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Soft Close Exterior version Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder

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Your Price: $85.00

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Part Number:F-MEDSCEX

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Why buy this product?:

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

Shipping info

2 -3 day shipping will run between $16 and $26 . Looking for a cheaper Shipping Option? Look for our multi packs, ship as low as $9.00 per feeder

Videos available

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 assemble?

Assembly will take a few common tools and about five minutes. More on assembly below in the tab section

Is it hard to train the chickens to use it?

If you follow our instructions training the birds takes a few minutes then a refresher coures a few hours later

Description
Customer Reviews
Cost of shipping?

Alaska, Hawaii, and International orders

Trouble shooting

Training instructions

Assembly instructions

Return Policy

Free shipping?

Comparisons to other feeders

This is the new soft close version of our exterior rated rat proof chicken feeder. There is an interior soft close version as well that is $5.00 less.   There have been thousands of the original feeders sold but one of the complaints was that the door closed so loudly and it delayed training for some flocks. Now if people followed the training instructions the birds learned to use the feeder despite the noise and a lot of people remarked that the sound of the door closing allowed them to know that the feeders were working without having to go into the coop. But people kept asking so we finally made a soft close version. The Soft Close mechanism needs installed once you unbox the feeder but it is a two minute job once you have all the tools gathered. Tools needed: Philips screwdriver or bit and a cordless screwdriver or a power drill.

There won't be any reviews for a while as this type of feeder is a brand new item, only about one out of twenty customers will leave reviews even on purchases they liked, so please read the reviews on the very popular medium feeder by clicking here..

The mechanism is a Grass Corporation cabinet door soft close cylinder mounted on a wooden bar. It is easy to install (the soft close cylinder is mounted on the wooden bar but everything is inside the feeder and it needs two screws installed for installation as part of the assembly), it is adjustable, the cylinder can be replaced should it ever wear out or fail, and installation and tweaking won't take five minutes once you have the tools gathered. There is listing for a retro fit soft close kit and it has a video showing how to install the soft close kit on a new or old feeder. Here is the link to the video.    You will need a screwdriver with a Philip's bit, either manual or cordless, and you will need a crescent wrench to bend the door axle if it doesn't line up. When you order the new soft close feeder the holes in the feeder side are pre drilled but you will need to drive the screws into the wooden bar as part of the assembly process. The soft close cylinder has been tested down to 9 degrees F with little change in closing speed at low temperatures. Subzero weather might require backing the cylinder screw out completely until the temperature gets above 9 degrees.

The medium rat proof treadle chicken feeder hopper holds 26 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 3 1/2 weeks per full hopper of feed for a four hen flock. The feeder is designed and marketed for full size birds. If you have bantams or other than full size birds please read our FAQ section on our main website. Copy and paste this web address in to your browser please http://thecarpentershop.net/mediumplywoodchickenfeeder.html   There is a lot of info on that web page including videos.

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 15 pounds 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 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

Here is one of the most recent reviews on this product. The lady had rats tunneling under her coop causing structural damage, saved 20% per day in feed costs for 25 hens, and is getting three to four extra eggs per day, which probably meant that the rats were eating that many eggs or were stressing the hens enough to impact egg production.

Headline: Rats are gone!
Barb, Orange, VA
Review:

I ordered 2 feeders. They're easy to assemble and look like they'll be easy to clean, although none of the birds are hanging out on top of them. I attached the wood mounting block to the back of the feeder and screwed two heavy-duty hooks into the top of the block. The hooks hang on the inside of the chain link fence that supports the open-air chicken coop. This causes the feeder to tilt forward a bit, so I'm planning to add a bumper near the bottom to correct the tilt.

