Grandpas Feeders Automatic Chicken Feeder - 40 lbs No Waste Poultry Feeder, Rat Proof & Rodent Proof Treadle Chicken Feeder, Galvanized Steel with Lid, Feeds 6-12 Chickens up to 10 Days

There are so many reasons to like this unit. First and foremost, once your chicks have been trained on this, the lid will automatically close keeping it safe from rodents at night. What I really like about it is that my chickens can’t scratch the feed and throw it all over the coop and waste all my hard earned money! It is well constructed, mostly assembled and easy to finish up. They have you train your chickens by positioning the bar so that the base plate doesn’t move and the lid stays open the whole day. I’ve heard a lot of people complain that it’s a real pain in the butt to have to remove the screws at night so that you can close the lid. I disagree and if you look at my photos, it will show you how I dealt with it. I simply loosened the screw enough so that the Nut and was nearly to the end of the screw. At night I simply lift the lid and push in both screws so that I can close the lid easily. There is no need to screw and unscrew the lid every night. What I don’t like about it, the top of the lid is flat, which means my girls will roost on it. I’ve seen other brands that have a tented top, and I wish they would come out with a top like that to prevent the chickens from roosting and getting it dirty. There is a minimum weight in order to get the lid open, so if you have small bantams , it’s not likely to work for you. Right now my chicks are at the weight of a small bantam and I’m in my training period. I’m pretty confident in a couple of weeks they will be heavy enough to activate it on its own. Another thing that concerns me is now that I have it in training mode, the lid is held up by the screws. Several of my girls have decided to roost on that. If they try to do that with others eating out of the bin once I’m out of training mode, I’m concerned it might snap their neck. Will have to wait and see what happens. I’ll update if there are serious concerns about this issue. All in all I find it really convenient. I can go away for a week with all the feed that it can hold and be pretty confident will have a supply. I feel that the price is aligned with the quality. When you first set it out, its size and shininess are likely to freak out your chicks. I solved this by sprinkling some mealworms on the base plate and on the top of the feed. They were on it in less than five minutes. My chicks were about seven weeks old when I put this out for training. They are medium sized breed. UPDATE: OK, it’s been a full week in the first part of training mode. I’ve had no issues opening and closing the lid with the way I have positioned the screws. I was worried that the nuts might fall off the end, but so far so good. we’ve had massively heavy rain and winds. And I was worried with all of the wind and rain, the feed couldn’t possibly stay dry. But it did. I’m impressed. There is no scratch feed on the ground. The chickens have stopped even trying to scratch it out, which they did the first day. And at least at the moment. If they get out of the coop before I get to open up their feed, they are able to activate the lid opening. Don’t get me wrong, they can’t activate it all the way because I have it locked. But boy did they try. And I see it going up and down. Part of that may because more than one will get on that plate at the same time. I’m also guessing that once I’m in my next stage, and they will be able to partially open and close the feeder they will learn better than to jump on that door. At least that’s what I’m hoping. I still don’t like that they still jump on the lid. But it is what it is. I am shocked that I still haven’t needed to fill it! It’s saving me a ton on feed costs.

I hesitated to purchase this feeder because it’s expensive and there are so many other alternatives. But let me tell you - it is a game-changer for your flock (and you!) Once I decided I needed to look past the price, I purchased the Large Size for our flock of 12 and was so pleased by all this feeder provides! MORE SECURE FEED STORAGE & DELIVERY LESS WASTE (much less waste!!) LESS WORK FOR ME (holds about 10 days’ worth of food for 12 chickens) MORE interesting way for the chickens to receive their feed - meaning less boredom for the flock LESS tempting to rodents, predators, wild birds, etc - we have seen ZERO of these since converting to this feeder. We had many wild birds helping themselves to the old feeder! MORE value due to exceedingly sturdy metal construction and smoothly working moving parts. To be fair, our chickens were scared of it once we moved to Phase 2 of training on day 3 (lever and lid half open). The movement and sound startled them and I just “knew” they’d never eat from it. The 1st day in Phase 2 I think they ate less because of the movement & I considered moving back to Phase 1 (full-open). BUT the next morning when they were let out, they practically tackled each other to get to the feeder and ate like pros. They did so well we moved to Phase 3 only 2 days later (which is how they’ll eat from now on: lid down until they step on the platform - then the feed is exposed until they step down). The entire “training” took 6 days instead of the 2 weeks suggested!! DO follow the training schedule; but if the birds “get it” sooner, you can move to the next Phase. This product is worth every penny. It saves me so much time with day-to-day chores because it’s always ready! It is soooo WELL BUILT and sturdy. The mechanisms work exactly like it should because they are also well designed and built. Our chickens are happy with full crops and we are happy to have such an efficient and well designed way to feed our flock. Don’t be like me and hesitate due to the price. It’s genuinely worth every penny!

