Grandpa's Feeders Automatic Chicken Feeder - Sturdy Galvanized Steel Poultry Feeders - Rat Proof & No Spill with Weatherproof Lid - Standard Size for 6-12 Chickens 10 days (20lb Feed)

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They work on a simple idea: A rat weighs around 300g, wild birds such as crows even less and the lid of the feeder will only open with a weight greater than about 500g so a chicken can open the feeder to eat but the others cannot! However, we do have rats that visit (and carefully avoid the poison bait stations ), and the hens chuck the food everywhere and make a dreadful mess.

The way the food storage is setup does not allow for gravity to constantly have the opening filled with food.

Please contact us if you have questions about this product or if you want any other advice to find the most suitable equipment for your chickens and ducks.

It took several years for Bill (Grandpa) Kirkham, a retired farmer to perfect his automatic chicken feeder. I put out bait and that took care of all but one particularly crafty rat that just kept coming back each night. We provide videos on how best to introduce your chickens to their new favorite feeder with step-by-step tips on teaching them to use it successfully. As for the OP's question, about the only way to ant proof anything is to borrow a trick that was used back in the day; adding some sort of moat with oil. I just keep my feed in a trough inside the Omlet run which is shut at night so only little beasties can get at it.I placed her on the floor plate and she watched the lid open, then took her off and she watched it close. When a representative of Grandpa’s Feedersin New Zealand contacted me about test-driving one of their treadle feeders, I was not inclined to try one initially because I didn’t believe I needed a new feeder. I had no idea at the time that Scaly Leg Mite and vermin, namely rats, were connected in any way shape or form. We put a piece of weatherstripping on the flap that shuts down so that we would not have to listen to the sound all day.

Sometimes had to adjust them for light birds, but even our bantams were able to figure how to open them to eat by walking along the step until it opened for them. However, the two feeders made in Britain were great, and still are, but the one we suspect is an import (thinner metal, rusting already and never quite sat straight) has started to allow the chickens to scrape all the pellets from inside. So, there may be plenty of food in the feeder, but my chickens get about a day’s worth of feed and I need to push it down for them again.This poor review is because when I received this expensive feeder there was no protective packing in the box. This is a necessity as the lid is flying up in the chicken’s face and over its head, something that even you and I would hesitate to use even though we know the lid won’t come crashing down until we step off the treadle. A properly designed feeder door swings in, not up, and uses a fraction of the pinch points, parts, and fasteners. Extrapolating from the startling data found here, I calculated that 25 rats can consume 500 pounds of feed per year. A thin sheet metal strip like this would be fine if it was under tension but under compression it is going to flex and snap or allow the door to bind.