Do you have chickens and rats? Or chickens and wild birds that are eating more feed than the chickens? Here is the solution. But before you buy look for the different versions of our feeder, this is the soft close version of our small feeder. There are also multi packed feeders that can lower the shipping costs down to as low as $12 to $16.00 each depending on how many and distance.
There is only one Small Soft Close Feeder but the product listing for the Small Feeder has a set of options including adding the soft close door. This is the same exact feeder.
We have a lot of customer submitted videos too that show the feeders in use, most from customers with feeders that are two, even three years old.
1 The shipping on the feeders isn't cheap because the small feeder is over one and a quarter cubic feet and weigh 12 pounds. Local states should cost $13.00 to $21.00 and the furthest states will run up to $25.00 or $28.00. If you are looking for a cheaper shipping option check out the two pack, three pack, and four pack feeders where the shipping can be as low as $12.00 per feeder to California. Sales channels like Amazon or Ebay have cheaper freight on items but what most customers don't realize is that sellers are forced to bury around half of the cost in the price of the product! We used to sell on Amazon and the maximum shipping allowed for a fifteen pound product is $12.00, half the cost of the actual shipping to California or to the East Coast. Then there is another $12.00 in selling fees (including 15% of the ultra low shipping costs!) so the sales price on Amazon had to be $24.00 higher to cover the hidden fees. We sell on Ebay the cost is around $15.00 more to cover the additional costs. We feel that the fairest way is to charge the actual shipping and set the price of the actual feeder as low as possible.
1 If you are from Hawaii or Alaska it is cheaper to use U.S. Post Office Priority mail. Their parcel post rates are not competitive with FedEx Ground here in the continental states but a feeder to Alaska or Hawaii can be shipped for around $50.00. The easiest way is to go to the USPS.com website and generate your own shipping label, then either print and scan it, right click on the actual label when it shows up on the screen and "save as", or just save the label as a PDF. Email the label to us, pay the cost of the product using PayPal using [email protected] as the PayPal address and your package will go out the next business day.
Int International orders must be handled through a forwarding service as the paperwork is quite burdensome for even a small package. Search online for package forwarding services, they will accept packages in your name, then bundle everything together and process the paperwork for exporting. Alternately, have the product shipped to a friend in the U.S. and take it back with you in your luggage when you visit.
1 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 [email protected] 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.
1 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. Make sure the feeder is sitting on the ground or something solid and that the treadle bottoms out on something solid for safety. 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 kit must also be installed, we have a video showing how to do it, a five minute job. Find the video section on our main website for more info.
T Email us at [email protected] if you have any problems, send pictures please! Don’t call, email with pictures so we can see the problem!
