Treadle feeder training.. Please help

[Organic Chooks]

Hi
It seems I have most stupid chooks. For 4-5 weeks I kept the feeder partially opened. Now since one week I have it closed completely but my chooks will not open it. I have to open it for them and then they will step on it. With my full time work it is becoming too demanding. I have to come home early before it gets dark so that that they eat. I have tried keeping few corns on the lid to bribe them to stand on it but no they are very stubborn!!
These are 4 free ranging chooks. Should I just not help them at all?? or should I just lock them up for a day and then see?? Not sure what to do?? Any suggestions please....

 

[dmack]

I don't use those kind of feeders but I've been told by a friend that dose they used meal worm treats. Put them on the lid cause they can't stay away from dried meal worms. Also I've been told that propping it open just a couple inches for a week will help cause they can see the food and wil try to get to it inadvertently stepping on it and opening it the rest of the way. Might be worth a shot

 

[Organic Chooks]

In the initial few weeks I kept it fully open first then gradually reduced to a small opening but I think they were just poking there neck in to eat. Two are bigger austrolops but other two are smaller - leghorn and bantam sussex. Now when I open it for them only smaller ones will step on it. But they all are not yet opening it themselves. Since a week I have it closed now. I have tried treats on lid but just corn not mealworms. Bigger ones can reach it without stepping on the stepper. I just don't know how to make them step on it. They go hungry all day until I come back to open for them or may be because they free-range whole day it does not matter much?? Any suggestions to make them open the feeder will be very much appreciated.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I did the same. A week with the treadle completely open. Then I used a wooden stick to prop it open less so the foot peddle wasn't all the way down so they could still see the feed but start to feel the motion. The next week I cut the stick so they could still see the feed but they had to step on the step to really get their head in their good. Then one more step down. Then a closed treadle. It was 3 weeks - a month before they really got it, but then they did fine.

My biggest issue is that most were afraid of the feeling, the motion that the step made. So I also would only give them snacks and meal worms on the treadle so they had to step and just get used to the scary movement.

 

[Organic Chooks]

At last I managed to teach them
Basically free-ranging chooks are slow to learn. Why should they face this scary thing if there is food everywhere? So I locked them up. And secondly I filled it to maximum so that it does not shake. I also had to cut down on there treats. And now in a week they are confident.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

Yay!!! I am glad to hear you have had success!