Best rat proof feeder?

[Debbie292d]

The sure way to get rid of rats.

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

 

[FarmallNut]

I think they're looking for rat proof.

My bucket feeder is ratproof if hung high enough.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Rats and mice can and will jump higher than you will hang that bucket.

There are no rat proof bucket feeders. That said, until you coop attracts rats they will do.

 

[Penpal]

You need you need to keep them out of the area that the feed is in. If you can do that they will stop trying to get into the feed because they can't get to it. They will find another source of food

Kill them any way you can, use electricity and/or proper fencing, and spray a deterrent.

 

[fat brown hen]

Metal trash can for storing the feed. Bucket feeder for the chickens. I rub ghost pepper extract all around the feeder ports. It burns the rat's noses.

 

[HenLuv]

We also have a rat problem, and found that for feed STORAGE, aluminum (doesn't rust as easily) or galvanized containers do the trick. We have two large aluminum truck tool boxes for bird seed and chicken feed (similar to this on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08M9S6YFD/ ), a 20 gallon galvanized utility can (Tractor Supply) for scratch, and 2 smaller aluminum pails with lids for mealworms and the like. So far, after at least 3 years, they are still holding up well, even though we keep them out in the weather.

However, if you want a rat proof FEEDER, then good luck. IF you try one of the options posted above, please come back and reply with your choice and experiences. I've avoided those because none seemed to fit our particular chicken arrangement. They're also on the expensive side for something that may or may not work. Otherwise, sprinkling deterrents (such as used cat litter) or setting up piles of rat "treats" away from where you feed your flock work so-so. We've also tried putting no-kill traps around the feeding area, but those little rodents are smart and mostly eat around them.

It's really become a problem for us since our sweet, chicken-herding, rat-catching kitty suddenly disappeared a few months ago. We never realized just how much she kept those pests at bay.

 

[Tigershadow]

I buy cayenne pepper from Sam's and periodically add some to my bag of feed. The chickens don't care and no more rat poop in the feeder. You might want to consider a mask when scooping feed. Inhaling cayenne is not pleasant.

 

[Al Gerhart]

We also have a rat problem, and found that for feed STORAGE, aluminum (doesn't rust as easily) or galvanized containers do the trick. We have two large aluminum truck tool boxes for bird seed and chicken feed (similar to this on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08M9S6YFD/ ), a 20 gallon galvanized utility can (Tractor Supply) for scratch, and 2 smaller aluminum pails with lids for mealworms and the like. So far, after at least 3 years, they are still holding up well, even though we keep them out in the weather.

However, if you want a rat proof FEEDER, then good luck. IF you try one of the options posted above, please come back and reply with your choice and experiences. I've avoided those because none seemed to fit our particular chicken arrangement. They're also on the expensive side for something that may or may not work. Otherwise, sprinkling deterrents (such as used cat litter) or setting up piles of rat "treats" away from where you feed your flock work so-so. We've also tried putting no-kill traps around the feeding area, but those little rodents are smart and mostly eat around them.

It's really become a problem for us since our sweet, chicken-herding, rat-catching kitty suddenly disappeared a few months ago. We never realized just how much she kept those pests at bay.

We have lost count but somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 ratproof feeders sold since our feeder got its start right here on BYC around 2011 or 2012. Trust me, if they didn't work, we wouldn't have sold many.

Where they don't work, the biggest failure is in people not following simple instructions. Feeders not secured to a wall or weighted down, yes Karen, the feeder will tip over when near empty. Or hanging the feeder up high off the ground and expecting an eight pound hen to fly up, land on a narrow perch that immediately drops five to six inches, and by some miracle if the bird remains on the treadle the treadle wobbles back and forth until the hen falls off. Or people refusing to follow simple instructions like removing all other feed. The hen has a choice, this new fangled contraption or eating as they did before. Whatcha think they are gonna do?

But the largest single cause of returns is people refusing to check their spam filter or to read the product information or even the assembly, training, and installation instructions. You reply the day, if not minutes after they email or use the CRM system, then they email back or re-post a CRM claiming you never replied despite the warning in bright red text on the check out forms to watch spam filters for shipping notices and return emails. They have an issue of their own fault, but they are too dumb to check spam, they get frustrated and you have to deal with a charge back. Very rare, three to four times a year, some might just be friendly fraud.

