RentACoop Treadle Feeder for Chickens (17.5 pounds)

Very sturdy, good build quality. Much thicker gauge steel than I expected. Was missing one of the hinge pins, but I'm handy and easy fix with a screw and bolt. My chickens still don't know how to eat out of it, I assume it's going to take some time for them to adapt. A slip of paper in the box said they would send email with some videos, but this never came, and could not find on their site, but this is not rocket science and I will figure it out.Update:Initially, it took a while for the chickens to catch on how to use this thing. They were "spooked" by the "slamming" sound it makes every time they step on/off the platform... most would not go near it. I had to train them by putting a brick on it to hold it open during the day, then slowly weaned them off it. Once the chickens got the hang of it, worked out pretty well, and greatly reduced the amount of feed spillage. That is, until the rats figured out how to push the door open. Now, when I come out in the morning, there is a giant mountain of feed underneath the feeder: it looks like the rats have figured out a way to push open the door, then they subsequently "scoop out" mass quantities of food, to presumably come back for later. I will need to experiment with stronger setting for the treadle adjustment (can't find the manual at the moment, and it's not straight-forward). If this continues, I will need to abandon use of this feeder, as the rats are now wasting more food now then they were stealing with an open feeder. Another downside to this unit is that since it is narrow and mostly vertical, only 1-2 hens can get in there at a time. I may opt for a more horizontal unit next try to allow more than 1 to eat at a time.

You get what you pay for and now I know why this was half the price of the leading product in this category of automatic treadle feeders. I did give this product 2 stars as it was relatively easy to assemble and the sheet metal used seemed rugged enough although I am being very generous. None of that makes up for all the problems with this product. The noise, a loud clang, it makes when the door opens and closes totally freaked out my chickens although I was able to coax a couple of them to eat out of it whilst I held the feeder open with a heavy rock. None of the chickens would walk onto the treadle when it was closed so basically I am leaving it open with a rock on it during the day and then removing the rock at night so it closes, thus I am no better off than the simple PVC pipe type feeder I was using before which I had to open and close each day. Another problem is the width of the feeder is way too small as it would only allow one chicken at a time to eat and my rooster found the opening too uncomfortably small for him and would not even attempt to eat from it. Also after a few days the feeder gets plugged and does not allow any more food to come through so it's impractical if you leave it unsupervised for more than 3 or 4 days - at least my PVC feeder I could fill it only once every 10 days or so. I am using standard chicken pellets from the local feed store so I don't know what type of feed would work better with this unit. The manufacturer obviously was aware of this blockage problem and recently added a couple of adjustment screws but they were4 fastened so tight (glued maybe)I so I was not able to budge either of them and they were starting to strip with my attempts. Why any manufacturer uses cheap Phillips type screws in situations where they have to be very tight and can strip so easily is beyond me when there are other better screw types available. At some point I will have to drill out the screws if I want to leave the feeder unattended beyond a weekend. So a total waste of money with no benefits over my old PVC pipe feeder.

The price kept me away, plus I didn't have a rodent problem for years. The one day I noticed a rat in my hanging feeder, something hand to be done.It was a bit harder to assemble than I expected. Finished the job after watching an assembly video. Just took a couple of days for the girls to figure it out. Just left a rock on the platform during the day to hold the feeder open. Soon they learned to open it themselves.There is an adjustment for feed size. I set it up so the larger pellets would flow through. It isn't that easy to adjust the feed setting so when the feed store was out of pellets and I bought a mixed grain feed there was too much flow and some feed got spilled to the ground. My hanging feeder did the same with non-pellet feed. If it was easier to adjust the feed size I'd give it five stars.Made in Holland

I have 15 birds, I purchased the 2-4 hen feeder to see if the chickens figured it out and actually used it. Surrounded by thick heavy woods, I have a huge wood rat problem. Poison was just not a viable option. Leaving open feed was just an invitation for the squirrels and rats.I placed large grapes along the feeder to get the chickens to stick their heads inside the feeder. I started with the rooster. I also placed a block under the treadle to get the birds accustomed to going in for the feed and not be afraid of the treadle moving up and down. I only had the block for one day. Everyone has figured it out and I plan to order another feeder! The training video was also very helpful.Yes, the feeder saves me a time and money, NO wasted feed, nothing gets spread around, I fill it up every three days instead of twice a day. The feeder also gives me peace of mind knowing rats are not munching away on the feed.

Purchased the feeder a week ago, and set it up three days ago. Feeder was easy to set up. I followed the instructions on getting my chickens to learn to use it. It took 5 minutes for my first and oldest hen to figure out, and 30 minutes for the entire crew of 8 to catch on. I must have fat birds because this is a one at a time deal for them - at least for my older ones. My 5 month old hens may be able to fit two on there at a time, but I haven't seen it happen yet.I live in the PNW, and while the feeder is mostly under cover, it is getting wet. We've had good rain the past few days and the feed is staying dry.So far, I'm loving the feeder.

If this were all metal, it would be okay, but in the first hour, a squirrel came and ate the plastic dividers which meant tiny bits of chewed plastic were mixed dangerously with the food.Also, rats just sit on the treadle and eat the spilt food and it does spill, all beneath the treadle.We previously had a Grandpa automatic feeder, all metal, but rain can get in when hens stand on the footplate, so we tried this.It is true that the rain stays out, but it is not robust enough and definitely not rat-proof, so a total waste of money.

The main problem is that it is not remotely rat proof! The opening hatch is just made of thin plastic and the rats chewed through it very quickly. The advert says this product will stop rats - it will not, and the seller has not offered a refund for what is a major design flaw. It should have a metal strip build into the feeder to stop rats gnawing (I will have to retrofit this myself).Otherwise, the feeder holds a good amount and feels reasonably sturdy. It should be fixed down as I find it blows over when half empty. Maybe should be included with feet or some kind of tie down to stop it tipping.

Hens, got used to it in minutes, my only quarm is it's a bit narrow for 4 hens to eat all at once, so they quabble a bit to get their turn.I should have got a larger one, but it said good for 4 to 6 hens.

Hens would not use - despite weighing the ramp down in the beginning - using corn to entice them - after 3 days we were worried they would starve. Very disappointed.

Robust and easily put together. Clear instructions. Chickens quickly learnt after a few days to stand on treadle once introduction made with it weighted down. Not a loud noise when used so not scary for them.