Squirrels in Treadle Feeder!

[fairhavensfarm]

Hello, I have squirrels getting into my Grandpas brand treadle feeder, they are there almost every day, they push down the pedal where my hens feed and and slip in and eat all their feed. HELP! Does anyone know of a solution. Does anyone else have this problem??

 

[neo71665]

I'd be having squirrel and dumplings.

 

[Vickischics]

Hello, I have squirrels getting into my Grandpas brand treadle feeder, they are there almost every day, they push down the pedal where my hens feed and and slip in and eat all their feed. HELP! Does anyone know of a solution. Does anyone else have this problem??

Once they have a food source, that's it.
As far as I'm concerned, Squirrels are Rats with fuzzy tails. I can't stand them!!

 

[Weeg]

Cayenne pepper! Add a ton to the feed, that’s outta scare them off. Chickens can’t taste spice, and cayenne pepper contains lots of antioxidants, and will also make their egg yolks a nice orange.
Squirrels Sure can taste the spice though.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Grandpa feeders are so poorly designed but they were early into the market and have a large following. But as you have learned they are not rodent or squirrel proof, even small tiny ground squirrels can push up the lid because the lid has to be very light to avoid strangling chickens when the lid comes down.

Plus they are all made in China along the many clones that have popped up.

Our original design stopped most squirrel problems except the few cases where the chickens were close to a forest with a huge population of squirrels. Or the cases where the customer refused to follow the instructions, didn't replace a broken spring, or had the spring installed incorrectly.

We are about to start selling an improved design that has a double spring that pulls directly on the door. No more counterweight either as the double springs are strong enough to eliminate the 2# counterweight. The springs are adjustable and we are leaving the adjustable spring holes along the top of the feeder so a customer can use the old door crank mounted spring location for even more adjustment. Nearly all of the tension is direct on the door, not diluted due to the counterweight and crank mounted spring location. Not ready to call it squirrel proof yet until we get some long term data from our customers but it is going to be as squirrel proof as possible. Remember you need two things to defeat vermin, weight and reach. Pushing the treadle way out is as crucial as the spring loaded door. But small chickens need to learn to eat when a bigger bird eats.