Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder

Your Price: $85.00
In stock and ready to ship
Part Number:F-MED

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Soft Close Door help
Add a Duck Step help
3 Pack of Extra Springs help
Medium Turkey step help
Medium Feeder Lip Extension help

Why buy this product?:

Stop the rats, wild birds, squirrels and other vermin from stealing your feed and spreading disease. Cut your feed bill in half!

Shipping info

Fast 2 -3 day shipping. For cheaper shipping use the Mult packed feeders or send us your own shipping label if you can find cheaper shipping

Videos available

Please visit our main website at ratproofchickenfeeder.net for videos and more info on the feeders

Is it hard to assemble?

The picture slide show to the left has a video of the feeder in use, check the small feeder and replacement parts listings for more videos

Is it hard to train the chickens to use it?

Assembly and training instructions are in the tab sections below. Five minute assembly, fast training if you follow our directions.
Before you buy look for the different versions and sizes of our feeder, we have a soft close version, and we now have this new redesigned, made in the U.S. medium feeder. We are hijacking the original listing for the original Philippines made medium feeder and this one is even better. The counterweight has been done away with and a dual spring door closing system that is adjustable has made the feeder even more dependable and rat resistant. And the soft close version works so much better with the added tension.  See this video showing the excellent soft and gentle closing action. There are also multi packed feeders that can lower the shipping costs down to as low as $15 to $25.00 each depending on how many and distance.

We have a lot of customer submitted videos too that show the feeders in use, most from customers with feeders that are five, even eight years old.


The U.S. made Medium Ratproof chicken feeder hopper holds 32 pounds of laying pellets or other feed and has a 100% galvanized sheet metal feed tray and hopper so the feed flows easily and sanitation is assured. Generally a laying hen eats around 4 ounces of feed per day, so one pound of feed should feed four birds one day, 7 pounds per week per four birds, or a bit over 4 weeks for a four hen flock. The feeder is designed and marketed for full size birds but you can adjust the strength of the spring loaded door down to about 1.5 pounds of operating pressure . If you have bantams or other than full size birds please read our FAQ section on our main website.  There is a lot of info on that web page including videos.

This newly re designed feeder ships for about 10% less thanks to internal design changes and a reduced box size but it also holds about an extra gallon of feed. That took the feed capacity from 26 pounds up to around 32 pounds if you stuff the feeder to the gills.

The feeder also has a new adjustable door that can be shifted up and down, back and forth, and even side to side should it ever be needed or if you are an OCD type person. That small adjustment also allows us to fit the doors a bit tighter than the original feeders and it eliminated the wood door block and uses a metal angle to hang the door. On the door fit, the addition of the rolled edges on the side of the feeder opening does push the door back, there is a lot of competition for space right in front of the door axle so while there is some adjustment there will likely always be a wedge shaped gap on either side but mice cannot get in, too small, too high off the ground, and too slick for them to climb up. 

The front edges of the feeder sides are rolled or flanged instead of the original flat de-burred edges, making them much safer for large comb roosters.

An improved method of welding up the door axles resulted in a more precise door axle and that allowed us to pre-fit the wire links so the treadle bottoms out when the door is opened all the way if the feeder is on a level and flat surface.  There will sometimes be a small amount of play but a full sized chicken ought to push the treadle bar all the way down. Feeders sometime are a bit wonky and don't like sitting on a flat surface but once the new metal cleat attaches the feeder to the wall it is stable anyway.

The door axle has a new hard tube spacer that replaces the old soft tube split spacer which became needed once we introduced the soft close feature and the axle crank needed to stay solidly in place in a side to side manner.

It also has a new system of securing the feeder to a wall. The original wood block has been replaced by a sheet metal bracket that is fastened to the wall and the feeder dropped down over the top of the bracket so it traps the wire lid axle. This means you can remove the feeder buy just picking it up. The metal bracket also helps block off the a gap in back of the feeder that some customers worried about. Here is a video showing the features of the new hanging bracket and here is a video showing how to install the new metal bracket. If these video links do not show up hover over the words and the link will appear.