I'm pretty new to chickens, and I felt like I was overspending on my new hobby when I bought this thing. However, I am SO glad I bought it now that I've seen it in action. It is well made, easy to use, and I can tell I'm saving by avoiding food waste (which is a money and a sanitation thing). I also wanted to avoid rodents around the coop as much as possible, and this seems to have worked so far. Another benefit that wasn't obvious to me as I was learning about my new hobby - with this solution you can feed crumble forever (avoids the major downside - waste), which it sounds like many chickens prefer to larger pellets. I had this feeder in my coop when I brought home 8 week pullets. The birds took to it immediately, and I wouldn't have even needed the training steps (it comes with hardware to allow you "partially open" settings to train your birds), except the birds were small enough they could get trapped inside the container. Please note the manufacturer says not to use it with small birds for this reason. Anyway, I left it on the partially open setting so nobody could get stuck until they grew too big to get into the box (about 11 weeks), took away the training screws, and never looked back. Working like a charm! My only complaint is that between this and my watering solution - I don't have to go out to my chicken coop every day, and sometimes I miss my daily bird chores. ;)

Recently, we had rodents set up camp by our chicken coop. Immediately, I knew I needed to remove the motivation to stick around and make access to food near impossible. After doing research, I decided this feeder—while expensive—was the best option. I have been using the feeder for almost a week and already my girls have learned how to use the feeder and the rats have moved on. BUT, let me offer some tips that have made this possible. It's suggested to give chickens three weeks of training to use the feeder, but with rodents around I needed to get things moving faster. So I totally skipped week one and went right to week two. (the feeder partly open). -I placed a doormat under the feeder to minimize noise. The tray crashing closed will scare the chickens, so you want to decrease that as much as possible. - I spent a lot of time out there tossing treats in the feeder and showing them how it opened. Very quickly they went for it and soon enough were pretty comfortable with the change. - I decided not to use the bolts given to keep the door open, since they are too hard to remove every night in order to keep rats out. Instead, I found a metal rods that I could slide from hole to hole. (perhaps a wire hanger taken apart could work for you) The allowed me to simple pull it out at night and close the feeder. - At night, place a half brick on the feeder door to be certain nothing could get it. Within a few days, I stopped using the rod altogether. Again I kept putting a handful of dried worms in the feeder and very quickly the girls figured it out and were totally capable of using it within 4 days. I plan to always put a half brick on the door since it's easy and adds more security.

I got this for my large ( over 50j flock of chickens. I actually got the large and extra large. The larger one came looking fine. The smaller one is made a little different and looked slightly not right. Like it had been dropped or tweaked somehow. The smaller one worked great for about a month and when I went to check the chickens they acted hungry. The step part had come unbolted from the frame and wouldn’t open for them when they stepped on it. I had used a screw driver and wrench to tighten everything when I put it together so I assume the constant banging of them getting on and off “shook”them loose. I ended up getting a locking nut to keep it locked together. It came with a standard nut, locking washer, and bolt originally. The filler lid top is flat so the chickens will get on top to wait their turn and often get impatient and step down on the lower flat lid often shutting it on the feeding chickens head. No true injuries from this yet I would suggest a slanted feeder lid to try to prevent this. Also the feeder lid has two bolts that go into two holes in the top body of the feeder to keep it closed. They work great but are a pain to try to line up. A hinge or something in the back would make it easier to close and free up your hand to fill the feeder and not have to hold the lid. Right now it is rainy winter weather and the feeder is outside where they free range so it is a muddy mess. I don’t want to sit the lid down in that! I can say the are truly water tight. No wet feed at all. I have noticed a great reduction in my feed usage and now see the mice in different areas since they can’t get free feed anymore. When spring comes we will see what the squirrels think of it. All in all a great product. A little smaller than I expected but they will wait their turn and can use it when they want. I would like to see some changes like I mentioned but it does what it says. Kind of expensive but made in the USA and I hear they stand behind their product. Haven’t tried to contact them so I can’t say.