I recommend training the chickens when you can spend a few hours with them over two days. They were scared of the sound of the door closing and would run away. I stood in the coop and would catch a hen, place her on the treadle and let her eat. Then I'd remove her, let the door close, and place her back on the treadle. I did this repeatedly with all the brave girls and the not-so-brave girls would watch and then eat from the sides. When I saw one girl jump on the treadle, I left the coop. I repeated this the next day to make sure multiple girls were jumping on the treadle. Make sure there is no other food available because they won't learn if they're not motivated by hunger. I'm using finely-ground feed. I haven't had any issues with bridging, probably because the hens rock the feeder when they jump on the treadle. I'm feeding 25 birds with 2 feeders and all of them appear to be getting enough to eat.
I've seen 4 hens eating at the same time, but usually I see 3.

My coop recently became overrun by rats that dug through heavy clay under the apron of my coop. I think one or more got caught inside the coop when the automatic door closed so they spent the night digging out. The tunnels were causing structural damage because they tunneled under weight-bearing blocks. Judging by the extensive network of tunnels radiating 40-50 feet from the coop, there were many rats. I installed the rat-proof feeders and poison bait stations at the same time because rats will chew on the chickens' feet if they don't have anything else to eat. The feeders and bait stations have been in place for just over two weeks and we've noticed this past week that the tunnel entrances in the coop aren't active any more and are being filled in by the chickens scratching the dirt.

We're even getting 3-4 more eggs a day. I'm assuming the rats were stressing the chickens, which reduces egg output. I'm using 20% less feed and getting more eggs, so I'm very happy with the new feeders!

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars

hobby farmer

This is a product I tell all my friends with chickens that they MUST have. I even gave our first version of this to a needy friend, and now have a shiny new one for our chickens. There is no doubt these are designed really well, and do the job. Save grain, frustrates and stop rats and birds from serving themselves your chicken feed. Our coop is less messy and I am not wasting any feed since becoming a user of Ratproof chicken feeder.s This version is so much more quiet, I thought the chickens weren't eating because I didn't hear the pedal clang I was used to. A check to the hopper showed me that they were eating out of their new feeder, and although not the brightest of creatures my chickens had managed to realize it required the same technique even though the pedal is a little bit different shape. You won't find a better businessman and considerate person if you purchase from Al. I give them a ten thumbs up! Worth every penny.

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Reviewed by: Jennifer Tuthill from Alexandria, NH. on 1/18/2017

House Boss!!

I loved my original so much, I had to buy a second one, and the soft close option is fantastic!

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Reviewed by: Kendra from Seattle, Wa. on 9/7/2017

Nice Idea, But...

I like the concept, but there are some design/construction flaws that I cannot seem to figure out how to fix. The major one that prevents me from using the feeder is that the door hinge rod is mounted through a slot on the left side instead of just a hole for the rod to pass through. When the spring is applied to the right side, this causes the rod to drop down in the slot on the left side, resulting in the door sagging on that side and sticking to the point where the chickens cannot open the door, which defeats the whole purpose. I don't understand why the rod is mounted through a slot and not just a hole - that would keep the door straight and stop it from sticking. I've been trying to figure out a way to fix this to make the feeder useable, but have had no luck so far.

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Reviewed by: Tom Ballard from Tennessee. on 7/24/2017

I have free range birds.. 400 sq. ft. each of prime forage habitat..The unit is 4 stars for quality.....should be made in the USA tho.....For someone with limited space and that has a rat problem this product would be great. I bought it to reduce blackbird problem. It should be painted brown to eliminate scaring the chickens...I have a mice problem in the coop in the winter and am fairly confident that by wall mounting this unit it (with the door propped open and the treadle removed) will decrease that problem..I did the above modifications and mounted it to a fence and have noticed a huge reduction blackbird theft of food....For those that have issues specific to this design I would highly recommend this product. I would not recommend it for free range operations....The customer service is outstanding I might add.... *******Manufacturers note: Please don't wall mount this feeder and modify it like the customer did. It is just a matter of time before those blackbirds start to use the feeder without the treadle and door in place. Mice will jump two to three feet to reach feed too. Free range birds won't learn to use the feeder unless you coop a few of them up each day till they are hungry enough to have to use the feeder, then they will teach the rest of the flock. Please follow the directions that we provide with the feeder as they are time tested and thousands and thousands of feeders are being used successfully.

