RentACoop Automatic Metal Treadle Feeder - Outdoor Use, Rainproof - Suitable for Chicken, Bantams, Poultry, Pheasants, etc. - 25lb Capacity

Finally, I’m not feeding every critter in the neighborhood. My chickens adapted quickly using the recommended training steps, and it’s been a total success. The feed stays fresh, the large capacity means I fill it less often, and I’m saving money now that only my chickens are eating their food. Excellent quality and well worth it.

Great feeder that has helped reduce the number of rodents in our coop. Takes some time to train your chickens on how to use it, but well worth it. We have already saved money in feed costs.

Treadle feeders seem to be the only true rodent-proof poultry feeders, and this is the very best of them. I now own two of the 25 lb.model, and my 9 hens, 2 roosters and I love them! I had decided to switch to rodent-proof feeders a couple of months ago after we had a sudden invasion of rats and mice (instead of our normal background population of 2 or 3 mice and 2 or 3 rats only) from a nearby rural creek where humans had likely been dumping food-rich trash illegally. Well, the first nine types/styles of so-called rodent-proof chicken feeders that I ordered from Amazon turned out to fall very short of the mark of being truly rodent-proof, and so I decided to try a treadle feeder, and picked this model/brand for my tests. It worked out great, and within one week I ordered a second one. BTW, all of my chickens are between 2 years and 10 years of age, and it took them about 6 to 7 days to learn fully how to use the feeder. We used in-person hands-on training, but never bothered to use either of the two steps/types of training methods/screws provided with the feeder. If you hare having a rodent infestation, the treadle style feeder seems to be the only true rodent-proof style out there, and this brand (RentACoop) and model (25 lb.) are great -- well-designed, well-made and very functional.

These are considered the top of the line luxury of chicken feeders. No spills no waste no rodents have any reasons to hang around for free handouts. Just barely less in costs than the similar g-feeder but this is better thought out and built imo. I keep having to move it around though. I did the first training week and I think one hen tried the food but went back to the other feeders. I removed the rain cover. Nope. I removed the side blinds…. Still no interest. It’s not the feed because they’ll eat it from literally any other feeder or bowl. Then the pine pellet run bedding was sticking the treadle so it wouldn’t treadle, which was unnoticeable with week one being in the open all the time. It was moved. To a clear more open spot. Then the girls literally buried the entire feeder in chopped straw. So I took it inside cleaned it out and put it back out but I’m not as hopeful or excited about this anymore. I just wanted a cleaner run and to simplify feeding. But this is more work. My chickens free range all day unless it’s bad weather and after coop door opens for morning run time. It’s a me problem. I have a decent raised coop and walk in run but…. This baby is huge and heavy and I’m having trouble finding a space for it that doesn’t block the door or the ramp or take up too much needed run space. Tractor supply walk in chateau/ they had a huge coop but my build and run was a winter disaster for their health so prebuilt happened. I’ll give it another go in a larger run we have planned for them in spring.

Anyone who have backyard chicken and work needs to have this one. I've use this for 5 months now. Fill it up once a week (10 layers). Training was relatively easy. My girls were smart. Took about 1 week. One hack: tape a foam thing to the edge of the lid. This way, the noise of the lid coming down won't scare them during training. When I added 7 new chicken to the flock (now total 10), the old girls trained the new girls in 1-2 days. They are all happy. Before we have cover install, it was in the rain. The food was dry.

I think it’s going to work well for me . I have been concerned with rodents in the coop and it seems they may be afraid of the stainless steel . I haven’t seen any trying to get in it.

Update months later: If you have really smart rats, they will figure this out. It took about 6 weeks for them to figure out that if several sit on the treadle at once, they can open the feeder. This defeated my purpose of being able to “set and forget” so I had to start putting a brick on the top at night. Well the little Einsteins have actually teamed up to move the brick off the feeder! Nuts. So they win!!! I bought two of these for my flock of ten. Mainly because I was at my wits end with the invasion of Rat City. This has decreased my rat party from 30 or so visitors a night, to 3! It was super simple to train my girls and with a small tweak for a very light bantam I have, they all eat perfectly from these treadles. Not to mention the feed I am saving on. The chickens can’t just throw out what they don’t want. Saving feed and not throwing it out for the rats. This is worth the investment all the way!!!!

I love this feeder. We usually have 10 to 16 chickens. I had my concerns on "training" our chickens to use it and there were some that just ate what they found in the yard at first but they all figured it out. Yes, I put a camera out there to verify. The only negative I've had is my own fault. Unless we're out of town, I add their portion of food daily and sometimes I forget to close the the lid. I also have a structure built to further protect the feeder. Well, one day I forgot to close the lid and the rain guard got knocked down blocking everything from operating. Again, completely my fault but be advised that the feeder cannot operate if the rain guard falls on the opening door and step plate. Including a picture of what happened. Because I put out food daily, I can tell you we now use significantly less feed. I believe this is because wild birds are not eating feed anymore and there's just way less waste on the ground. I would buy this again and highly recommend this to others.