My chickens loved this feeder box right away. They also like pecking it because it’s metal & makes “music”. They are still training with the open lid but have their meals regularly from it. I add dried meal worm to make it as interesting as possible at meals. So far the feeder has saved food from being dumped or flicked about, making for savings & nothing to draw rodents or roaches. I have hope it will continue to be a success. It is sturdy & strongly made, too. Update: Well, much as I liked it, after 3 weeks, the birds will not even approach it with the up & down “head-chopper-offer” quick moving lid. It’s not the slamming shut metal noise, though that doesn’t help. A slower closing mechanism would be helpful & make me feel better about it, too. So it doesn’t work as an automatic feeder for my flock. I have to leave it up during the day and manually close it at night. Also the crumbles don’t reload the feeder area. I have to shake the whole box forward to reload the feed trough. So… I may have to return it and try something else. Just too expensive to not do it’s job for us. Update 2 After months of no chicken using it, I gave it away to a fellow chicken parent. Much as I wish it worked for us, my chickens wouldn’t use it. He thought his would. Keeping the stars because it is a sturdy, well made product with benefits I think should work for most.

UPDATE: Chickens are still afraid of this and will not use it. I tried (patiently) to train them to use the feeder per the company's suggested method; no success. The construction is nice and it's a great idea if they would use it. I will contact the company to see if they will take it back since I missed the return period trying to make this work for us. Saw this feeder as the answer to keeping my chicken's feed clean, dry, and rodent-free. It's really well made and a good design. The only problem is the chickens are afraid to go over to it. I have the training mode on with the door all the way up so the door doesn't move. I started with hand feeding the chickens treats by it, then after realizing they were not eating from it, started putting the food near the foot pedestal. Now, some of the chickens will reluctantly eat off the foot pedestal, but my Barnaveldar still won't go near it. I am left with hand-feeding her and putting the other chicken's food near the feeder to make sure they eat. Found a couple of mouse droppings in the feeder since I have to leave the lid open in training mode....It's been a couple of weeks now, and I'm still trying to get them to use it, but I don't know if it's going to work for us. Disappointing as I can see it would work well if they would use it. I guess I have "Chicken" chickens. Three stars because although it's made well and the design is good, it's non-functional for us as my chicks are scared of it.

For the price, I was expecting much more for this product. I have a small flock of 7 hens in a backyard setup, and wanted something that did three things: 1) protect the food from the rain, 2) protect the food from other critters, and 3) allow my flock to have better access to more food more often without me needing to refill. I'll explain why the product falls short on those key points. 1) The lid mechanism that attaches the lid to the feeding tank is difficult to secure correctly, and almost always leaves a gap. For each major rain that we've had, I've had to flush out the food and clean out the food container. 2) The feeder does nicely with this concern, and it helps that I don't have a lot of critters to protect from. The issue about the lid applies to this, too, however. 3) Perhaps the most important part of an "automatic feeder" is to have food available whenever the chickens want to eat. Unfortunately, it's been my experience that I've needed to do more maintenance with this feeder than the older one I had. The way the food storage is setup does not allow for gravity to constantly have the opening filled with food. So, there may be plenty of food in the feeder, but my chickens get about a day's worth of feed and I need to push it down for them again. I want to reiterate - I expect to have daily maintenance as chicken ownership, and that's fine. But for a feeder that is upwards of $200, I expect it to do much more - and much more effectively - than this feeder.

Amazing product, works perfectly, came ready to use, clear instructions on how to prepare the chickens for something new, great support/suggestions which worked so well, after 2 weeks my chickens are eating happily out of their feeder and this has solved my rodent problems and no more wasted food, it's a considered purchase but I wish I had gone for it first time around, I went for a cheaper option which was not as good so money wasted on that.

We bought four of the large feeders. They work great. Our chickens learned to use them no problem and the rats are now on a diet. Although the material is weather-proof, if they are hit by rain, the feed does get damp and mushy - so they do need to be under cover. Just a heads-up! We're happy with our purchase. Thank you.

OMG!!! this is brilliant!!! I have had so many other feeders over the years with my girls and none compare to this beauty! It took a few weeks till they are now super confident on the different settings to train them, they were running away from the step as it makes a banging shutting sound which freaks them out after they get off it! that has calmed down now and they have accepted this as the gold class amazing feeder extraordinaire. I am stoked as the pigeon/doves coming in stealing all the food and giving my chooks mites was killing me. Now we have won!!! no wasted food or feeding the local dopey birds. very very happy 🥰 I stuck a bit of placemat over the plate as on hot days it would burn the girls feet. pic of Lilo and May, these two rockstars were the first to figure out how to use this magical feeder!

Perfect. Easily accepted, no spilling.

Arrived dented but doesn’t seem to affect functionality. Smaller than expected but will do our coop just fine. Have not yet tried with chickens. Update: After only a few days training my barnyard mix of heritage breeds was able to eat/operate the feeder. Still as good as new months later.