Feed the Hens Not the Rats

02/11/2024

Nice review came in today.

Product Name: Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder
Headline: Good Bye Rats!
Name: Andrew from New Jersey

Review: I moved into a house with a barn which had an absolute rat infestation. Within 2 months of installing this chicken feeder and some rat traps outside of the barn, the rats had left their seemingly limitless warrens and moved onto other pastures. Worked as intended! 6 Months later and still no creep crawlies ready to ambush us as we go into the barn.
Rating: 5 stars

10/11/2023

New version of the medium feeder is coming out soon. It will have a new spring tension adjustment system added. Instead of a series of holes that the top end of the spring can be inserted, it has a threaded bolt with a lock nut allowing precise adjustment of the spring tension. Of course there must always be three to four pounds of tension to pull the treadle up, close the door tight, and prevent rats from pushing the door open.

Right now we are building inventory of the new feeder and it will be out in a week or so.

06/05/2023

Nice review came in today.

"Product Name: Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder
Headline: New style w/o counterweight works great!
Name: Alice from Central New York
Review: I've had the medium feeder since 2020. I have it on 12"x12" paver, with a second similar paver under the treadle. I was happy with the counterweight, but it's even better now with the front springs system and no counterweight. It's much lighter and less awkward to move when I switch the chickens to their cooler summer location, or do a good cleanup in there between feed bags.
Second, the door flap opens and closes very evenly now, nice! Third, I've bungee-corded the feeder to it's spot, but the moving weight maybe helped it travel a bit because the rubber cord would flex a bit. So every now and then I would check and center the feeder to the paver. Not a problem, really, but without the weight I'm noticing it moves less. If I fixed the feeder to a good backboard it wouldn't move at all. But because it's not really a problem for me I haven't been motivated to do that. I think my chickens are on the slightly small side - heritage Buckeyes - but in any case I found they were not reaching totally down into the very front bottom corner to get everything. Or maybe they don't see the pellets there? So this forward corner area collected feed crumbles and dust. I tried taping a piece of stiff cardboard onto the bottom and it is slightly curved up to the front lower wall. This raised the bottom a bit and the curve helps prevent pellets and crumbs from gathering so much there uneaten. The feeder is pretty well weather-proof, and I always face it away from the prevailing winds. But with strong sideways-blown rain, that can hit the front feeder door. Easy to solve with a plastic bin top placed on top, weighted down with two or three bricks. We had a good storm the other day and no rain got in. A drop or two of rain can be driven up under the back corner edge of the top if it's exposed to really strong wind from that direction, so I usually put something behind the top to block the wind, like a small tarp, or a piece of cardboard. Right now in the summer location it is against some small trees that effectively do that. I've been very happy with this feeder and will definitely buy another if/when I need it. No problems with mice at all, like I had with an open feeder. I may increase my flock size next year and I think I would prefer two different feeding areas to one larger one, that way nobody has to wait long to eat.
Rating 5 stars"

Note, the top of the lower front panel just at the bottom of the door can be bent inward just a bit to prevent any water that hits the door from being blown into the feed tray. This customer didn't use the Z plate mounting bracket that is used to hang the feeder from a wall or post and it also blocks that back gap to prevent any wind blown rain from spoiling the feed. They are using a bungee cord on a wire fence panel I believe. Still that Z plate can be just screwed in place to the back panel to block any gap if you need to secure the feeder to a fence.

01/11/2023

One of the best things about making these feeders are the reviews that come in. You fix a nightmare for a customer and they are not shy about how they feel about the product:

Product Name: Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder
Headline: The best feeder out there! Rats be gone
Name: Yousef Hamed, California

Review: Rats were my living nightmare, I'm up at night hunting rats, they ate through plastic bucket feeders that i had to cap every night, they ate my nice tractor supply feeder they ate through my coop bottom, it was getting out of hand and it was literally stressing me out. Grandpa feeder was only option I found at the time but then i didn't want to pay 250 bucks, i also saw videos with rats practically living in it!! Then i found this! First I was impressed by the engineering on this thing, it was clearly designed by a man that held a grudge against rats, they can eat your feed pretty quick and cost you a significant amount of money so i don't blame him! This feeder is designed for chickens to figure out quickly while keeping rats out! I've been using it or shall i say my chickens been using it for 6 months now and its durable and weather proof no rust no issues what so ever and things that wear out are easily replaceable at a very low cost of few bucks. Chickens take turns and it only takes one to use it after that the rest follows! I'm getting another one for redundancy, i can go on vacation for a week and not worry about my flock. Between autofill waterers, this feeder and automatic chicken doors i only have to refill feeder , clean coop and collect eggs!
Rating: 5 stars

12/04/2022

Awhile back there was a troll working for one of our competitors, Grandpa feeders,AKA Grandpa Xi feeders as they are actually made in China instead of New Zealand and they are a bit miffed at us spilling the beans and putting their import records online. So this dirt bag tried to claim that we used "Chinese pot steel{, whatever that was, to make our feeders.
But in the U.S. we still make or recycle a lot of our steel needs so it is very easy to source U.S. made galvanized sheets. Even over in the Philippines where we continue to produce feeders and stockpile them until shipping prices go back to normal we use either local produced galvanized or Japanese produced galvanized sheet metal.

