[ehs284]

To stop mice and rabbits eating the chook food I recently purchased a treadle feeder. The birds quickly got used to it. Great; only that twice I've opened it to find live mice in it. They must push the food door open and get underneath. I guess they get out when the chooks stand on the treadle.
Has anybody had a similar experience and found a solution? Please tell.
BTW The wild rabbits and chooks seem to be very happy together, lining up to eat corn or titbits and sunbathing together. Not really what I want, but a delightful sight.

[Springlands]

Mice should not be strong enough to push open the treadle mechanism - if that is happening there must be something wrong with your treadle. The only time we had a problem similar to that was with the starlings last year - they figured our that if 5/6 of them stood on the treadle at the same time that they could get at the food - I then had to rescue one from the hopper. Just another thought - perhaps the mice are getting into the hopper when the hens are stepping on the treadle plate.

You really need to make sure that there is no food spilled near the treadle and do not ground feed the hens at all until the mice are eradicated. You could try Eradibait which is poisonous only to rodents - but do not use it in your hen run - try to track down where the mice are coming from and use it there. If your hens are free ranging you should only put the bait out at night and remove when the hens are out. Hope that helps.

Love the thought of the hens and wild rabbits sunbathing together - my lead hen would probably attack any rabbit that dared to go near her. 

[ehs284]

Thanks Springlands. Not sure how they got in, but could see how the door could be jammed a little open with the pellets, so have spent the morning cutting a bit from the bottom of the door so that it closes against the very edge of the lower tray and there is no lip for the mice to hang on to. Rebalanced and will watch for next few days and update. Starlings are about the only creature that doesn't consider my food is their food 

[Springlands]

Hopefully that will work.  Our robins love to hoover up anything that the hens drop. 

[ehs284]

Update.
The problem seemed to be threefold:
1. the food tray was fairly flat so that the pellets could stop the door closing tightly
2. this also meant that the birds flicked food out when they were eating
3 there was a plastic strip on the bottom of the door to quieten the closing which could be gnawed by mice.

I reshaped the food tray to make it deeper with a more upright outer lip and cut the door so that it fits flush and tight.
The birds don't seem to have any trouble with this and there is no food spilled. No mice in the food either .

Many thanks for interest (you can't deny a robin a bite can you?) - hope this helps anybody else who finds that their feeder doesn't work as expected.

[Springlands]

Good to hear all is OK. 

[Blobbs]

I' m getting ready for hens and as I have a large area I will divide it into 4 with a high fence round the outside. Does the treadle feeder sit on the floor or clip on to the fence and will I be able to move weekly?

[Springlands]

The treadle could not be fixed to the fencing they are too heavy and have to sit on the ground - OH has ours sitting on bricks but I do not think that is really necessary. They can be moved quite easily from one place to another. 

[Blobbs]

Brilliant thankyou !