Treadle feeder RAT help please!

[ScorpioHen]

Hi. I am not sure if this is the right forum to post this question. I looked for a solution but may have overlooked it somewhere since I could not find one. So thought I would post the question here: I just purchased a treadle poultry feeder and I am skeptical on using it for my chickens because it seems like it does not take much weight to actually open the feeder when you push down the pedal. My chickens are fully grown, 17 months old, and I am confident that they have the weight to open the feeder, problem is, I have HUGE rats here and I am worried that they too will be able to open it and gorge themselves on the feed. I just had problems with rats actually getting into a hanging bucket feeder and going to town. It was supposed to be rat proof as well, but they found a way in. I do not know what a rat weighs, but it just seems like it does not take much to open this feeder and I am not sure what to do. It does not adjust to set it for heavier weight or anything. I will put a photo of the feeder I bought for you to see. Does anyone know if this will truly keep the rats out of the feeder? I am desperate to rid these rats once and for all, so any help would be appreciated. Thank you so much!

 

[Sally PB]

@Al Gerhart, this is your area of expertise!

 

[Al Gerhart]

Send it back, Chinese junk in my opinion. With these guillotine style feeders the lid and action has to be light to prevent decapitations or birds getting trapped. And that huge honking wide treadle has the rat right up near the feed so when its weight operates the treadle it can chow down.

For a treadle feeder to be rat proof you need two things; a large difference in weight AND reach between the rat and the chicken. Selling a feeder that cannot be set to three to four pounds of weight needed and providing such a wide and close in treadle is fraud in my opinion if they market it as rat proof.

Send it back if you are within the return period. Do your research before spending your hard earned money and read the negative reviews very carefully, those are the ones that matter.