issue is having so few birds, investing in a treadle feeder and spending $85.00 plus the shipping is going to have a much longer pay back period. There is the fact that keeping the rodents out has a lot of disease and pest benefits though.

You might try one of the lightweight guillotine style feeders. Yes, they have that awful overhead lid, and a host of other faults like only capable of holding around one third of the capacity if you don't want the hens to rake feed out. But they are cheap, we have one that seldom sells that costs $36.00, they are easy to tinker with to balance the lid, and IF you have zero rodents, they might be enough to prevent a rodent population from setting up in your coop.

With bantams you are missing BOTH of the things that allow a rat proof feeder; a big difference between the weight of a rat and the chicken and the big difference between the reach of a rat and the chicken. I would either add a duck step (might have to make your own out of thin, light wood) and trim that step down or move it back once the bantams were trained. Obviously you would need to re-balance the treadle lid if you move it much.

Best of luck.

Thank you for the insights. I will educate myself about the things you’ve described before I move forward.

I appreciate the advice.

 

[Bantam bell Wood]

Keeping rats out of the feed with bantams is tougher than with full size birds. But, since you haven't drawn rodents yet, that helps. The other issue is having so few birds, investing in a treadle feeder and spending $85.00 plus the shipping is going to have a much longer pay back period. There is the fact that keeping the rodents out has a lot of disease and pest benefits though.

You might try one of the lightweight guillotine style feeders. Yes, they have that awful overhead lid, and a host of other faults like only capable of holding around one third of the capacity if you don't want the hens to rake feed out. But they are cheap, we have one that seldom sells that costs $36.00, they are easy to tinker with to balance the lid, and IF you have zero rodents, they might be enough to prevent a rodent population from setting up in your coop.

With bantams you are missing BOTH of the things that allow a rat proof feeder; a big difference between the weight of a rat and the chicken and the big difference between the reach of a rat and the chicken. I would either add a duck step (might have to make your own out of thin, light wood) and trim that step down or move it back once the bantams were trained. Obviously you would need to re-balance the treadle lid if you move it much.

Keeping rats out of the feed with bantams is tougher than with full size birds. But, since you haven't drawn rodents yet, that helps. The other issue is having so few birds, investing in a treadle feeder and spending $85.00 plus the shipping is going to have a much longer pay back period. There is the fact that keeping the rodents out has a lot of disease and pest benefits though.

You might try one of the lightweight guillotine style feeders. Yes, they have that awful overhead lid, and a host of other faults like only capable of holding around one third of the capacity if you don't want the hens to rake feed out. But they are cheap, we have one that seldom sells that costs $36.00, they are easy to tinker with to balance the lid, and IF you have zero rodents, they might be enough to prevent a rodent population from setting up in your coop.

With bantams you are missing BOTH of the things that allow a rat proof feeder; a big difference between the weight of a rat and the chicken and the big difference between the reach of a rat and the chicken. I would either add a duck step (might have to make your own out of thin, light wood) and trim that step down or move it back once the bantams were trained. Obviously you would need to re-balance the treadle lid if you move it much.

Best of luck.

Can you tell me the name of the company where I can find the guillotine feeder you’re describing?

Thank you.

 

[NatJ]

With bantams you are missing BOTH of the things that allow a rat proof feeder; a big difference between the weight of a rat and the chicken and the big difference between the reach of a rat and the chicken.

Depending on the kind of bantams, I wonder if you could have them fly? Last time I checked, rats couldn't do that.

Maybe something like a hanging feeder platform, with an anti-climb thing on the rope it hangs from (like people use to keep squirrels out of bird feeders). The chickens would have to fly up to sit on the platform and eat. It would need to be high enough that a rat can't jump up, and with nothing nearby that a rat could climb up and jump across.

For teaching the chickens to use it, if there are no rodent problems yet, you could start with it on the floor, then an inch or two up, then higher, so the chickens get used to the idea of getting up on it to eat and then fly progressively higher over time.

Of course this would only work with bantams that can fly. Some of them fly really well, and some don't fly at all (example: Silkies), with others being in between.

 

[Zanja]

I have bantams and a new coop in which I installed an Ador automatic door to the run. Best thing ever. I don't have to go out and shut them in or worry about not being home.
Also I have a Rent a Coop treadle feeder which is inside the 10x8 coop. I attached a rubber mat to the treadle and set it so there is some play but it does not fully close. It came with a weight that can be taken off for smaller birds and I removed it per instructions. My bantams are 12 weeks old and all make the treadle move when they step on it. My main goal was to reduce waste and the treadle feeder does that! Other feeders I had at a previous place just had so much wasted feed scattered about and that in itself attracted rodents.
I do not have rodents and my coop is pretty secure now. Rats can not tunnel in and no mice have come in either. If I need to set the feeder to close completely when they are full grown I will just need to make sure the smallest can open it. Again, I don't have rats so not an issue of the bantams and rats being similar in weight.

 

[Bantam bell Wood]

Depending on the kind of bantams, I wonder if you could have them fly? Last time I checked, rats couldn't do that.

Maybe something like a hanging feeder platform, with an anti-climb thing on the rope it hangs from (like people use to keep squirrels out of bird feeders). The chickens would have to fly up to sit on the platform and eat. It would need to be high enough that a rat can't jump up, and with nothing nearby that a rat could climb up and jump across.

For teaching the chickens to use it, if there are no rodent problems yet, you could start with it on the floor, then an inch or two up, then higher, so the chickens get used to the idea of getting up on it to eat and then fly progressively higher over time.

Of course this would only work with bantams that can fly. Some of them fly really well, and some don't fly at all (example: Silkies), with others being in between.

I like your out of the box thinking!

The EEs fly. The single Rock pullet doesn’t show much interest in levitation, but she seems to be low on the rung as far as pecking order, so I’m not sure if this is breed specific or a matter of her station. I’ll have to do a little learning about Rock Bantams and their aptitude. I hope she could make it a couple feet (or even a foot/14-16’) off the ground. That would likely thwart the rodents.

I was reading about the roamwild, Pestoff Rat Proof, feeder this morning, but it doesn’t ship to my region. I was also reading about the BEC Wise cage feeder, another product that’s currently unavailable to ship to me.

I like the idea of a feeding station off the ground and will give that prospect some more thought!

I bet the chickens will learn to use anything with food in it pretty quickly!

Thank you.

 

[Bantam bell Wood]

I have bantams and a new coop in which I installed an Ador automatic door to the run. Best thing ever. I don't have to go out and shut them in or worry about not being home.
Also I have a Rent a Coop treadle feeder which is inside the 10x8 coop. I attached a rubber mat to the treadle and set it so there is some play but it does not fully close. It came with a weight that can be taken off for smaller birds and I removed it per instructions. My bantams are 12 weeks old and all make the treadle move when they step on it. My main goal was to reduce waste and the treadle feeder does that! Other feeders I had at a previous place just had so much wasted feed scattered about and that in itself attracted rodents.
I do not have rodents and my coop is pretty secure now. Rats can not tunnel in and no mice have come in either. If I need to set the feeder to close completely when they are full grown I will just need to make sure the smallest can open it. Again, I don't have rats so not an issue of the bantams and rats being similar in weight.

Thanks for all of that! I’m experiencing a fair amount of waste and that is currently from where my concern about rodents stems.

I’m glad to hear the bantams do well on the treadle and I appreciate your reference to the type you use. I will check it out.

Much appreciated!