How long to wait before feeding grain exposed to wild birds

[AGeese]

https://coloradosun.com/2023/01/09/avian-flu-colorado-birth-deaths-egg-prices/

The flu killed them. It’s one of the nasty strains. I don’t know if there were any survivors to cull or not.

I read that article much differently "The mass slaughter of egg-laying flocks has decimated the commercial egg market in the state". Slaughter to me is something people do. Virus's need a host or they don't survive long enough to be passed on so mass slaughter was the action to prevent spread.

That's all I'll say on that before this thread gets political.

Going back to your original question, I would agree with Brooks. If it's sitting outside in the elements getting shat on by pigeons every day it's probably not the best choice for your flock.

 

[drangle]

i think im going to get a couple hundred pounds of it (not directly from the top) and just store it in my shop for 3 or 4 months, anything in it should be dead by then

 

[NatJ]

i think im going to get a couple hundred pounds of it (not directly from the top) and just store it in my shop for 3 or 4 months, anything in it should be dead by then

You might have other problems if you store it that long: maybe mice or rats, but even in mouse-proof containers it could grow grain mites or mealworms or any other kind of bug that might already be present in the grain.

Since you seem most worried about avian flu, here is a discussion of one study:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784916/
They found that the virus remained present for different lengths of time at different temperatures, ranging from 18 hours at 42 C to 8 weeks at 4 C (those would be about 108 F and 41 F). So depending on what temperatures you have in your shop, the length of time you need to wait could be wildly different.

(Obviously that is only one study, and other studies found comewhat different numbers. But all the ones I've read were finding the same basic pattern: the virus survives much longer in the cold and less time in warmer conditions. Of course it makes sense to add extra time, no matter what set of numbers you are working with.)