Rats in chicken feed

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izziebean

izziebean

Chirping
May 2, 2015
206
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I've been having a rat problem for a little over a month. I found one in the chick starter feed bag last night crawling out quickly. When I looked inside the feed sack, I saw some rat droppings. I'm going to buy some Behren's galvanized steel trash cans tomorrow.. four trash cans for each of the different food. Do I need to dump my current stock of feed or can I use the rest? It's a lot of money in feed.

Also, is a 20 gallon big enough for one bag of chicken feed or do I need to buy the 30 gallon cans?
 
I think I'd be nervous of using the chick starter as they have such immature immune systems. At the very least I'd throw the top part of it where rats could have also peed.
 
Ya I may toss that bag. It's the expensive stuff from the local feed store. The baby chicks seem to prefer Nutrena anyways. Also, when I moved the bag a bit ago to make room for the new trash cans, food came spilling out of the bottom all over the floor. The baby mice/rats have been using the top and bottom to get to the food which mean both ends have been messed with. Was almost a new bag too. UGH. Better healthy babies than saving a bag of food. The other bags aren't touched so I guess it's something with that feed (it's ground up into very fine pieces).

Thanks for the advice!
 
**update** I ended up buying 2 20 gallon galvanized steel trash cans. I had debated between the 20 gallon and the 31 gallon. The 20 gallon can hold a LOT of food. I think I can fit about 2 bags in there (if anyone is wondering what size to buy). It's nice to know that the feed is protected tonight.
 
We have used a large galvanized bin for storing feed for years now. It's gr8 and nothing gets into it, not even spiders or ants
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Ooo thanks for letting me know. I didn't think the rats could crawl in there but i was worried about bugs. Whew. I think I need a scooper of some sorts though to reach down in there. A scooper with a funnel on the end would be nice lol. A chicken farmers dream? **laugh**
 
Here's some photos of ou tin/bin. We keep it under a lean to next to the coop. Does the job well. Not as big as yours tho I think. Also try to include photo of our all weather bucket feeder. You may already know about them. If not there are tutorials for how to make them on BYC and a good one by Aussie you tuber - Rob Bob.
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