Treadle feeder - Good investment???

[Smallholder]

Hi all,

Thinking of purchasing a treadle feeder for my hens... They are rather pricey though and so wondered what peoples opinions are on them??

Anyone with experience please own up do the hens get used to them and are they strong enough to take day to day use and last?

No idea how much food is taken by Rats, but I know we have them and presume they are eating some layers pellet

Considering a 10kg from Fleabay for around £40ish hard earned british pound lol




Thanks

[Willow]

No idea but am waiting for the answers myself!! The only disadvantage i could see is the the no of hens feeding at once is limited (mine 'mass feed' in the mornings)
There is a film of them being used on the net somewhere, they are the HUGELY expensive ones!

[Steve the Gas]

Not got one, but seen them used - they do stop vermin takes. The price though.... if one could be made in plastic ..........Dragons Den anyone, I cba

[maggie1946]

Bet Al could make one...

[Totally Scrambled]

Made out of a recycled vending machine. they have to put 10p in to get food. they'll soon be paying for their own feed, how frugal is that?
Dom

[dogcatcher]

Not tried one but if you are concerned about rodents then think about a pheasant feeder. It does leave a limited amount of feed on the ground. If you are handy you really only need to buy the spring, scrounge the plastic container and put legs on it. Have a look at http://www.solwayfeeders.com/categories/feed-hoppers-c398.html

[Smallholder]

Thanks dogcatcher, I have seen these before and do like them as they seem more sturdy than the metal treadles and are available on flebay... My only worry is how I would go about getting the hens used to feeding from them as they have to learn to peck at the spring to release the food...

[Smallholder]

No idea but am waiting for the answers myself!! The only disadvantage i could see is the the no of hens feeding at once is limited (mine 'mass feed' in the mornings)
There is a film of them being used on the net somewhere, they are the HUGELY expensive ones!

Hi Willow,

Don't think this would be a problem with a treadle feeder as the food would be available adlib, our hens are currently fed adlib, so they tend not too feed all at once unless i'm scattering left over bread crumbs or vegetables lol

[chicken_house_man]

They work well, the only issue is that if you have messy hens that like to throw food around they can just empty the hopper across the floor. This can defeat the purpose of being rat proof.

We offer ours with an anti waste grill which stops them scooping food sideways.

The only complaints we receive are:

1) The hens throw food on the floor - from people that don't add the anti waste grill.
2) the anti waste grill isn't needed - from people with hens that don't throw the feed around.

Can't win

[dogcatcher]

My only worry is how I would go about getting the hens used to feeding from them as they have to learn to peck at the spring to release the food...

It's the same for the pheasant poults, just flick the spring or throw half a handful of feed under the bin for two or three days, they soon learn. The important thing is to make sure that the spring is reachable. Hens can use them at the standard height but my bantams can't quite reach (that's why I have slim bantams )

[Smallholder]

Thanks again for the responses... decided to go ahead and upgrade but not a treadle feeder.

Instead I have just ordered one of these barrel type feeders on legs, as suggested by dog catcher.

Was tempted to buy the the bits and have a go myself at building but found one for £21.00 including delivery so decided not to bother lol

Will add pics once it arrives and is up and running

[Smallholder]

Quick update (for anyone interested)

The barrel feeder that I decided to go with instead of the Treadle style one has arrived, been built and moved into the hens pen.


I have left their old feeder in the pen until they have explored the new and worked it out although the black rock hen was pecking and feeding from it straight away!

Best of all, each peck only releases a small amount of feed which she was eating there and then, also took a whole sack of 20kg layer pellet so as long as they all learn how to use it I should not only be able to save on feed by not feeding the rats but also will not have to fill the feeder as regular

[Steve the Gas]

Could you bang a link up for that please?

[janepick]

Could you bang a link up for that please?

Here it is Steve, dogcatcher quoted it.
http://www.solwayfeeders.com/categories ... -c398.html

[Smallholder]

Could you bang a link up for that please?

Here it is Steve, dogcatcher quoted it.
http://www.solwayfeeders.com/categories ... -c398.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The company dogcatcher and Jane have linked are more expensive, solway one is £27.90 with delivery, so I got mine from this guy on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-x-30kg-Pheasant-game-poultry-chicken-feeder-hopper-/320673572695?pt=UK_BOI_FarmingEquipment_RL&hash=item4aa9a26757

I only needed one so messaged him and just purchased one instead of two as he has listed, only lists them in two's on eBay as he said delivery is the same price for one or two with the courier and most people buy a few for breeding pens etc..

Very quick delivery and all the holes etc.. are pre drilled with bolts supplied