emmalou Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 I have read on a topic about feeding stations that you should not leave the food near to the chicken house as it may attract rats. Is this right? Our coop is raised a couple of feet off the ground and has an ideal place underneath it for food etc as it is nice and sheltered. Also, are these plastic water feeders OK? They seem to be the most popular but someone mentioned about having them elevated a little? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 There's no problem with having feeders near the house as far as I'm aware - if you've got a rat problem then you may need to take the food in at night though. Chickens have to tip their heads back to drink, so although they can drink from something on the floor, it's easier for them if the drinker is slightly elevated. I've got a metal drinker, although I think the plastic ones are just as good, and I have it stood on a piece of tree trunk. The other advantage of raising it is that it reduces the amount of aubiose/wood shavings/general muck that gets kicked in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmalou Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Thanks Olly. The plastic water feeders tend to look a bit low down don't they. I think I would need to lift it off the ground a little. I think a lot of the initial stages is trial and error a little and see what works! Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GillC Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Rats are attracted by easy food and breed very fast given a good food supply. I have had rats twice in 9 years of chicken keeping. Both times the chicken feed was accessible by tunnelling through the earth on which the enclosure was standing I now keep all my hens on the patio where it is not possible to tunnel to get to the food. I keep the main store of food in the garage in a metal bin. The hens get to scratch outside during the day and enjoy destroying my flower beds, but I'd rather have that than the rat problem. Their food is never left out. I would definitely either have the run on a hard surface or take the food in each night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs_B Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 I have had rats twice myself (sadly neighbours were chucking food waste over the fence into the woods near our house!) and found during the first period before I had my walk in run that I had to stop chucking treats all over the grass (I got quite enthusiastic at times so some no doubt got left behind) and I took all food in at night. Eliminating the food source really made a HUGE difference. Like previous posters have said it's OK to have food out if rats can't dig and get to the source (such as on a concrete surface). x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmalou Posted March 29, 2016 Author Share Posted March 29, 2016 (edited) Has anyone made this? http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/diy-no-spill-chicken-feeder/ I am just curious as to A) Whether it works? B) Whether it keeps the food dry in the rain? C) whether the food gets damp with dewy mornings and hence getting stuck in the tube? Also does this work as a water feeder too? I am looking at 3 litre water feeders but concerned I may need a hanging one? Some seem to leak a little too? If we do go away overnight and someone forgets to sort the food out I want a foolproof way to ensure the water stays plentiful. Edited March 29, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamrhind Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 I don't get how that no-spill chicken feeder would stop the ladies throwing the food all over the place. I use Omlet feeders and the girls simply poke their heads in, s"Ooops, word censored!"e out some feed then peck it from the floor. In fact, the whole floor of the protected run is slowly rising above the level of the surrounding outside run from all the feed left there. Why wouldn't they do the same with this "no-spill" feeder? (No rat problems for me because the feeder is inside the run where the rats can't get. I have a mobile feeder with salad waste for the outside run which I empty into the compost bin every night. The Omlet feeders are protected from rain immediately above them, and mine are also below canvas so the food stays dry). If you do try this no-spill feeder (and it looks ingenious, even if it doesn't stop the food getting thrown around), I'd love to hear if it works. Oh ... and for water it wouldn't work well because of basic physics - the weight of the water in the pipe at the back would push it out of the "feeder" pipe at the front until the water level in both pipes was the same. So you wouldn't be able to store much water in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea08 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 what about using a step on feeder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