So here you go Grandap Xi. Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries. We pass gas in your general direction. Now go away or we will taunt you a second time.

12/04/2022

Finally got the extra time to upload a few videos a customer sent showing a very large rat trying to get into our feeder. Now the customer modified the feeder, has it unbalanced, and the door isn't closing but it doesn't matter, the rat is still stopped.

We have a new dual spring/no counterweight feeder coming out soon that handles a soft close door really well as the spring pressure is more adjustable to overcome the back pressure from the soft close kit.

This video is from a customer that had a rat problem before she purchased our Ratproof Chicken Feeder. Even though the customer has made modifications that ...

12/03/2022

Ever wonder how easy it is to train a chicken to use our rat proof chicken feeder? One of our customers made some short videos and sent them to us during her first day of using the feeder.

Just one day of training and the feeder wasn't installed in the optimum manner but it still stopped feed theft by hundred of wild birds.

This video was made by one of our customers and shows her first day of training her flock to use our Ratproof Treadle feeder. Note there are a couple of pro...

11/02/2022

You can use our feeders to feed macaws too. A lady requested a custom length treadle for her macaw after feeding the rats for months. Below is her review and a short video of the macaw using the feeder after a few days. The rats were eating all the feed left out for the day by 10 am and the feed cost $40.00 a bag.

"Product Name: Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder U.S. Made
Headline: Works for my macaw!
Name: Lisa from Powder Springs GA
Review: This feeder works great for my Catalina macaw. Al was able to modify the treadle for her to accommodate her size and was very helpful with other suggestions. I did replace the wood with a Crepe Myrtle branch since it takes her longer to chew through that. Rats were eating all her food in her outdoor aviary and this feeder put a stop to that.
Rating: 5 stars"

Note that the feeder is set a bit too close to the edge of that shelf, we advised the customer to move the feeder back to leave a landing spot for when the bird flies up to eat.

This was the first prototype for a customer that requested a feeder for her macaw. The feed costs $40.00 per bag and despite setting out just enough for th...

05/05/2022

New review came in.
Product Name: Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder U.S. Made

Headline: You Need This Feeder!!!

Name: JGoggins
Location: GA
Review: This feeder is AWESOME! My chickens started using it after one day. I removed all other feed, took my friendliest hen, and showed her how it worked. I will admit that at first, most of them only stuck their heads in to get a bite while she was on the treadle, but they figured it out quickly! And the SAVINGS!!! Yes, it is expensive, yes, you can find cheaper feeders (not of this quality), but this thing pays for itself fast! I went from going through a bag of feed in a week to a bag lasting 2-3 weeks - and no feed strewn all over the ground! Seriously, order this! Oh, and I can't forget to mention the customer service - seriously, if you have a question - give them a call, or shoot them an email - you will have a quick, friendly, helpful response!
Rating: 5 stars

01/23/2022

There has been a tsunami of ads out for a competitor, the Chinese made Grandpas Feeder now that they finally got a container in from China again. Bragging about how they are the best feeder on the market. Don't think so, outdated design that is downright dangerous for birds with the overhead door, wide treadle so that wild birds and rodents can pile on and reach the feed, and read the negative reviews on Amazon, they leak...

Being made in China is just the icing on the cake. Imagine supporting a country that practices genocide on a mass scale and uses slave labor, then harvests the organs if they find a customer and the slave is worth more chopped up than alive.

And it wasn't long before the Chinese copied their feeder and now there are a flood of copy cats on the market at half the current price of their feeder, one third the price of their original cost back in 2012 when we started making a better feeder.

If you google something like Chicken Feeder Reviews you will find quite a few sites that offer honest and independent reviews. Those will be the ones without the affiliate link where they make 8% off the sales of those that follow the link. And read the negative reviews on Amazon, those are the folks that didn't just need a chicken feeder, they needed one that stopped rats, mice, and wild birds.

And the side effects, check out this video from a very unhappy rooster after his flock started using a grandpas feeder!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBeOmp57h4U&ab_channel=TCSRock78

Grandpa's Feeder are made in China, poorly designed, and dangerous. Our feeders are made in the U.S. and the Philippines so your money doesn't support genoc...

