The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. My flock mainly feed during the morning so one morning I actually had the lid left propped open for the first 10 minutes. This feeder took care of spilled feed and helped get rid of the rodents that were scavenging feed every night. The video below is our initial thoughts on a Grandpa’s Feeder, from New Zealand, that just moved here using a moving company for this.

It takes a few weeks for them to get the hang of the feeder and some nervous chickens can take longer. Going to get hubby to screw it all together tomorrow, then I'm going to ask him to board over a pallet so that it has a level platform to stand on - then we'll be all ready to go! We figured out how to make a feeder squirrel proof by moving the springs to the door and using two springs so all of the pressure is direct to the door and not leveraged through the treadle.Sometimes had to adjust them for light birds, but even our bantams were able to figure how to open them to eat by walking along the step until it opened for them.

Speaking with Richard at Grandpa’s feeders he said some people have set up their feeder and wondered what the bolts were for as their birds have taken to it so quickly! It was so frustrating as I couldn’t place down traps to catch the rats as my chickens walk all over the floor and I couldn’t risk hurting them.

By the way if you’re not sure what scaly leg mite is or how it affects chickens check out our Scaly Leg Mite Symptoms and Treatment Page.

According to the online reviews the feeder leaks when it rains, probably because of the inadequate overhang of the lid on the corners. The PVC pipe used to connect the aluminum square tubing and the aluminum treadle plate was probably used because it was soft and easy to insert the metal screws to hold everything together. There are comprehensive instructions supplied on the underside of the lid of the feeder (which is good for me as I normally lose paper instructions) and provide guidance on how to get your hens used to using the feeder over the course of a few weeks and some different settings.Today they didn't seem at all bothered by the movement and noise, so I decided it would be worth seeing what happened if took it off the training setting. A huge number of the positive reviews mentioned that the wire grid prevents the food from flowing properly and they warn to check the feed level and push feed down with your hand if needed. I have 10 hens and it took exactly one day for them to figure out how to step on the treadle to get to the food tray. After installing and the 3-4 weeks of training I noticed I was using about 10-15% less feed every month.