Sooo much pooping

[kerryegg]

I have an ongoing problem with rats eating the chook food. I take food in at night but they even help themselves in daylight along with the sparrows using the grub and climbing up to a suspended feeder. There is no way we will ever be rat free due to the location but I wondered about investing in a treadle feeder. Any advice or experience of using one would be helpful.thank-you.

[Egluntyne]

I have one and think it does help. The hens didn't like it at first as it clangs shut, but they got used to it.

 

I had to leave it propped open for a few days at first, so that they could get used to it as their food source.

[Chucky Mama]

I have one and I have mixed feelings about it. I find that mash gets damp and clogs due to condesation that builds up on the inside in cold weather and larger pellets can jam. I am using it at the moment with no problems - not convinced that a determined rat couldn't force the flap open though. I have also had to keep adjusting it as the fat pigeons in my garden had become heavy enough to use it At the moment though it is working OK.

[kerryegg]

Bought one yesterday to confuse the rats. Currently open using a brick and the chooks are eating out of it. however I think it may be sometime before they learn how to use it. I overslept this morning and they had opened the eglu door a touch and squeezed out but not used the feeder as far as I could tell. Early days, the sparrows are ignoring it so far.

[Chucky Mama]

My main reason for getting one was the fat and ever growing population of wood pigeons. I have got to adjust the settings again as one of them in now fat enough to activate the feeder I kept a brick on for about 3 weeks to get the girls used to it. They now don't turn a feather at the clanging when they get on and off.

[Blackrocksrock]

Have just sent for one of these ones - its an 8kg one and hoping it will be small enough to go in the eglu run - hope they can work it out = found out where the rats had a nest in the compost bin and they had eaten loads of eradibait and left the clingfilm chewed in there and no sign of any adults and only saw one young rat when we upended the bin yesterday and with removing hte hen food at night hopefully that will be the last of them for a long time.

[Blackrocksrock]

Well it was the end of July when my silly chooks learnt to use the treadle by themselves and not before time - Its located in the run to foil birds and rats and is great - only drawback tonight I checked inside and there were a few earwigs inside and I hate them too!! LOL - it will give the girls more protein with the pellets. Seriously it took them a long long time as they hated the clanging noise it made each time they stood on it.