*****UPDATE***** I now have 13 chickens and have been using this feeder for a long time. The feeder is holding up well despite heavy use. It still prevents rodents from getting to the food, and it keeps the rain out. No rusting so far. I have been able to easily teach the new chickens how to use it (or rather my existing chickens taught the new chickens how to use it).I have 9 chickens and was feeding daily before purchasing this feeder. My chickens would waste a ton of food with my old feeder by scattering it on the ground, and it was attracting rats. Once I purchased this, I haven't had to buy as much food because it has a grate inside that helps prevent the chickens from scattering food everywhere. The food is secure, so rodents can't get to it (they are too light to trigger the feeder to open), which is a plus. My chickens were skeptical of the feeder at first because it does make a little noise when it opens, and they were not used to the moving parts. I followed the provided instructions to get the chickens use to the feeder in phases. First, you use the provided bolts to keep the feeder door propped open for a while. Next, you adjust the bolts so that it allows the feeder door to move a little to get the chickens use to the movement. The final step is to remove the bolts, which allows the feeder door to fully close and just be triggered by chickens stepping on the feeder step. Within a few weeks, my chickens were fully adjusted to the feeder and using it like pros. I have saved so much time and money because of this thing. It is a bit expensive, but in my opinion, worth the investment. It seems like it will last me many years.

I hesitated to purchase this feeder because it’s expensive and there are so many other alternatives. But let me tell you - it is a game-changer for your flock (and you!)Once I decided I needed to look past the price, I purchased the Large Size for our flock of 12 and was so pleased by all this feeder provides!MORE SECURE FEED STORAGE & DELIVERYLESS WASTE (much less waste!!)LESS WORK FOR ME (holds about 10 days’ worth of food for 12 chickens)MORE interesting way for the chickens to receive their feed - meaning less boredom for the flockLESS tempting to rodents, predators, wild birds, etc - we have seen ZERO of these since converting to this feeder. We had many wild birds helping themselves to the old feeder!MORE value due to exceedingly sturdy metalconstruction and smoothly working moving parts.To be fair, our chickens were scared of it once we moved to Phase 2 of training on day 3 (lever and lid half open). The movement and sound startled them and I just “knew” they’d never eat from it. The 1st day in Phase 2 I think they ate less because of the movement & I considered moving back to Phase 1 (full-open). BUT the next morning when they were let out, they practically tackled each other to get to the feeder and ate like pros. They did so well we moved to Phase 3 only 2 days later (which is how they’ll eat from now on: lid down until they step on the platform - then the feed is exposed until they step down). The entire “training” took 6 days instead of the 2 weeks suggested!!DO follow the training schedule; but if the birds “get it” sooner, you can move to the next Phase.This product is worth every penny. It saves me so much time with day-to-day chores because it’s always ready! It is soooo WELL BUILT and sturdy. The mechanisms work exactly like it should because they are also well designed and built.Our chickens are happy with full crops and we are happy to have such an efficient and well designed way to feed our flock. Don’t be like me and hesitate due to the price. It’s genuinely worth every penny!

I had a bad rat problem! Bad! So bad that I would be watching out of the window in the middle of the day and see at least 30 to 40 rats run across the yard to my chicken coop and eat from my feed bowls. The rats dug holes under my coop, chewed through my siding, and just damaged everything. Not to mention the pounds of feed I was losing. I was filling my feed bowls 5 times a day just to make sure my chickens could eat. I tried hanging feeders and rat traps but I just couldn't keep up with the hordes of rats. Something HAD to be done. So I bought a Grandpa's feeder. I bought a small one because I was poor at the time and I bought a Ratinator rat trap that could catch up to 25 rats at a time. The feeder held 15 pounds of food and my chickens, ducks, and goose learned how to use it fairly quickly.Within 3 days I was able to remove the bolt that propped open the feeder and they were all using the feeder with no issues. Thankfully the rats were NOT able to use it. Although they tried. And they tried chewing through it but the metal feeder was sturdy enough that they couldn't get through it. So now that their food was cut off I set the rat trap and caught 116 rats in less than 3 months.I have a flock of 15 chickens, 14 ducks and 1 goose so I needed a bigger feeder so I bought the 40lb feeder. I only have to fill it once a week and with the rats mostly gone my flock is happier and healthier. I still have the occasional rat that shows up but without free access to feed the population stays manageable. My feed stays dry and clean, my flock can access their food at their leisure and even in Washington State's perpetual rainy season the food doesn't get wet. I did put a piece of indoor outdoor carpeting on the treadle as I was worried about slipping in winter.One issue I did find is that when I had baby chicks they tend to climb in the feeder and the lid will close on them if their mom leaves the feeding treadle so just be careful if you have babies. They do learn to use the feeders though from their moms and all of my new chickens have also learned from watching the older flock members on how to feed from these without me having to use the training bolts again.The smaller feeder I ended up putting with my drake flock since they are separated from the hens when it's breeding season and the rest of the flock has the larger feeder. I split the drake feeder with a barrier and put rabbit food on one side and flock raiser on the other and my rabbit has learned to use this feeder as well. His food stays dry and clean and he has free access that he can't knock over when he starts zooming around the yard. I plan on buying more of these once I move as I will be separating my flock into separate groups and I want to keep using these feeders.Definitely saved me money in lost feed and time in not having to constantly filling feed bowls.

We bought four of the large feeders. They work great. Our chickens learned to use them no problem and the rats are now on a diet. Although the material is weather-proof, if they are hit by rain, the feed does get damp and mushy - so they do need to be under cover. Just a heads-up! We're happy with our purchase. Thank you.