I've never found any of the old wives tales of irritants or whatever sprinkled around a coop to work. If it did the people that build my feeders would be out of work.

And expensive? I had a customer email in today thanking us for the feeder, saying it cut their feed use by 2/3rds. Mainly wild birds stealing the feed. If you go from feeding three sacks a month to one sack per month, that expensive feeder is paid for in two to four months depending on your cost of feed and the size of the feeder.

Plus the disease and pests brought in by vermin. Plus the mess of wild birds or rodents crapping and peeing all over the place.

You are correct about the rodents getting wise to the traps and how valuable a mouser kitty is to a flock of chickens.

Oh, watch out for aluminum. Rats can chew right through it and rats either chew constantly or their teeth grow into their face and skull. No problem for them to spend hours chewing into something made of aluminum or even a concrete wall. Chew or die. Aluminum is NOT a needed trace mineral, it can be toxic at other than minimal levels. Aluminum doesn't "rust" because it "oxidizes" which is the same thing actually. That oxidized coating will be more toxic than the pure aluminum due to its bio-availability

 

[8isenoughchickens]

Our rats keep eating my chickens food and even eating the plastic container that the food goes on with the lid. What’s the best rat proof feed container??

Cayenne pepper!! Works amazingly well. Birds are immune to the heat it creates, but rodents can't stand it. Mix a little in with the feed. You'll be giving the birds extra nutrition from the pepper, without hurting them, and you will never have a rodent in the feed again. Every time you replenish the feed, mix in more Cayenne pepper powder.

 

[HenLuv]

We have lost count but somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 ratproof feeders sold since our feeder got its start right here on BYC around 2011 or 2012. Trust me, if they didn't work, we wouldn't have sold many.

Where they don't work, the biggest failure is in people not following simple instructions. Feeders not secured to a wall or weighted down, yes Karen, the feeder will tip over when near empty. Or hanging the feeder up high off the ground and expecting an eight pound hen to fly up, land on a narrow perch that immediately drops five to six inches, and by some miracle if the bird remains on the treadle the treadle wobbles back and forth until the hen falls off. Or people refusing to follow simple instructions like removing all other feed. The hen has a choice, this new fangled contraption or eating as they did before. Whatcha think they are gonna do?

But the largest single cause of returns is people refusing to check their spam filter or to read the product information or even the assembly, training, and installation instructions. You reply the day, if not minutes after they email or use the CRM system, then they email back or re-post a CRM claiming you never replied despite the warning in bright red text on the check out forms to watch spam filters for shipping notices and return emails. They have an issue of their own fault, but they are too dumb to check spam, they get frustrated and you have to deal with a charge back. Very rare, three to four times a year, some might just be friendly fraud.

I've never found any of the old wives tales of irritants or whatever sprinkled around a coop to work. If it did the people that build my feeders would be out of work.

And expensive? I had a customer email in today thanking us for the feeder, saying it cut their feed use by 2/3rds. Mainly wild birds stealing the feed. If you go from feeding three sacks a month to one sack per month, that expensive feeder is paid for in two to four months depending on your cost of feed and the size of the feeder.

Plus the disease and pests brought in by vermin. Plus the mess of wild birds or rodents crapping and peeing all over the place.

You are correct about the rodents getting wise to the traps and how valuable a mouser kitty is to a flock of chickens.

Oh, watch out for aluminum. Rats can chew right through it and rats either chew constantly or their teeth grow into their face and skull. No problem for them to spend hours chewing into something made of aluminum or even a concrete wall. Chew or die. Aluminum is NOT a needed trace mineral, it can be toxic at other than minimal levels. Aluminum doesn't "rust" because it "oxidizes" which is the same thing actually. That oxidized coating will be more toxic than the pure aluminum due to its bio-availability

My suggestions to the OP were only given as options, not commandments; they are things that did or did not work for ME. Of course not everyone will have the same setup, results, or opinion.