Stop taking my pellets!!!

Aug 31, 2019
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Hughes Wildlife Farm, MA
The hanging feeders drop feed on the ground in the run.. The girls and turkeys sleep out in the run for the summer, they avoid the coop til winter, so they eat in the run, plus the turkeys dont fit thru the coop doggie door.
So how do i stop the rats from invading?
Or is it best to just lock up the feeders everynight and put them back out every morning... Where do your feeders go, to stop rats from eatting your pellets.. What about the pellets that they throw all over the ground, that attracts rats too.. Suggestions really needed
 
Sounds like you answered your own question . Keep hanging feeders at back height to chickens. Pull up feeders at night. Look into spilless feeders or go with a pipe system you can close up with a cover at night.
I free range all mine but still feed them twice per day. The evening feeding I give them enough to get close to full but not so much that they leave any for the rats or anything else.
 
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Depending on the amount of feed on the ground on any given night, take up the feeders 30 minutes to 1 hour before roosting. The birds will just about clean everything up so there will be nothing left for the rats. Just gauge the time you pull the feeders. Do they need more time to finish the spilled feed or are they still needing more feed.
 
Like a litter box made of 2×4s. That way I can just slide a sheet of plywood over the top to cover the scraps at night.. Hummmmm:yesss:
Oooh, that's a good idea! When I was just putting food in the litter tray before I had my food bowls, I'd put a piece of wood over the top at night... It worked! But they'd still spill food over the sides of the box :( . A taller one made of those 2 x 4s might work better!
 
The only way I have managed to stop rats coming and eating my duck's pellets is by putting the feeder (in my case two dog bowls in a holder) in a short plastic cat litter box. It seems to catch 99% of what they throw out of the feeder! Before this I had rather large piles of wet feed being left all over my lawn, and they didn't even seem to even hose away well! I also personally bring everything in at night now, this includes their waterers too, as I have seen those nasty rats drinking from them too!
 
I have nipple waterers. So hopfully they don't figure thats out. And those are super high, to the top of there heads.
I had food on the ground but my 40lbs turkeys, and up stepping on the edge and tip the whole think over, so we went with hanging feeders

Ah, I see how that wouldn't work for big turkey's haha. How about instead of a litter tray, you could just put a feeding mat down? Not a dog or cat one though, as they'd not be big enough. Perhaps a home-made one made out of tarp or something?
 

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