SmartStep™ Poultry Feeders
Product Details
Treadle-action poultry feeder reduces feed waste by keeping songbirds and rodents out.
- Stop small rodents and songbirds from eating your feed
- Feed stays dry and protected
- Reduces wasted feed
- Pre-assembled! Simply adjust tension spring to match birds' weight
The chicken’s weight on the roost activates the hinged door allowing access. When the bird leaves, the door closes.
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California Residents: Proposition 65 Information
Benefits
- Stop rats, mice, wild birds and other small pests from eating your poultry feed
- Feed stays dry and protected in most weather conditions
- Side window allows for visual check of feed level. Lid opens toward back of feeder for filling.
- Recessed trough design and lip reduces wasted feed. Birds can’t reach in and scratch out feed.
- Roost is elevated 1.75" above the ground, which allows more manure to fall through, rather than collect and bind operation.
- Treadle can be adjusted for birds’ weight. Choose from 0.5 lbs, 1.10 lbs and 1.65 lbs settings.
Specs
- Feed capacity: 26 lbs
- Size: 11.8"L, 11.8"W, 16.7"H
- Suited for: Adult birds
- Number fed*: 100
- Use inside or outside: Both
- Can it hang? No
* Number Fed is determined by capacity multiplied by 4 oz (amount of feed the average adult chicken eats per day).
How to Use
To train chickens how to use the treadle, put a stone or weight on the footplate. It may be helpful to keep the stone in place for a day or two, this way the birds will discover where the food is.
Tips
- Chickens need to be trained to feeders. Select a trainee and place them on the roost to activate the door. They will see the feed and recognize that this is the place to be fed.
- Allow room under roosts. As manure and bedding accumulates, doors will not be able to open fully. Either hang the feeder or periodically clear bedding and manure. Partially open doors have the potential to scrape the combs of large combed birds.
- Because the feed lands far back in the feeder, we do not recommend its use with waterfowl.
- Use coarsely ground feeds for optimal feed flow in humid conditions (the same with all high capacity feeders). High concentrations of fines (powder) in feed bind easily when moisture is present (stopping feed flow).
Precautions
Periodically check and remove accumulated build-up from underneath the footplate to allow proper operation.
Roosters with large combs may drag their combs on the edges of the door, creating minor cuts. We suggest looking to other style of feeders for your roosters.
Some bantam varieties may not be tall enough to reach feed low in the trough.
Not for use around small chicks. They may become trapped inside the feeder.
-
Buckets and Troughs
Aluminum TurboScoop, large
Item #938361 -Versatile utility scoop with a front-facing handle. Easy to use and kind to wrists. Strong and rust-proof, ensuring it remains a reliable tool for years.
$24.00 -
Buckets and Troughs
TurboScoop
Item #938351 -5 lb capacity plastic scoop with forward facing handle. Useful for feed sacks, pet food or other narrow containers.
$9.00
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David L from New York
This is my second SmartStep feeder. Last year we gave away our chickens while we were doing a renovation along with the waterer and feeder. This year we are starting over and couldn’t do it without this and Premier’s Heated Poultry Waterer. These items prevent the chickens from defecating in their water and feed!
Stephen D from Vermont
Bought a Smartstep Feeder 88lbs. It arrived dented and I had to bend it back in place and it still looks horrible. I sent an e-mail with photos, and the response I received is “what do you think is a fair deal?” I stated that I always bought their products because they were quality and was hoping for something. Never got a response back. The product works great, once I bent it in place. It looks horrible, but functions well. Premier 1 customer service was just sub par here.
Timothy T from Washington
This is a great feeder.
I bought an extra spring because that is the weak point but decided to manufacture a 12g round steel rod with slight dog-leg bend for energy absorption. This solved the inconsistency in function with differing weight hens. A more reliable action on the door takes the surprise movement out of the equation and the hens are less likely to be frightened by the door opening more or less suddenly or snapping shut on their head.
My next step when the weather gets nice will be to put a infrared thermal actuated switch on it that stays open as long as they are within the 6" range of the gate. No surprise closures on the head or neck.
The price is right, the quality is great and it keeps those nasty little sparrows from consuming over 5 lbs of food per day! I now go through 1.6 lbs per day for chicken only feeding! Am considering one for the calcium and gravel which the sparrows have for some reason begun to get into and make a mess in rendering it unfit for chicken use. Wild bird disease is a thing and this feeder will help stop that.
I hate to spend the money but this time I know I only have to spend it once and it has saved me the cost of the feeder in food loss in the two weeks i have had it. Will buy more and will recommend to friends (and make the changes for them for free).
CR B from Louisiana
We LOVE this feeder!!
It took about 3 days to train our 6 assorted breed girls to this feeder (the larger, more assertive birds figured it out first), but once we did, it’s been a breeze. I love that I can check the “viewing window” on the side for the food amount without even having to walk into the coop. The depth of the feeding area that opens when the birds eat is both deep enough to prevent overflowing, but also angled with a front lip that it prevents the chickens from being able to throw food out in the course of pecking for the specific piece they want. ZERO food waste is amazing, the food stays clean and dry, and I don’t have to worry about critters getting into it at night.
We have yet to see it in rain, but I have every reason to believe it will behave perfectly keeping everything dry and protected.
It’s an absolutely wonderful feeder and I would highly recommend it to anyone who keeps chickens. Might recommend a bigger one for a larger flock, but this is working great for us.
The only things I would change about this feeder are the shape of the viewing window and the angle of the top. I’d increase the size of the food viewing window to be a tall, narrow shape (like a candy thermometer) instead of a single, small viewing point so you could gauge how quickly the food gets eaten instead of having to open it up. I’d also make the lid piece taller at the back and angled down in the front to prevent it from being a perch spot. Both minor tweaks, and nothing that would prevent me from highly recommending this feeder or purchasing another one myself in the future. Would definitely recommend.
Small note: we are using this feeder in an enclosed run area. I could definitely see squirrels or raccoons having a field day with this feeder in an unprotected space.
Joyce P from Texas
We’ll made and works great. We put a brick on the step the first day, and by day two our red star hens had it all figured out.
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including Lead, which is known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to