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Reviewed by: charles malek from billings MT. on 6/10/2017

Great Feeder

I found this feeder after searching online for a solution to the rat problem we'd developed as a result of our chicken feed. The feeder came quickly, and my husband was able to assemble it without much trouble. It took our big girl about five days to figure it out, but she's now a pro, and the rodents have all but disappeared. We have two younger girls who aren't big enough to open the feeder alone, and they aren't smart enough to do it together. Big girl only allows one of them at a time to eat so I'm still propping the door open for them with a brick at certain times of the day.Hopefully they'll gain weight fast! We're very pleased with the feeder. It holds a lot of feed which has stayed dry in spite of the rains we've had. And, it really is rat proof! Thanks!

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Reviewed by: Chris from Houston. on 6/4/2017

Chicken Mom

Just set up my new feeder. The video was invaluable. I was all thumbs! The girls are snooping around and I showed them how it works and even put some scratch inside to temp them more. Delivery was amazingly fast! Within a week! Thanks for the great service and great product!

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Reviewed by: Denise Breault from Houston, MN. on 3/19/2017

this item is not in service yet, but it is a sturdy, well built item. happy to give my business to a small craftsman. i will say that you would do yourself a favor to get a good graphic designer to illustrate the directions, and tighten up the text. i am good at this sort of thing, but i did scratch my head at a couple of spots.

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Reviewed by: mo cahill from CHICAGO. on 2/15/2017

Training Instructions: Thank you for the purchase of our feeder.

Thousands of these feeders are already in use but it helps if a new flock is trained correctly from day one. If your package of hardware is nowhere to be seen take the feeder outside on a concrete or other hard surface and drop it a few inches straight down, sometimes the hardware bag gets stuck up behind the front cover when the feeder is turned upside down during shipping and handling. If all else fails, remove the two screws in the front cover and see if it is jammed up there. Sometimes the door crank hole is plugged with extra paint, just shove the wire through to clear the excess paint. Email us at ratproofchickenfeeder@Gmail.com if needed.

Will they be afraid of the new feeder?

Yes, chickens are prey animals; see how their eyes are on the sides of their head instead of in front like a predator? Binocular vision is for predators, side vision for prey so they have a wider field of view. Chickens are skittish by nature, it is in their genes, and they are wary of new things and things that move. Just a shadow flicking by overhead will make them run in panic even as chicks, it is genetically embedded knowledge, not experience. But if you start a flock off by showing them that the door is supposed to move when they step on the treadle and wait till they are hungry the birds will learn to use the feeder in one day.

How to train the birds

After the birds go to roost at night you make sure the feeder is installed, fastened to a wall or sturdy post, and is full of feed. Then remove ALL other feed sources except the feeder. No scraps, no treats, nothing but what is inside the feeder. The next morning wait till about two to three hours after sunrise and show the birds where the feed is by using your toe to trip the treadle. WHEN they are hungry enough one of them will try stepping up on the treadle. Let her eat for ten to fifteen seconds then gently push her off to see if she will try it on her own. If not, repeat the lesson.

Usually one bird will try the feeder as soon as you show them where the feed is located. IF the birds are hungry they will mob the feeder. If they are not hungry they will remain skittish of this object that they thought wasn't supposed to move when they used it.

Don't spend a lot of time that first training session, a couple of minutes is enough if they are hungry. Go back in a couple of hours and repeat the lesson. Check on them again before they go to roost. Check again the next morning a few hours after sunrise.

Assembly Instructions Metal Feeder

Packed inside the feeder is a plastic bag containing two short bolts, four fender washers, two ¼” nuts, three ¼” lock nuts and one spring. One 4” diameter counterweight, and one treadle assembly is packed at the top of the package. The wire link connecting the door to the treadle is taped to the side of the feeder. Your feeder was assembled and tested, then disassembled and packed for shipping.

Set the feeder in the upright position. Put one of the large fender washers on a bolt then reach inside the swinging door into the feed tray and insert the bolt through the side of the feeder, add one large fender washer and one ¼” nut on the outside. Do the same for the other side then tighten the nuts firmly using a wrench or crescent wrench.