And finally, the redesigned dual spring door closing system allows fine adjusting of the operating pressure needed to open the door and the spring is now out of the way up under the front cover. If you choose a soft close feeder they work even better now as there is more pressure to close the door which is needed to close the door against the back pressure of the soft close cylinder. The door can be set stiffer than before, up to five pounds with the existing adjustment hole. There are four holes drilled in each side of the upper front of the feed tray that the top of the spring hooks into. You can go from 1.5# of pressure needed to open the door to around 5# of pressure and since the spring now is attached directly to the door there is even more pressure pre loading the door to guard against a big rat or squirrel from just pushing the door open. In the earlier models the counterweight could put back pressure on the wire link connecting the door to the treadle. With this model the wire link is always under tension, not compression. Squirrels are going to have a hard time pushing this door open.

Approximate assembled size is 18” deep x 14” wide x 19” tall. The actual feeder hopper is about 11" x 10" x 14" tall, partially rectangular, partially triangular shape where the door has to swing back against the feed hopper. Shipping weight is around 13.25# with packaging for the medium rat proof treadle chicken feeder. When you are ready to purchase add the item to your cart and then scroll down to find the PayPal check out icon to automatically insert your shipping information. You will need to add your daytime phone number for FedEx Ground. For more information about the feeders visit our main chicken feeder web page.

