If you own chickens you will have experienced the tedious task of trying to find the right feeder that works for your chooks and your environment.
Introducing the new and improved Feed-O-Matic Treadle feeders!
What makes it better than the rest?
These feed-o-matic feeders are a great all round feeder for anyone with chickens. You have 4 size varieties to choose from e.g. 5kg, 8kg,12kg and 20kg. They are safe, easy to use and protect your hens food from wildlife which save you $$ on food!
- The unique treadle operation of this feeder will ensure your poultry has all-day access to their favorite feed.
- No risk of injury with the unique treadle system which allows your poultry to walk on to the ramp which activates an inwards opening trap door giving free access to their feed.
- The operating system is almost silent which will not spook extra timid poultry.
- The feeder can be operated by all poultry big and small from the smallest of bantams to the largest of heavy breeds.
- The adjustable weight of the pedal allows adjustments for birds as little as 250 grams to open, if this is too light then simply adjust to one of the 5 different settings.
- Built from robust heavy gauge galvanized steel and mouse-proof. They will also work well to keep the sparrows and other wild birds out too. Please note trough and treadle are plastic and not rat proof.
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Adjustable feed settings to control the amount of feed the feed-o-matic feeder has an additional back plate on the inclined plate that opens when an animal steps on the treadle. This is adjustable to 4 heights. The default setting is setting 1 and the difference between each setting is 6 mm. Raising this back plate to setting 4 allows more room (18 mm more) for the feed to pass through.
How to Train your chickens to use their Feed-o-Matic automatic feeder?
Training:
We recommend giving your chooks 1 week to learn how to use their new feeder,
by placing a rock or brick onto the corner of the treadle to hold it down, this will give your chooks a chance to learn how to access the new feeder and going in and out without getting a fright. After you have seen them all using the feeder confidently you may then remove the rock and then they will know how to use the feeder.
Please remember to make sure that you have removed any other feeders and are not throwing food out to them on the ground as this will stop them from learning to use their new feeder.
What is the difference between a Grandpa Feeder and the Feed-O-Matic Feeder?
We get asked this question a lot about what is the difference between the grandpa feeders and the feed-o-matic feeder and why are the Grandpa feeders so much cheaper?
Well it all comes down to safety and whether the product is doing what it has been designed to do.
Here are a few reasons why the Grandpa feeders are not a safe option for your hens even if the price point is a lot more tempting.
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Dangerous. The design of the other treadle feeder is not safe for your hens. When 1 chicken stands on the treadle, it will lift up the whole lid plate and expose the feed, because there are no side plates , another hen could come and start eating from the side of the feeder , but as soon as the other one stands off it will crush the other chickens head inside the feeder, crushing their neck.
Feed-O-Matic feeders have a fully enclosed space which means only the hens standing on the treadle will be able to eat which causes no harm to any other chickens. - Not Bird Proof. As much as they like to describe these as a being "bird proof" they are very wrong coming from my own personal experience when I brought this style of treadle feeder years ago. A hen would be feeding from the feeder and the birds would fly down and perch all around the edge eating the food whilst the chickens ate. Later I would go out to top up the feeder to find dead birds trapped inside as the hen would step off and trap the sparrows in the feed.
- Not Weather proof. Because of the design of the lid it is hard for this feeder to be left outside due to the fact that when it rains and the lid opens up it causes the feed to get wet and go mouldy. Feed-o-matic feeders are fully enclosed which means that these can be left outside in the weather with no fear of food getting wet.