Place the counterweight bolt in the end hole of the right side treadle arm using one of the lock nuts. Just snug it up to prevent breaking the concrete counterweight. The small metal pin sticking out of the counterweight should be on top of the treadle arm to keep the counterweight from swinging down. Place the treadle arm assembly over the bolts protruding out from the sides of the feeder while making sure the counter weight is on the same side as the door crank and add one lock nut on each side. Tighten the lock nuts down lightly then back it off 1/8th turn so that the treadle will move freely. You will have to bend the treadle arms to line everything up and tweak it so nothing rubs.

Insert the wire link with small bent end into the hole in the end of the door axle crank rod and stick the large L bend end through the right side treadle arm Bend both ends of the wire link down and underneath to keep link from popping off then clip off the excess wire on the bottom end. Not too tight that it binds and prevents the door from opening. If the swinging door doesn’t open up all the way back take a pair of pliers and put a kink in the wire link till the swinging door opens all the way back. All you are doing is shortening the wire link by putting a kink in it.

If the counterweight bolt rubs the side of the feeder, bend the treadle arm out slightly till it clears. Hook the long end of spring over the top of the feeder side and using pliers pull it down and hook it under the wire link. Be careful working with the spring, watch your eyes! Pull the spring down, not up, in case it breaks.

If you have small chickens you can just use the spring, remove the concrete counter weight. The feeder should be fastened to a wall or post for stability. There is an 1 ½” thick recycled wood spacer included, set the feeder in place and mark where the wood spacer should go, screw the spacer to the wall, put the feeder back in place, and run a couple of screws through the side of the feeder into the wood spacer.

The feeder can be fastened to a plywood base if it needs to be freestanding. Fasten the wooden block to the plywood base, then put a couple of screws through the side of the feeder. Usually the lid must be pushed to one side to get it to close completely.

The soft close mechanism is pre mounted on a wooden bar and the holes in the side of the feeder are pre drilled but you will need to install the two Philips screws, adjust the closing speed screw, and maybe bend the door axle crank if it doesn't line up perfectly. A crescent wrench and a philips screwdriver are needed for the five minute installation.

Check this video for information on installing the Soft Close bar. The holes are pre drilled in the feeder but you will need to screw the two wood screws into the wooden bar.

Email us at al@thecarpentershop.net if you have any problems, send pictures please! Don’t call, email with pictures so we can see the problem!

Return Policy

Returns ARE accepted for shipping damage that is not easily repaired by the customer and we are talking about a five minute fix using a screw driver and wrench, popping out a dent by hand, or simply tweaking the door. Let us know by email the same day your feeder arrives, take a few pictures of any damaged and email them to us so we can start the claim process with our shipper. In about two business days we can email you a return shipping label and as soon as that label shows up in the FedEx Ground system as being picked up we can re ship a replacement product. Returned feeders that have been opened are destroyed, not resold, due to the risk of disease being spread so it is an expensive process to allow returns, but if it is OUR fault or the SHIPPERS fault we will take care of the problem. Once a customer opens the box and starts the assembly process the risk of spreading disease has started as the customer might have disease organisms on their hands from handling their flock.

Returns ARE NOT accepted if you change your mind about the purchase, for lost hardware, for minor dents that can be popped out by hand, cosmetic damages, or someone expecting a Steinway Piano at Wal Mart prices. If you have OCD spend the $225.00 for the Grandpa feeder or better yet sell your chickens and use the money for visiting a shrink. Also if your chicken died before the feeder arrived, too bad, buy a new chicken. Or if the shipping damage can be repaired using a screw driver and wrench we will send you replacement parts. In four years we have had one welded door axle fail and a couple of stripped screws, both five minute fixes using a Philips screwdriver and a wrench. Hardware bags break loose on occasion and nuts or washers get lost, for that we will mail you a replacement hardware bag. Sometimes the bag gets stuck up behind the front cover and can be seen by peeking under the cover or smacking the feeder down hard on a floor to dislodge the bag.

