Secure the feed and the wild birds will leave quickly
- No poison to kill other wildlife
- Prevents wasted feed
- The constant source of feed means faster growth, more eggs, and healthier chickens
- Saves money on feed
- Chickens learn to use quickly
The Best Method of Keeping Wild Birds Away from Chicken Coops
Poisons that find their way into wild predators, bird netting that deteriorates or causes the coop run roof to collapse when it snows, fake predators like owls that constantly need moved to keep them effective, none of these methods will work as well as simply putting the chicken feed into a treadle feeder that has a spring loaded door and a narrow and distant treadle.
Not all treadle feeders are the same though as many have wide treadle steps that can be overwhelmed by massive numbers of wild birds. The models that have a narrow and distant treadle step work best as not enough birds can roost on the step at once to trip it and if they did the couldn’t reach the chicken feed anyway.
A large counterweight is also a good feature as it provides mass that must be moved, something that a five pound chicken does easily but wild birds weighing just ounces won’t every be able to operate.
Check out our review pages on the various treadle feeders by clicking on this link.
The best feature on a treadle feeder is a spring loaded door, something that few treadle feeders on the market have. The spring provides extra pressure to hold the feeder door tightly closed so that the wild birds can’t just push the door open. Some of the prettiest feeders on the market don’t have this feature and while the treadle feeders are sharp looking they can’t keep wild birds out of the feed which is why we want to spend our hard earned money on such a product.
Treadle feeders are very simple, an inward swinging door operated by a narrow and distant wooden step on a treadle bar with a spring holding the door tightly closed. When a five pound chicken steps on the treadle the door opens easily yet a wild bird standing on the ground in front of the door can’t push the door open and a dozen wild birds roosting on the treadle couldn’t reach the feed if they managed to get the treadle tripped.
Our favorite brand is this model made by The Carpenter Shop. It is all galvanized sheet metal, easy to assemble, holds around a half sack of feed, and best of all it has the spring loaded door, a narrow and distant treadle, and a massive counterweight. The customer reviews are amazing, over 130 four and five star reviews and the people are not only pleased, many are ecstatic at having their wild bird or rat problem solved.