01/08/2022

A nice review came in today:
Product Name: Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder U.S. Made
Headline: Feeder as expected
Name: Cora from Helena

Review: The feeder was well represented on the website. It is sturdy and my chickens learned to use it following the guidelines provided. It works to keep songbirds out of the feed.
Rating: 5 stars

11/02/2021

A neat article mentioning our feeder. This person made an automated chicken coop complete with a computer controlled feeder to drop scratch grains. But the rats soon appeared so they bought one of our feeders and are recommending it to stop the rats. Scroll down to the bottom of the article under Updates to see the review and again in the comment section.

Very clever person making a very neat looking chicken coop.

http://arduino-coop.blogspot.com/p/chicken-feeder.html

Automated Chicken Feed Dispenser Check out this video to see how the feeder works... The feeder is housed on the left side ...

10/21/2021

Ran across something interesting today. For about ten years if you wanted a treadle feeder you made your own or bought a Grandpa feeder from New Zealand, very expensive, over $200.00 back in 2012 plus shipping. But it was made in New Zealand, right?

Nope, it turns out that they have been made in China for many years. Yet that never comes out in their marketing, I wouldn't have known if I hadn't stumbled across the news article.

Our feeders are made in the U.S. and in the Philippines. For the last year, just the U.S. due to the lock down over in the Philippines and the enormous increase in shipping costs. We have a few in inventory from the Philippines, small, large, and extra large feeders, but all Medium feeders since about a year ago are U.S. made.

MADE IN CHINA!

https://thisnzlife.co.nz/grandpas-backyard-invention-grew-family-run-multi-national-business/

When Bill ‘Grandpa’ Kirkham came up with a good idea for a chicken feeder, he had no idea it would turn into a family-run multi-national business, Grandpa’s Feeders. Words: Nadene Hall When you own poultry, something is always trying to steal their feed: rats, mice, wild birds. Trying to stop ...

10/08/2021

We send out a ten day after sale email checking on customers in case they have any issues. Got a nice reply back today:

We are very happy with feeder. Have had it set up for a couple of weeks in the hen house. I worked with them for a few days, letting them know there was good in there. Then I had to quit for a bit. Plus, I was waiting on getting my new feed mixed up to put in there. So this past Monday, we locked them in there and I know for sure that 2 of the 5 hens were sitting on the treadle and eating. I probably need to lock them up again, in case they forgot that there is food in there.
The quality is great and I think it is just what I was looking for.

Thank you!
Paula

08/31/2021

A short but nice review came in today:

Product Name: Soft Close Exterior version Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder
Deeanne, California

Took a few days for training but this is a great product. All of our rats were trapped and none have come back since there is no more food on the ground.
Rating: 5 stars

08/30/2021

Nice review showed up on Backyardchickens.com site yesterday. The guy had ordered a new feeder so his review is for the original feeder. I think he is going to come back and compare the new feeder to the original feeder once he gets some sue out of the new feeder.

Ignore the hillbilly dude that made the snarky comment. That dude is a strong believer in poison for rodent control and likes to go after anyone that has other ideas. The internet is a strange place.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/original-rat-proof-chicken-feeder-http-ratproofchickenfeeder-net.1490530/

Wanted to give a quick review of the Rat Proof Chicken Feeder ( http://ratproofchickenfeeder.net ) This is well made and thought out design. My chickens learned how to stand on the perch pretty quick. I love the fact that we can go away for a week and not have to worry about the chickens getting...

08/22/2021

A very detailed review came in a few minutes.
"Product Name: Soft Close Exterior version Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder
Headline: 100% worth the peace of mind
Name: Constance, Seattle, WA

Review: After going away for a night or two and seeing a rat come in and camp out stuffing its fat little face in our old hanging feeder, I finally bit the bullet and purchased this rat-proof treadle feeder, and I 6 weeks later I can safely say I'm 100% glad we did.

We introduced the new treadle feeder to our 13-14 week old pullets and they picked it up almost immediately (we taught the "top"/boldest chicken first, and the other chickens followed her lead). We did have to tape a 2nd step and several rocks to the treadle as a counter-counterweight - at 14 weeks most of them were not heavy enough to step on and fully open the door. Now that they're 19-20 weeks old, we've removed all the rocks (but not the 2nd step, as they seem to like that and it gives them a bit more support).

IS IT RAT PROOF? We have a camera in the run and I can confirm the rat showed up again one night after but was totally unable to figure out the door, and was definitely too light for the counterweight. That was an enormously satisfying moment.

IS IT SAVING FEED? Yes! For crumbles or dusty feed you may still see some scattered around the base (our chickens tend to swipe that out more) but I'm definitely seeing way less food spilled outside compared our old feeder.