As the years go by we offer free replacement parts such as springs or hardware, as long as it isn't something like a side panel or back panel that has rusted out after years of use. All you do is pay for the postage for delivering the parts. Don't set galvanized metal on alkaline soil is one tip and the average chicken coop has a lot of ammonia present that can accelerate rusting of even galvanized steel if you don't keep the poop away from the bottom of the feeder. Install it as we recommend and the feeder will last for many years.

We do not allow returns of used feeders for any reason due to the risk of spreading diseases. If you have not followed our instructions and your birds aren't using the feeder that is not a cause to return the feeder. Follow the instructions, all chickens are nervous by nature, few are any dumber than the rest, so we have not yet seen a flock that "won't" use the feeder but we have seen a dozen or so customers that "won't" follow the instructions and then claim their flocks are too stupid to use the feeder. Guess what? It isn't the chickens that are stupid.

We wish to keep the cost of our feeders as low as possible and our feeder is a lower cost alternative to the very expensive Grandpa feeder so we do not wish to cater to customers that think they can order a feeder, try it out, and return the product. That drives the cost of doing business up dramatically. Nor do we wish to deal with the crazy OCD people that think a chicken feeder has to be built to Steinway piano standards, be produced in the U.S., and be sold at rock bottom prices. But if you want a less expensive solution to preventing wild birds and rats from stealing your feed, are intelligent enough to assemble the feeder or have someone that can do that or are willing to ask the five year old neighbor kid to assemble the feeder, then you are our kind of customer and you can order with confidence.

Free Shipping?

First check out our multi pack deals to get much cheaper shippping.

There is no such thing, UPS, USPS, and FedEx Ground all charge a lot of money to deliver packages. All "free shipping" programs have the cost of shipping buried in the cost of the product or in the case of Amazon Prime they require sellers to inventory a lot of product at dozens of warehouses around the U.S. and charge enormous selling fees to cover shipping and handling costs. As an example, we once sold on Amazon which has a $12.00 selling fee and you have to bury another $12.00 on the average into the sales price to cover the subsidized shipping. If we still sold on Amazon and offered the free shipping or Amazon fulfillment the feeder would cost $89.00 plus shipping (15 pounds is allowed $12.00 on Amazon) for a total of $101.00 net price to the customer.
Even if we used Amazon fulfillment the cost of warehousing feeders around the country and the cost of shipping the feeders to those warehouses would bring us right back to the same costs as shipping from our Oklahoma shop. A competing product sold on Amazon that holds the same amount of feed costs $99.95 but it has "free shipping", meaning you actually pay $34.95 for the shipping and selling fees. That product is the green plastic and sheet metal one and it is being dumped on the U.S. market after the Dutch company couldn't sell them in Europe due to design flaws that allow rats, wild birds, and squirrels to simply push the door open! This Dutch company is wholesaling them at $40.00 plus freight on a pallet of them and several retailers like Rentacoop and Hog Slat are key stoning them (doubling the cost). Hog Slat has a warning about the vermin being able to chew through the plastic parts of the feeder and the ability to push the door open, in bright red text but at the very bottom of the web page. The Amazon page for the product has a 30% critical (negative) reviews rating. It is a pretty feeder but it is also pretty bad.

This feeder is radically different from the other feeders for five main reasons.    First, the door is soft close so it closes quietly.   Second, no plastic parts that rats will eventuality chew through. Third, the treadle is set way back on purpose so that if a critter or a pack of critters managed to get the treadle down when they went forward to eat they would lose the leverage and the door would close. Fourth, the door is spring loaded so it is nearly impossible for several rats to push it open. A dozen might do that, four or five couldn't. Fifth, the entire treadle and door is counter weighted at considerable expense with a 2# counterweight that ensures the door always opens and always closes. It also has a one piece steel treadle that won't flex and break like the riveted aluminum or plastic treadles.

