Rat and waterproof proof feeders

[Cluckcorner]

Are there any better than others or can you make your own.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Google something like chicken feeder reviews and you will find a website that has done reviews on many of the most popular types.

To stop rats you need several things, a narrow and distant treadle, a spring loaded door, and a heavy counterweight. Even then you won't stop dozens of rats if they swarm the feeder but you will find dead rats smothered inside the feeder the next morning and the rats won't touch that feeder again. But that might happen in a commercial flock, not a backyard flock.

Most feeders advertised as rat proof are not so check out the reviews and pay attention to the negative reviews. Without a distant and narrow treadle the rats and wild birds just gang up on the treadle. Without a spring loaded door and a counterweight they just push the door open or lift it up. The downside is that this kind of feeder is made for adult chickens, at least some adult birds in the flock that have both the weight and the reach to operate the feeder.

There are plenty of DIY feeders, usually wood treadle feeders or the bucket and PVC elbow types. They won't stop rats or wild birds at all. The trigger types can be operated by sparrows flying into the trigger or rats jumping to hit the trigger and they leave a mess on the ground.

Plastic on a feeder is a bad idea. Rats chew right through it. Hanging feeders don't work, rats and mice can jump many times their body length. Bringing the feeder inside at night just forces the rodents to eat their fill during the day.

Waterproof, that is a tall order. Water resistant is one thing, water proof is another. : )

Avoid the feeders that have upward swinging doors, they usually leak at the back of the door where there is a rain channel that usually rusts out quickly. Read the reviews closely, especially the negative reviews for leaking. On our feeder the bottom front panel is recessed back about a 1/4" so that any rain hitting the door rolls off onto the ground. If you go through our videos, nearly all of them are interior models without this recessed front and nearly all of the customers used them outside in the weather. The overhang on the top does little good, most rain is being blown by the wind.

Do your research! Any more than 10% negative reviews is a very bad sign.