Hedgehogs using automatic chicken feeder

My chickens have one of Grandpa's feeders where they stand on it and it opens for them to eat. While in the training process some hedgehogs also have figured out how to use the feeder and now they are continuing to open the feeder at night eat all the chicken feed and poop in in the feeder! Anyone had hedgehog issues? I have managed to catch and relocate one but they don't come every night and I haven't managed to catch any others but it is obvious they are still eating the chickens feed as they are leaving poops behind in the feeder. The only thing I 've thought of is to put a brick on the feeder at night to stop the hedgehogs opening it and take it off in the morning but that seems to defeat the purpose of having an automatic feeder. And since these hedgehogs are so well fed now they are no longer eating as many slugs and snails in the veggie garden as they used too.

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  • Watch out for hedgehogs, they are nest raiders!  Wire fences are no problem for them to scale over.

    Not to mention very effecient killers of native lizrds and insects. I have no sympathy for them and kill them if I find one around our chickens at work. In the wild they eat the same food as Kiwi and use the same nesting sites, so are doubly unwelcome.

    • I don't think a platform would stop the hedgehogs, they are quite good climbers. They weren't in the feeder last night. I think I need to trap them and relocate them. I wonder how far away they need to go to not return.

    • Janette, I will try your method with the rock I think. Getting up early is not my favorite but if that is what it takes to discourage them I should try. I'm glad that they are not eating our eggs yet, I found one sleeping in the next box one morning though.
  • Ive had this exact same problem!! I just had to put a rock on the top and get up early for a week or so until the hedgehog got the message. So far its happened twice and it is a pain, but Im not sure how to stop it, the hedgehog must be a houdini to get into our coop!!!
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