5 Stars
New style w/o counterweight works grteat! weight
I've had the medium feeder since 2020. I have it on 12"x12" paver, with a second similar paver under the treadle. I was happy with the counterweight, but it's even better now with the front springs system and no counterweight. It's much lighter and less awkward to move when I switch the chickens to their cooler summer location, or do a good cleanup in there between feed bags. Second, the door flap opens and closes very evenly now, nice! Third, I've bungee-corded the feeder to it's spot, but the moving weight maybe helped it travel a bit because the rubber cord would flex a bit. So every now and then I would check and center the feeder to the paver. Not a problem, really, but without the weight I'm noticing it moves less. If I fixed the feeder to a good backboard it wouldn't move at all. But because it's not really a problem for me I haven't been motivated to do that. I think my chickens are on the slightly small side - heritage Buckeyes - but in any case I found they were not reaching totally down into the very front bottom corner to get everything. Or maybe they don't see the pellets there? So this forward corner area collected feed crumbles and dust. I tried taping a piece of stiff cardboard onto the bottom and it is slightly curved up to the front lower wall. This raised the bottom a bit and the curve helps prevent pellets and crumbs from gathering so much there uneaten. The feeder is pretty well weather-proof, and I always face it away from the prevailing winds. But with strong sideways-blown rain, that can hit the front feeder door. Easy to solve with a plastic bin top placed on top, weighted down with two or three bricks. We had a good storm the other day and no rain got in. A drop or two of rain can be driven up under the back corner edge of the top if it's exposed to really strong wind from that direction, so I usually put something behind the top to block the wind, like a small tarp, or a piece of cardboard. Right now in the summer location it is against some small trees that effectively do that. I've been very happy with this feeder and will definitely buy another if/when I need it. No problems with mice at all, like I had with an open feeder. I may increase my flock size next year and I think I would prefer two different feeding areas to one larger one, that way nobody has to wait long to eat.
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Reviewed by:  from Central New York. on 6/5/2023
5
5 Stars
The best feeder out there! Rats be gone
Rats were my living nightmare, I'm up at night hunting rats, they ate through plastic bucket feeders that i had to cap every night, they ate my nice tractor supply feeder they ate through my coop bottom, it was getting out of hand and it was literally stressing me out. Grandpa feeder was only option I found at the time but then i didnt want to pay 250 bucks, i also saw videos with rats practically living in it!! Then i found this! First I was impressed by the engineering on this thing, it was clearly designed by a man that held a grudge against rats, they can eat your feed pretty quick and cost you a significant amount of money so i dont blame him! This feeder is designed for chickens to figure out quickly while keeping rats out! I've been using it or shall i say my chickens been using it for 6 months now and its durable and weather proof no rust no issues what so ever and things that wear out are easily replaceable at a very low cost of few bucks. Chickens take turns and it only takes one to use it after that the rest follows! Im getting another one for redundancy, i can go on vacation for a week and not worry about my flock. Between autofill waterers, this feeder and automatic chicken doors i only have to refill feeder , clean coop and collect eggs!
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Reviewed by:  from California . on 1/10/2023
5
5 Stars
Great feeder!
We had the worst issues with rats getting into the chicken feed until we replaced our standard feeder with this one. It has been a lifesaver.
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Reviewed by:  from Austin, TX. on 7/15/2021
5
5 Stars
Mr.
Have had this feeder for a year, and am very satisfied -- beats the heck out of having rats swarming around the chicken feed. I found it fairly simple to train the original chickens to use it, and recently added more chickens, training them the same way -- put a block of wood in the door so they could see the feed and get used to stepping on the platform to reach it, then remove that block after a couple days. Wholeheartedly endorse.
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Reviewed by: (Verified Buyer)  from Seattle. on 5/5/2021
5
5 Stars
retired
This feeder really seems to work. One it!!!!!
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Reviewed by:  from Highland, Md. on 2/15/2021
5
5 Stars
Works Great - Great Support
We have a big problem with mice and ground squirrels here (not rats) but the Ratproof Chicken Feeder we purchased last July works great keeping them out. I had some initial setup questions and the staff (Al Gerhart) couldn't have been more helpful and prompt in getting back to me. Thanks!
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Reviewed by:  from Redlands, CA. on 10/22/2020
5
5 Stars
Chicken hobbiest
I have had this feeder for years. I really love the feeder. It has saved me no end of expense and difficulties with rodents.
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Reviewed by:  from New Mexico. on 10/11/2020
5
5 Stars
.
This is the first feeder we’ve used that rats haven’t (yet) gotten into. Fingers crossed they aren’t able to figure it out. Works great! The chickens are a little thrown off by the sound at first but get used to it.
