Feedomatic Automatic Treadle Feeder

This item saved me so much money because the sparrows are not eating all my chicken feed best purchase I've ever made

Great product but stupid chickens! I couldn’t get them to use it!

Works well and stopped my food loss to rodents. But my chicken feed does clog it up maybe once a month or so, so I need to hose it down and let it dry and then refill for another month or so.

It took a while for my chickens to get used to this, especially since they prefer free ranging to any feed except sunflower seeds. (I had a HUGE rat problem so needed something secure but turns out rats love peanut butter flavored rat poisoning over all other homemade or store bought poisons and have disappeared) My one complaint is most of my birds are big, and two big brahmas so they have to hunch down to reach the feed after stepping on the platform.I started with it pried open but they would feed without stepping on the platform. I ended up attaching a very thin piece of plywood to the platform to expand it. Our 17 birds were attacked by coyotes so now we are down to 7, so refilling won't be as often. But a larger bin would be great - large enough to hold a 50# bag of grain. But I have a metal garbage can next to it to hold the extra. No big deal.

I use it for wild ducks and the platform it is too heavy even on the lower setting for the little ducks.Overall, it is a great feeder.

Works beautifully, chickens are happy. We are happy because the critters are not eating their food.

I’m not somebody who enjoys assembling things, and reading instructions is a PITA for me. However, I was able to assemble this myself while hardly following the instructions. Super clear instructions and such an easy setup! It took a few tries, but my chickens finally figured out how to use it. It’s seamless and works GREAT! I love how it’s customizable. You can adjust how much food is released, and also you can adjust the tray they step on to open the door to the food. Now, I pray the critters won’t figure out how to use it! I might have to buy another one, as this only feeds 2 chickens per turn. I still love it though! My new favorite gadget

We have what I call designer chickens. They are the Bantam size chicken that we use for our petting zoo. Unfortunately for as good of quality as this is, we are unable to use it for the chickens that we have. I haven't quite figured out what to use it for but i'm sure I will find a use for it at some point. I tried putting an extra little weight so that when they stepped on the treadle, it would activate the door and even that isn't working. They're just too light. So if you have big chickens, this probably would work very well for them if you can get them to use it. But if You have any small chickens in your flock. I would say? Do not use it because if a big chicken gets on it and activates it. And then steps off while a little chicken is eating, then the little chicken will get trapped. I have a feeling it was designed for big chickens. I wish that the description emphasize that. It was fairly easy to assemble. But it is not quite as easy to adjust as it makes it seem. There is absolutely no way that mice and rats will be able to get into this, which is a plus as long as your chickens are able to use it. We put a brick on the treadle to try and encourage our big chicken to go in it and ended up tying it open so that the little chickens didn't get trapped accidentally. It is a cool invention. And I'm sure at some point they will come up with something that's a little better as the design evolves. And I look forward to exploring more in the future

My chickens only took a couple of days to get use to it. And I love it because I'm loosing any to mice or rats and I don't have to go out and plug a hole to keep anything out.

the squirrels I was trying to keep out just stand on the treadle and if the are too small their buddy comes along and the 2 of them easily opens it and eat to their hearts content. The fat ones have no problem getting in even on the hardest setting … they just get fatter

Plastic parts didn't last

This product is good but doesn’t work great with Maine winters outside. The food stayed dry but snow would build up under it and so it would stay open. I would work perfectly inside during a Maine snowstorm.

The product is well made and the idea is wonderful. Sadly for me, my chickens never figured it out. I kept it propped open with a brick on the floor and made trails of goodies to the eating box, for several days. I would have them gathered around the feeder and make tappy noises while scooping food out, hoping they'd understand and see where the food was coming from. I didn't have any other food source available and I had placed it in the same place as previous feeder. It just didn't work with them, bummer.

The chickens will rake out the feed and become trapped under the treadle causing it to be inoperable after a while. I put a thin sheet of laminate on the treadle to prevent feed from getting under it. Works fine now.

It's ok . It works as described, easy to set up. My hen's took to it within the day but they still make a huge mess out of it. Scale 1-10 (10being the best) I'd say 6/10

Got this when the chicks outgrew their chick feeder. Took them a couple of days to become comfortable with sticking their heads inside the feeder and the "bang" when they step off the treadle and the door snaps down. This unit has now transitioned with them from the brooder to the run and so far seems to be keeping the weather and vermin out of the feed. It is in a semi protected area.

Not difficult to assemble, most chickens learned how to use it. Rat resistant. It does spill moderately, chickens learned how to spill feed out (about 1-2 lbs) This feeder keeps the feed dry even being exposed to rain. It’s better to be kept lifted from the soil like on top of 2 bricks.

