Chicken feeders

[black_cat]

Ok will try it again ! And see if they catch on think I might have special needs chickens they seem really stupid

yes unfortunately they are free range they are outside so food and water is outside in the evening they go inside there house it’s like a hutch so I close the feeders off put lids on they haven’t got into the feeders yet this is there house when not in it they are free to roam around

That is the cutest coop I've ever seen it's adorable

 

[black_cat]

So they don’t have a pen for me to enclose feeders in during the day ,

You might want to build a run because there will be some point that they need to be confined (for extreme weather, vacation, etc) and it will help with your rodent issue.

 

[Auntsally]

That is the cutest coop I've ever seen it's adorable

Oh thank you

 

[Al Gerhart]

Ok will try it again ! And see if they catch on think I might have special needs chickens they seem really stupid

yes unfortunately they are free range they are outside so food and water is outside in the evening they go inside there house it’s like a hutch so I close the feeders off put lids on they haven’t got into the feeders yet this is there house when not in it they are free to roam around

Auntsally, there are many treadle feeders on the market, huge difference between one and all the others so would you please post a picture of the feeder? Rojomarz has one of my ratproof feeders and if you are having trouble training the birds then I can help with that .

If not, most of the treadle feeders other than the short, squat guillotine style feeders like the grandpa feeders and their much cheaper Chinese clones, need to be securely fastened to a wall or post so they are not wobbling around. The treadle also needs to hit the ground or a block of wood or a brick dug into the litter so that the chicken can pin the treadle down on one foot and use the other to stand.

If it has a spring loaded door the spring has to be adjusted so that it provides enough tension to stop vermin from pushing the door open but not too stiff to make it difficult or impossible to open plus a spring that is too stiff breaks prematurely.

Next, as Rojomarz pointed out, follow the instructions, do not deviate, do not use logic, use the training instructions which will work. If you have one of the guillotine style feeders, then yes they require weeks of being blocked open which does nothing other than teaching the hens that the lid isn't supposed to move. They have huge failure rates, 20% of the negative reviews on Amazon give this as the reason for returning the feeder but many flock owners get through the training eventually.