Feed storage questions

[BarefootMom]

They have feed bins that you can buy- that will hold large amounts of grain at a time, but they are pricey. We store our feed in 5-gallon buckets with lids or in the feeders themselves. I have 1 feeder that will hold a 50# bag by itself. We buy all of our feed at the feed store-would never even consider buying it a TSC or elsewhere because of the cost and they charge us tax. Our crumbles and layers feed is about $11.50 a hundred.

 

[rickerra]

Quote:
40 bags is a ton...a ton is 2000# 2000# divided by 50 is 40.

Thanks! That's a lot of feed!

At 20#/bird (CX estimate I read)... a ton would feed a 100 birds. Wow! They eat a ton!

How long to folks keep feed? Is 4 weeks the typical use-by timeframe?

Cheers!

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

I use a ton in 4 weeks. but I have more like 200+ birds, more than half are bantam

 

[speedy2020]

Have you consider getting 55gal plastic water barrel? It should hold about 400-500lbs and last a life time.

 

[speedy2020]

I did the math base on 25lbs=4.5gal and my answer is 306lbs for 55gal. The benefit with barrel would be light when empty for easy to move around. However, you do need 3 barrels for 1/2 ton with little left over.

 

[RoosterGeek]

Quote:
I've seen numerous instances where folks use well cleaned up food-grade plastic barrels to pick up their feed from the mill. They just cut part of the top off and then take them to the mill on a trailer. The mill just fills the barrels up and they seal up the containers when they get home or transfer the feed to a silo.

 

[homesteadapps]

Quote:
500 pounds ground feed will easily fit into 2 55 gallon barrels with some room to spare (about 1/2 of a barrel) so 1/2 ton should fit into 3 or 4 barrels (not in a bag). So the 306 pounds from the math in the previous post looks accurate with what actually will fit into a barrel.

Edit: Places like Pepsi, Coke, etc get syrup in 55 gallon drums like these and give them away. Ads on Craigslist in our area sells these barrels for around $10.00 each

 

[BarefootMom]

Quote:
also check with any local dairies. Our diary up the road has thousands of the blue barrels just lying around. I have gotten several from them for dog houses, feed troughs, planters, etc.