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Reviewed by:  from Portland. on 8/8/2020
5
5 Stars
Works Great!!
Had this feeder for about 6 years, stopped the rats and wild birds. also lets me go away for a few day and not worry about the chicken food. I had to replace lever wire on it with some flat stock steel other than that has operated well. helps save money on the feed consumption.
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Reviewed by:  from Bellingham WA. on 5/23/2020
5
5 Stars
Commander
I purchased two for a flock of 15 hens, four small (Royal Palm) turkeys, and two peacocks. The units work as advertised, feed use dropped in half since I'm not feeding half of New Orleans' rats anymore, and best part--this is the apex of customer service, the best, bar none. PS- I added a larger pad for the big birds and then hung a cabbage leaf out the front of the lid so the birds had to step on the pad to get the leaf. This opened the food drawer which seemed to speed up the learning process.
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Reviewed by:  from New Orleans, LA. on 2/12/2020
5
5 Stars
Ms.
I'm really glad I got this. I plan on making a video about it but until then here are some comments. It was easy to put together. If you're not sure which nuts are which, there's 2 of one kind and three of another so you can just tell that way. My chickens are heritage breeds and on the light side so I've left the spring unattached. Perhaps because of this the door closes with a nice sound - I don t find it disturbing at all. I attached a round branch in front of the treadle bar because my chickens were having trouble reaching the feeder. The round branch also gives their claws something to get a stronger hold on than just the flat treadle bar. I would suggest a round treadle bar with adjustable distance from the feeder. I'd been feeding my chickens three times a day, scattering the feed, so the squirrels had a harder time getting at it. Now the squirrels can't get it and I just top up the feeder in the morning and check to see how much the ate over the day. I'll be drawing lines along the inside of the feeder just so I can keep track. I don't know why some people say the feeder is ugly. I think it looks nice. In the beginning, since it was an outside feeder, I blocked off most of their access to pasture but there was some small area I couldn't block. That, combined with the distant, flat treadle bar, made it take a little longer for them all to 'get' it. I tapped on the feeder, opened and closed it several times so they could see the feed, and placed one on the bar so they could see it open as they stood on it. I also several times let them see me put dried cranberries (which they love) in the feed tray, then closed it. They mobbed it and that helped get them started. I waited several days before opening access to their real foraging area. I have it on patio blocks so the treadle goes down only the correct amount. I couldn't really attach the back to a post but I keep it fairly filled and bricks on top of the feeder for extra immobility. At night I slide bricks under the treadle bar so nighttime marauders can't get at the feed. Thanks for a really good well-thought-out product.
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Reviewed by:  from New York. on 9/20/2019
5
5 Stars
So far so good
It took my chickens about two days to get how to use it regularly. They weren’t very scared of the nose so that probably helped. We had a lot of rats eating from their food before and as far as I can tell they aren’t getting into it now. But it’s only been a week. So far it’s working as advertised and seems like a good product.
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Reviewed by:  from California . on 7/6/2019
5
5 Stars
chicken mom
I love these feeders! The chickens are not afraid of them like the grandpa feeders I was using. The door opens in not over their heads. No feed spills and they close tightly. I put a 16" x 16" patio block underneath and secured it to a post and its nice and stable, looking forward to no rats or sparrows in the run.
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Reviewed by:  from Beacon Falls. on 6/27/2019
5
5 Stars
?
This is one of the best things I have done for my chickens! I worked with them for half a day which is a good thing they caught on because with my work hours they were either going to get it and eat or starve before I got home. I'm amazed at how long their food actually lasts now that it isn't getting scattered by them and eaten by rodents. The way my coop is set up, I couldn't attach it to the wall so I have a cinder block sitting on top which keeps it stable. I love the ratproof chicken feeder!
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Reviewed by:  from Florida . on 6/9/2019
5
5 Stars
Chicken Dad
This is my second feeder. The six baby hens ( seven weeks old) took about five minutes to figure out the system. Just as before I followed the instructions to the letter. I love these things, no rats, no mice and no feed spilled all over. The savings from not wasting feed should pay for the feeder in a couple of months. Thanks.
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Reviewed by:  from Olympia. on 4/22/2019
5
5 Stars
Ms
Totally thrilled. Chickens figured it out quickly. And I am saving $ on feed due to no waste. Did need help assembling . my neighbor is thinking of getting one.
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Reviewed by:  from Berkeley, ca. on 6/1/2018
5
5 Stars
excellent
