Rat Proof Chicken Feeder

[meadrian]

Ahh, you know them well!

 

[meadrian]

Have you heard anything from BYCs yet?

 

[Al Gerhart]

I did hear from them today. I'll make a banner ad and get advertising by this weekend. After that, the feeders can be bought by following the ad link.

I've learned a bit from watching the feeder in my coop. The rats, and there are a bunch of them, are leaving the feeder alone so far, haven't started chewing on it or anything. My guess is that they have stolen so much feed already that they aren't getting desparate yet. The latest feeder with the metal bottom, back, and front might need to have metal sides that could be slipped in and fastened with silicone caulk. I can always make them if they turn out to be needed and give them to purchasers. The feed is lasting much longer but after I've had a good test on the feeder, I'm going to start posioning the little buggers because as their stored feed runs out, chicken toes might start looking tasty.

Other lessons learned so far. it needs to be set on a wooden base because it will eventually sink into the litter and the pedal won't go down. I used an old 2 x 12 about 24" long. Or the feeder could be fastened to the wall a few inches above the ground. That would really stablize the thing as it becomes lighter as the feed is eaten.

 

[meadrian]

Interesting. Good to know the rats haven't gotten in. One of mine will sit on a cement floor. The other will be mounted to the leg of the base that holds up one of the coops. Looking at the latest small weather proof feeder, it seems like it would be difficult for a rat to gnaw on the wood. Of course, I'm not a rat expert, either.

Looking forward to the Ad. Thanks, Al!

 

[Al Gerhart]

Well I think I have the final protype complete. I used aluminum angles on the last two for the treadle bars, might switch to steel bars for more stiffness on the final production models. I also made the treadle plate smaller, the birds weren't stepping on the front part at all and I figured a rat would use the front part. The girls liked the new feeder just fine.

I did secure it to the coop wall, much better that way.

I noticed that rats tried chewing on the corner of the front lip but the tin would have stopped them had they kept it up. So far the rats haven't found their way in. Might trap some of the nasty critters and set them up in a cage with a feeder to see if they manage to figure it out. With the lighter treadle design, it would take a large rat to push the door open as it has to lift the steel counterweight to move the door.

I'll post pictures tomorrow night and get the ad running.

 

[meadrian]

Sounds really good! Looking forward to the pictures and the ad. Thanks again for all your work on this.

 

[meadrian]

How's the final prototype? Is it working out? Haven't heard from you in awhile, so thought I'd ask. Hope all it well!

 

[luvmy33chicks]

i have a mixed flock
some of my bantams are no bigger than a pigeon
wonder if the are heavy enough to open it

 

[meadrian]

Al would be best able to answer that. I think the weight can be adjusted some, but I don't know how much. How much do your bantams weigh?

 

[luvmy33chicks]

Quote:
i have never weighed them but some are small enough to sit on the palm of my hand
and i also have large breed RIR, barred rocks, cochins ...