These feeders are great because they're enclosed so other critters can't really get in. They're easy to assemble and it didn't take long for my chickens to figure out how to use them.

Looked at several chicken feeders that wouldn't create a rodent problem. Decided to buy this one because of its ability to be mounted off the ground, allowing space for the chickens to clean up any mess. Start with it on the ground with a brick on the lever plate to keep it open so your chickens learn this is where the food is (use pellets only as crumble can clog in humid conditions). Then remove the brick and they'll learn to not freak out when it opens. Then mount it off the ground with room for the chickens to go underneath to clean up spills. This feeder won't work for chicks, but if your flock are full grown it is a great solution. There are 5 weight setting you can use to adjust for your bird's size. Make sure your smallest bird can open the feedomatic and you'll be fine. The best time to get a treadle feeder is BEFORE you have a rat problem. If you already have rats or racoons you'll need to install this into a 1/4" mesh cage and shutter it at night. I keep a separate cage in the run with the nesting box, waterer and treadle feeder with its own door to separate animals coming for the feed, water & eggs from the predators coming for the chickens. I'm in the process of putting automatic doors on both the coop and the feed & egg loot cages so we'll see how that goes. The largest feedomatic size is great because it will almost hold the contents of a 50lb pellet bag. The lid is great because it stays open while filling and it has an auto latch when you close it. The company that makes this is in the Netherlands. They also make a great inexpensive nest box that lets the eggs roll away so they don't get pooped on or easily eaten. It is clear OLBA gets how to make great chicken products at an affordable price for backyard chicken hobbyists.

It’s a nice and sturdy product only complaint is the chickens throw and scratch their straw and pine shaving under the treadle and sometimes it doesn’t open all the way for them to get in it to eat but it’s easily moved to clean out from under it just have to keep checking on it.

The good is I’m still using this after 15 years and the price is right, so I definitely recommend the feeder. Rats still haven’t figured out how to open the flap- I even got a security cam to spy on them, and saw a monster sized rat, but he only got after feed the chickens scatter when using the feeder. The problem you can see in the picture is that rats chewed through the platform to get scattered feed. The basic problem with the design is that the chickens tend to scatter feed while using the feeder, which invites the rats in to figure it out.

I got it to keep rodents out of the chicken feeder which it does, only down side is it’s only big enough for one chicken to eat at a time. So I’d suggest going with a larger sized product if you have over 9 chickens. I bought two of these and that work well for my small flock.

I really like the quality and sturdiness of this feeder. I especially like that it can be outside in the weather and the food will stay dry. The only issue I have is I have to move it around every other week. Dirt builds up under the tredle and will not allow it to activate to open the feeder.

The only problem I have with this feeder is only 2 chickens can eat at a time. When they are turned out, they all rush the feeder and there is usually some pushing and shoving until I put some in a pan they can all get around. A baby possum was still able to get in side the trough.

I was going to buy the much more expensive and much touted brand. But was looking for a cheaper option because $250 will buy over a year's worth of chicken feed. I bought this one expecting a cheaply made product that would be good enough. Was I wrong, this is a very well made of quality materials. Heavy galvanized steel and heavy injection molded plastic. Not Tupperware plastic but the rigid green plastic like in ground water valve covers and such are made of. This comes ninety percent assembled. I am extremely mechanical and put it together in five minutes. But anyone could do this with the clear easy to follow instructions. Only a Phillps screwdriver and a pair of pliers or a small adjustable wrench. Only two nuts , two bolts with nuts, two pins with cotter pins, snapping together two plastic parts, and connecting two links. Very easy. Blocked the treadle down for a few days for training. My eight month old hens and five year old hen found the feed immediately. I will update when I began to use the treadle. Made in Holland and not China. Two weeks later update: Removed the weight from the treadle after three days. It took them a couple of minutes and they were feeding as normal. The bang when it closes startled them at first, but after an hour they were used to it. Love this feeder. I cannot recommend it enough. Two months later, I am still loving it. cut my feed cost in half, hens are happy, I am happy.

A good sturdy item. Great value for money. Would definitely recommend to anyone with chickens.

A little noisy when it closes. I put foam along the contact point, but it came off eventually

Great feeder, well made, and easy for our hens to use. This will save us money on feed and keep the wild birds from bringing all their parasites into our chicken enclosure.

So far so good! Food is dry, chickens figured it out in a few minutes (I put treats in there in front of them), and I’ve only seen two squirrels, who seemed to be looking for some other source of food as their previous buffet is gone! Yeay!