The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: SallyintNorth on April 23, 2018, 09:49:14 pm
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As well as our main flock of free range (though in a large foxproof pen) egg-layers we have a small (6 birds) household flock which is completely free range.
We need to get a ratproof feeder for the latter. We want the hens to have food available at all times and currently are feeding rats instead ::)
Which one can people recommend please?
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Following with interest. I really like the idea of the treadle feeders but reviews seem to be so mixed so looking for the best idea
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Absolutely love our Grandpas feeder. Had it about a year now. Hens soon learnt how to use it and there is no food wastage at all. Expensive but worth every penny.
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We also have free range ducks. Would they be likely to be able to pinch the hens’ food in one of these?
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We've got Granpas - had them for years - and they are great.
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Fan of grandpa. Hens were slow to get used to it ( about a month!) but really pleased with it. Worth the cost.
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I have the treadle from amazon. Does the job.
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We've got Granpas - had them for years - and they are great.
Good to know! What did you think about the ducks learning to raid it?
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We've got Granpas - had them for years - and they are great.
Good to know! What did you think about the ducks learning to raid it?
Yep, my ducks raid the grandpas feeder
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We've got Granpas - had them for years - and they are great.
Good to know! What did you think about the ducks learning to raid it?
Yep, my ducks raid the grandpas feeder
Okay, well that’s not going to work for us, then :(.
:thinking:
How big and how heavy is the Grandpa feeder? Would it be practical for us to put it in with the hens at bedtime, so at least they have ad lib for a few hours in the morning before they get let out? (And we’d then have to shut it up or shut it away until bedtime again.)
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We have two treadle feeders. They have been fine with the exception of one instance when the treadle had too much muck under it so in effect it remained open. I found that a rat had managed to get into the feed under the drop down metal bar. Suffice to say it could not get out and died. Never had that problem since.
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We've got Granpas - had them for years - and they are great.
Good to know! What did you think about the ducks learning to raid it?
Yep, my ducks raid the grandpas feeder
Okay, well that’s not going to work for us, then :(.
:thinking:
How big and how heavy is the Grandpa feeder? Would it be practical for us to put it in with the hens at bedtime, so at least they have ad lib for a few hours in the morning before they get let out? (And we’d then have to shut it up or shut it away until bedtime again.)
I've now had a chat with my namesake at Grandpas Feeders in the UK, and have the dimensions. It's 230mm x 430mm x 510mm and weighs 6.2kgs, so the idea of putting it away during the day is not really practical. Sally confirms that ducks can use the feeder, but says that because ducks eat by scooping, they won't find it very easy to use the feeder as shipped - although they will get a bit of feed out of it. Where people want the feeder to feed hens and ducks, they recommend removing the grille so that ducks can scoop.
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Okay, well that’s not going to work for us, then :( .
Unless you were to put the feeder inside a small area surrounded by a low, circular fence? That way, the hens could hop up and over to the feeder, but the ducks couldn't. If you made the fence as rat-proof as possible (?), that might also help you out?
Why don't you want the ducks to be able to access it, anyway?
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Okay, well that’s not going to work for us, then :( .
Unless you were to put the feeder inside a small area surrounded by a low, circular fence? That way, the hens could hop up and over to the feeder, but the ducks couldn't.
:idea: You're a genius, Womble :notworthy:
I've already ordered one, on the basis we could limit the amount of food the ducks get from it by how we use it, but this is a really good idea, definitely worth investigating.
Why don't you want the ducks to be able to access it, anyway?
The ducks get two feeds a day, and clean up in less than a minute. The ducks clearly do not need any more food, they are in tip-top condition and lay gazillions of eggs.
These hens run a little thin unless they get a good period of access to layers' pellets.
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I've already ordered one, on the basis we could limit the amount of food the ducks get from it by how we use it
So the plan is that it lives in the hen's house run, and we'll put enough feed in it when we shut them up at night to give them as much as we think they'll eat in the morning before they're let out. If they don't eat every last pellet, and the ducks do find it and how to use it, the ducks won't get a pile of feed so it won't be a big problem.
During the two week training period, when it's effectively open all the time, we will endeavour to only put enough in it that it will definitely be empty by the time the choox are let out, so the ducks won't also get trained during this time ::)
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These hens run a little thin unless they get a good period of access to layers' pellets.
I think I'd be tempted to worm them all, and try also doing a scatter feed of something like pigeon mix or corn too
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These hens run a little thin unless they get a good period of access to layers' pellets.
I think I'd be tempted to worm them all, and try also doing a scatter feed of something like pigeon mix or corn too
They do get corn too. I can ask whether they've been wormed; thanks.
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I never leave feed in my inside runs at night - mainly because of rats. Can't hens survive overnight without food? I don't leave them water either.
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I never leave feed in my inside runs at night - mainly because of rats. Can't hens survive overnight without food? I don't leave them water either.
Yes they can survive overnight without food. The problem we are trying to solve, which I have obviously not explained very well, is that they do seem to need some time during the 24 hours with ad lib feed available. They are fully free range once let out in the morning, and the ducks would steal any feed we left out. So the place and time we want them to have their ad lib feed is in their run after they get up and before they are let out. We have tried fitting in the first person up putting out feed for them in their run and someone else later letting them out, but we haven’t managed to make that work very well. So a rat proof feeder we can leave set up in their run, ready for them to eat when they get up in the morning (long before most of us are awake), seemed to be an option worth exploring.
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Just want to throw this into the discussion. This morning I discovered that one of my rat bait boxes had been moved a number of yards and the bait had gone. This afternoon I found that another of my bait boxes had vanished into thin air !!!!!! I then went to check on my third bait box and saw it rise into the air in the beak of a magpie which dropped it as soon as I called out. Would never have suspected birds in a million years and if I had not spotted the magpie I would be forever wondering where they had disappeared to. Still haven’t found my second bait box.
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Bait boxes should always be weighted down as various animals can also pick them up and move them.