I put it on some bricks and secured to the skirting of our house using the wood block provided. We haven't had a heavy rain yet but we've got a bit of roof overhang above it so it shouldn't get too wet when it rains. I added a little strip of wood to the bottom of the step so it doesn't clang as loud when it opens. Also added a wider bit of wood to the top of the step so our 3 month old birds can reach the feed which i will remove when they get a bit bigger. Our girls took to it quickly, especially the younger ones. I used to see rats scurry out of our hen house when I checked it after dark (our coop is not very rat proof) but now that the feed is no longer inside the coop, i never see rats in there! Our girls rake a few pellets out of the feeder onto the bricks during the day which are probably getting eaten by the rats at night but I've never seen rats around the new feeder when I check it after dark. I'm happy to let them eat a few spilled pellets vs having them come into the coop in droves for the all you can eat buffet. I might get one of those extender pieces after our smaller birds get bigger to try minimize the feed that gets raked out. Nice feeder at a great value. It looks like it will hold up for a long time and has made a huge improvement with the rats.
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Reviewed by: (Verified Buyer)  from texas. on 5/28/2018
5
5 Stars
Farmer Deb
DESIGN is EVERYTHING - For our in-coop use, this feeder is amazing. First thought: "It looked bigger in the pictures - the food will be gone too fast". After FILLING: "This holds more food than our old one". After ONE RAT-PROOF NIGHT: "This feed is going LAST FOREVER!" You should have called this feeder "Rat-Be-Gone". Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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Reviewed by:  from Vancouver, BC. on 5/22/2018
5
5 Stars
Ratproof Chicken Feeder
I waited to write this review until my chickens and the rats had proven this feeder was worth the investment or not. It's been a little over a month. The verdict is YES!!! The chickens figured it out in time how to use the feeder. The rats and wild birds have headed off somewhere else as their free meal ticket has been cancelled!! I'm so glad I took the time to research and find this wonderful invention. Personal attention from Al was unexpected and he goes out of his way to please his customers!! It's been a pleasure doing business with him.
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Reviewed by: (Verified Buyer)  from East Wenatchee, WA. on 3/24/2018
5
5 Stars
Medium Ratproof Feeder
So far this feeder has been wonderful! I found the easiest way to train the chickens and ducks was to leave the counterweight off for a few days. On day 1 and for the 1st half of day 2, I kept a brick on the paddle to keep it open. That way the chickens and ducks learned where the feed is. Once they knew where the feed is, and I removed the brick they, they all used the feeder like pros! A few days after that, I added the counter weight and made sure my lightest hen was heavy enough to open it. Holds plenty of feed too. Having ducks I still have some waste but it's a fraction of what I was losing with a standard feeder. Huge savings already! * manufacturers note: Please, never, ever, block open the treadle for any reason. The instructions clearly explain why. Doing so causes a lot of problems with training and bird safety.
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Reviewed by:  from CT. on 1/15/2018
5
5 Stars
starling problem solved
We were having a terrible problem with starlings eating 5-7 pounds of chicken feed each day. After purchasing the medium Ratproof chicken feeder we no longer have any problem with the starlings. Our birds were able to learn to use it within 2-3 days.
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Reviewed by:  from WASHINGTON. on 7/7/2017
5
5 Stars
Hi
I'm a first time chicken owner & since I live in an urban area I needed a quality feeder. I love this one! Easy to assemble & slowly but surely my hens are learning how it works. Thanks!
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Reviewed by:  from Castro Valley. on 6/12/2017
5
5 Stars
Excellent Product
This feeder has worked for us to eliminate rat problem in the barn when we move the chickens inside for the winter.
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Reviewed by:  from New York State. on 5/29/2017
5
5 Stars
City farmer
Since we had an extremely serious rat problem, we needed this feeder to work well for our five chickens. There was no problem getting it set up using the video from online. Instead of using the wood block to secure it to the wall, we tightly looped a strong nylon cord around the upper part of the feeder and secured each end to screw hooks on the wall on each side. The chicken house is small and it was necessary to make the feeder removable for easy cleaning of the house. It took two days for the chickens to catch on, though one chicken caught on right away. The spring needed to be stretched slightly so the lightest weight chicken could use it better. It took about five days before all was working well and the chickens seemed relaxed and were all laying eggs again. It's been in use about two weeks. Best of all -- the rats are gone!
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Reviewed by:  from Tigard, Oregon. on 5/23/2017
5
5 Stars
backyard chickens
The feeder arrived timely with all the parts needed to quickly put together in about 15 minutes. It took several days for the girls to get the idea, but it seems they are eating now. I would highly recommend this product if you have a rat problem in the coup. The instructions were detailed and very helpful, especially about the training methods recommended. The key was to make sure my birds were really hungry. Price reasonable but shipping crazy expensive. That being said, I will save a lot of money not buying food for the rats!
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Reviewed by:  from california. on 4/21/2017
5

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