INSTRUCTIONS: - The product description and reviews correctly set up my expectations for the item I was getting and the need to closely follow instructions. - Between the written instructions and the YouTube video for the non-soft-close version we got it down without significant issue. - We had the soft close fairly tight initially and it was causing the door to not close more fully (due to how small/light our chickens were). So we played around with it and ended up unscrewing almost all of the soft close, and honestly didn't miss it much, and the chickens didn't seem to mind either.

OUR SETUP: - We have the treadle feeder on 2 solid 18x18" pavers from Lowes on top of backyard dirt. It's not quite level, but it's definitely very heavy and stable and seems to work solidly. - I have an Omlet coop/run so there’s nowhere firm or solid to drill the back hook into. So I didn't wall anchor it to anything, but left a heavy rock on the top of the lid for stability, and the chickens don't seem to mind in the least.
Rating: 5 stars"

07/24/2021

We send out a follow up email to check on customers around ten days after shipping. Here is a nice reply we got back today:

"Just following up to say the feeder is working great now and my hens took to it within a day. The rats have more or less moved on (though not before they ate my entire crop of beets straight from the ground two days after the feeder was installed. Revenge eating, I believe.)

Thanks for making a great product!!

Lesley"

When properly installed and with the birds properly trained the rats will begin to starve within a few hours. In this case they gobbled up a crop of beets. Anyone with small chicks ought to have them in a safe rat proof coop and some blocks of rat poison might be a good idea. Once their usual food supply is out of reach the rats are far more likely to take a chance eating poisoned bait but if you have full size birds it will be fine to just let the rats starve and they will leave quickly.

05/06/2021

Nice review came in after a customer ordered a soft close kit for one of his feeders:

Name: Rami G. from Seattle
Review: Have had this feeder for a year, and am very satisfied -- beats the heck out of having rats swarming around the chicken feed. I found it fairly simple to train the original chickens to use it, and recently added more chickens, training them the same way -- put a block of wood in the door so they could see the feed and get used to stepping on the platform to reach it, then remove that block after a couple days. Wholeheartedly endorse.
Rating: 5 stars

03/16/2021

Nice review came in this morning. A customer that was having issues getting her birds to use the feeder but it turned out that it wasn't securely fastened to a wall or post, just sitting on a nice wood platform. Feeders have to be rock solid for most birds to trust them.

Great Product
Name: Michelle, Washington
Review: A few weeks ago, I peered out into my serene backyard to gaze upon my lovely flock of hens and spotted a rat eating my chicken's food! I immediately started researching solutions and decided to order the medium soft close exterior ratproof chicken feeder. I was especially liked that this feeder had a soft close feature, as not to give my already rather flighty girls just one more reason to be even flightier.

The feeder arrived and my son put it together for me without a problem in about 5 minutes. It was exactly as described/advertised. I was pleased that the soft close feature did indeed make it nice and quiet. We began training the flock right away. We followed the training instructions included with the feeder exactly but my flighty flock would ONLY step on the treadle and eat AFTER I compressed it to show them how it worked. The minute I removed my foot and walked away they scattered. They refused to step up on the treadle when I wasn't out there. I had to go out 4 to 5 times a day and hold the treadle down to get them to come step on it and eat. This went on for about 3 days and I started to get worried.

I emailed the seller and told him my plight. He responded quickly and was very helpful advising me to take extra measures to really stabilize the feeder as even the slightest feeling of tipsiness will make the chickens not trust it. I already had it on an even, flat wooden base, but, at his advice, placed a heavy concrete paver on the lid to really hold it down hard. Sure enough, it wasn't long after that when our head hen started using it without me. The others gathered around and ate once she got on it but it took a while for them all to learn to use it on their own.

We are coming up on having it for two weeks now and finally our last, most flighty hen was spotted using it on her own today. Training definitely took longer than expected, but if you stick with it, they'll get it. Birds, just like people, learn at their own pace. If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact the seller. He's smart, helpful and quick to respond.

Overall, I am very pleased with this feeder. It's a quality product and no more rats or wild birds are coming around stealing the chicken food any more. It holds a lot more food than my old plastic feeder and does a great job keeping the food fresh and dry, even in wet, western Washington. I would highly recommend this product to all chicken owners.

Rating: 5 stars

02/17/2021

New review came in this afternoon.

Product Name: Extra Large Ratproof Chicken Feeder
Name: CHERI, Big Branch, LA
Review: This is my third purchase of a Rat proof Feeder. I feed a flock that includes birds as light as Leghorns, some peacocks and a few turkeys. I had to add a platform for them to step on but these feeders work great--my feed bill plummeted (I must have been feeding half the rats in New Orleans!). I highly recommend these.
Rating: 5 stars