As far as competition there are three main competing products. The Grandpa feeder, the Feed o Matic from the Dutch company, and one from a company called Coops and More and a few clones of that model from other companies.   All of the feeders are more expensive than our feeder

The Grandpa feeder is a nice feeder but three times the cost or our feeder.   It is an outdoor feeder, we tell people that you should have some sort of rain cover if our feeder is used outside and the feed isn't emptied out by the birds every day or two. Some of our customers swear that their feeder does fine outside but water blowing against the door might drip down into the front edge of the feed tray. The Grandpa feeder is slow to ship and arrive due to the distances involved. It is also what is called a guillotine feeder that goes up and down instead of swinging back. That makes it hard to train the birds.   To train a flock using the Grandpa feeder you HAVE to block the feeder open for a week or more.

The Feed o Matic is the green plastic top and plastic feed tray feeder sold on Amazon and several other websites by re-sellers.   The 26 pound model sells for $95.99,   67% higher than our feeder, but they do offer free shipping. Now the average feeder shipping is around $22.00 so the rest goes toward paying the enormous Amazon fees and percentages. The feeders are made in Holland by a company called Olba and after lackluster sales in the EU due to design flaws they started dumping them on the U.S. to get rid of them. You can buy pallets of them and there are many re sellers of the product. One reseller, Hog Slat, posts a warning in bright red text stating that rats can push the door open and that rats can chew through the plastic feed tray and lid. The treadle is way too large, rodents or pigeons can swarm the feeder and hold the door open. It is made for smaller birds, too small for Rhode Island Reds, lots of complaints on the Amazon shopping cart page, around 30% of the reviews are critical of the product for a wide variety of reasons.   Not only that, but the initial reviews all have a disclaimer that said they received the product for free in return for their review!    Amazon recently made that illegal and grounds for banning the company from Amazon.   The treadle on this feeder can also be jammed if the litter builds up or if the birds track a lot of chicken poop on the treadle. And the door isn't spring loaded so rats and even small mice can easily enter the door just by pushing on it. They advocate blocking the feeder open while training and customer reviews say it can take several weeks sometimes to train their birds. That is because blocking a feeder open is the worst thing to do during training because it teaches the birds that the treadle and door are not supposed to move. The Feed o Matic jams a lot according to the reviews, especially when the treadle is blocked open. One review said the feeder leaked and their feed was molding. Other reviews say the birds don't like sticking their heads so deep into the machine. With a critical review rate of 30% this product won't last long on Amazon before Amazon pulls it from the market.   Here is a link to the reviews both positive and negative.

The Chicken Condo feeder has several clones out there, all with the same fatal flaws. The door isn't spring loaded or counter weighted so a mouse or rat can just push its way into the feeder. They have a complicated treadle step frame made of many sections of aluminum angle and metal fatigue and cracking ensue rapidly till the door no longer operates. Rats and pigeons can also swarm the treadle due to its large size treadle. The birds can't see the feed until they stick their head way up under the feeder. The door swings up, not back, so the potential for trapping a bird's head is high. The doors are complicated, many parts, and prone to wear and jamming in a dirty chicken coop.   The marketing videos on these types of feeders advocate leaving the feeder blocked open for several weeks during training, not a good thing to do if you are buying a feeder because of vermin stealing the feed because it also teaches the vermin where the feed is and how to push the door open.    Our feeder tried out the multi component treadle bar, the complicated arrangement for linkages fastened to the door to operate, and we quickly learned to eliminate both the complicated door and the multi part treadle due to the treadles failing rapidly.   Instead we invested in the equipment to weld a solid steel axle, only one moving part, and nearly bullet proof. This also allows the spring loaded adjustable door that eliminates the possibility of several rats or a squirrel from pushing the feeder door open. None of the competing feeders have the 2# counterweight either which we found was essential for ensuring the feeder never failed to open or close completely.   These Chicken Condo type clones were so bad for business that one company named Coops N More pulled their feeder from the market and it was an almost exact clone of the Chicken Condo feeder.

Buyers should be wary. Read the reviews and if there are many critical reviews that is the best indication of a poorly designed feeder.    The Amazon feeder has a 30% negative review rate but when you look at the company's profile they claim a 100% positive rate so they do have control over the ratings and reviews on Amazon?