Best rat-proof feeder?

[sjmjrgkmg]

Hi all - I don't know if this should go under "feeding & watering" or "predators & pests", so I'm posting under both. We have a BAD rat problem all of a sudden, and they are starting to gnaw through the heavy wooden feeder (with a pressure-plate opening) that my friend built, so we're looking at other solutions. The metal versions of that feeder, where stepping on a plate opens a lid on the feeder trough, is very expensive for our small flock of seven (mostly elderly) hens, but if that's the best solution, I'm open to getting one. Just thought I'd check here first to see what others have found helpful. Thanks so much - I always get great advice here!

 

[adirondak5]

I have one from

http://ratproofchickenfeeder.com/Ratproof-Chicken-Feeders_c_1.html

Here is a picture , it is the medium size with the soft close door option . I like it , it works well . The fella that builds them and sells them is a member on this forum , Al Gerhart . There are videos on his website and on youtube showing the feeder in operation and assembly tips and training tips . He's also pretty easy to get a hold of via email .

 

[ColoradoPip]

Has anyone had success with hanging feeders? I know rats climb but don't know if they will firepole down a line to feed liek a mouse or squirrel would.

 

[cmom]

I have hanging feeders and not had any problem of rats getting in them. I did have a rat infestation in a coop. We had put walls around the bottom of the coop. I don't know why we did it but the rats built nests in between the studs in the walls. We also put a ceiling in that coop and there were nests in the ceiling. When I tore out the ceiling and took the walls out, rats of all sizes came pouring out. There were dozens of them. I did resort to poison because there were so many. I moved the birds to another coop. I bought some critter proof rat bait boxes that only the rats and mice can get to the bait. They worked like a charm. They have a little window above the bait so the bait can be checked as often as I wanted. I didn't find dead rats laying around from the poison but did notice some tunnels around the coop so I'm pretty sure they went down into their tunnels and died. If it's just a few rats, put traps out. If you see any or rat poop you probably have more than you think. Good luck...

 

[Howard E]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-proof-feeder-review.1180514/
Still using it.......no rats, no mice.

 

[Papmike]

The feed is not the only thing keeping the rats around. Look for places they can build nests, hide, and move easily. Several years ago we had a similar issue. We sometimes get complacent at looking at the small vs the whole.

Cleaned up outside of barn, put "rat candy" in containers larger animals couldn't get in or rats pull out. It took me a the a month to get under control. Good luck.

 

[Howard E]

Good call and you are correct......steps towards rat control are....

1. Sanitation
2. Exclusion
3. Elimination

And in that order........

For those willing to spend the time to gain an understanding of what to do.......

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-control-the-video-series.1337456/

 

[Criticalicious]

I also have the rat-proof-feeders and they are worth the investment. They work great to reduce feed spilled all over the place, once you get past the short learning curve (setting it up and teaching birds to use it, takes a bit of fiddling).

Rats are clever animals and if there's a way for them to access feed, they will find it. The only way to prevent them from climbing down to reach a feeder might be if it were attached to a slicked pole or fishing wire perhaps. They'd easily scale rope.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Has anyone had success with hanging feeders? I know rats climb but don't know if they will firepole down a line to feed liek a mouse or squirrel would.

I started off with a hanging feeder, put it at neck height to a RIR. You would open the coop door and see the darn feeder swinging around without a chicken within ten feet. The rats will just jump up into the feeder.

Wow, three customers vouching for my feeder, thanks for the feedback.

For the OP, if you go this route you need to remember a few things about treadle feeder. First a wide treadle defeats the purpose of a treadle feeder. The critters can get enough buddies together and overwhelm the treadle or just push the door open. On most feeders there is zero money spent on providing some resistance to a mouse just pushing on the feed tray. Search these BYC forums for "treadle feeder squirrels rats" and you will find a ton of threads. On some there are videos showing tiny ground squirrels smaller than rats pushing open one of the most popular brands of treadle feeders or videos with mice inside the treadle feeder.

That brings you to the second requirement for a good feeder, a spring loaded door. To pull this off you have to have a thick door axle instead of a wire axle so it can stand the pull. Now I use a wire axle on the lid, nothing wrong with that. But a minimum 1/4" diameter steel axle hopefully beefed up with a flat bar and wood block gives enough stiffness that the door is going to function for the life of the feeder and do so with three or four pounds of pull from the spring constantly stressing the axle. You back that up with a two pound counterweight for the door and treadle and it has to balance out the weight of the treadle step and the door itself. Again most feeders aren't wanting to spend that kind of cash and you can't if you are selling wholesale and rely upon 50% of the retail price to build the feeder and market it. The treadle itself doesn't provide much resistance to the door being shoved open, you need that spring too.

Lastly, if this is gonna work you have to install it correctly and train the birds using the instructions, not common sense, follow the instructions. The basics are simple, feeder solidly attached to a post or wall, sitting on the ground or better a patio block, another block of some kind dug in under the treadle so the treadle bottoms out so the birds are wobbling around, and lastly remove ALL other feed of any kind including free range. The birds HAVE to be hungry in most cases. Hungry, solid mounting and bottomed out treadle = safe feeling bird = fast training.

And please, please, please, if you have problems email for help. Don't call, email, with pictures of the installed feeder. When someone asks for help 95% of the time it is because one of the instructions wasn't understood and it has been an nine year battle with those instructions, too much and they don't get read, too little and people get frustrated, so don't feel dumb if you need help.

Oh, fiddling, yes, plan on having enough handyman skills to do some tweaking and adjusting to set the weight just right. Springs can be stretched or holes drilled into the side of the feeder on some models to provide infinite adjustment of the spring tension. You can add weight to the treadle, chip weight off the counterweight, or add a wider platform if you have smaller birds. But, the closer the platform is to the feed and the lighter you set the spring tension, the less rat proof the feeder is. Granted it will be heads above the others but the feeder works best with full size hens and if you have a few smaller birds they will quickly learn to eat from the side but in that case I would invest in the soft close. We have really got that soft close working well after switching over to a metal frame and a metal body soft close kit on the medium and small versions. The large and extra large have twin counterweights and twin soft close cylinders made out of plastic but they are pretty durable and mounted directly to the side of the feeder on a very different door axle and crank system.

 

[Malquid]

Has anyone had success with hanging feeders? I know rats climb but don't know if they will firepole down a line to feed liek a mouse or squirrel would.

I have hanging feeders and getting them high enough so the rats can jump in but the chickens can feed won’t work. I have them on video jumping literally 2 feet with ease.