Best way to store feed?

[Shezadandy]

A couple of years ago, prior to COVID-19, I would buy 4-6 months of feed if they were on a good sale. I never had any feed go bad. Just make sure you always use the oldest stuff first by using good feed rotation on your bags of stored feed. You don't want to buy a storage supply of feed to save money and then end up throwing it away because you forgot to check dates and make sure you feed the oldest food first.

Ditto on the lack of feed sales. Now the "sales" don't ever beat the quantity discount. The "regular" price went up $4/bag - so now the hunt is on to find the store that actually HAS enough in stock to GET the quantity discount. Sigh.

 

[gtaus]

Ditto on the lack of feed sales. Now the "sales" don't ever beat the quantity discount. The "regular" price went up $4/bag - so now the hunt is on to find the store that actually HAS enough in stock to GET the quantity discount. Sigh.

I only had 10 chickens, now down to 8. So I never really had the advantage of buying a quantity discount as that would have been far too much feed sitting in storage and going bad before use. So I would buy about 4 bags of feed when on a good sale and that would last me until the next good sale. But, like everyone seems to comment, those good sales appear to be a thing of the past. So now I check the feed aisle every time I go to our farm store and look for a discount on a broken bag of feed. For the past 3 months, I have been finding broken bags of feed enough to not have to pay full price. My chickens are getting old and not laying many eggs anymore. So every dollar saved on feed is appreciated.

 

[Shezadandy]

I only had 10 chickens, now down to 8. So I never really had the advantage of buying a quantity discount as that would have been far too much feed sitting in storage and going bad before use. So I would buy about 4 bags of feed when on a good sale and that would last me until the next good sale. But, like everyone seems to comment, those good sales appear to be a thing of the past. So now I check the feed aisle every time I go to our farm store and look for a discount on a broken bag of feed. For the past 3 months, I have been finding broken bags of feed enough to not have to pay full price. My chickens are getting old and not laying many eggs anymore. So every dollar saved on feed is appreciated.

For sure! Our local co-op (pre-Covid) did gift card deals twice a year - it amounted to a 20% discount on anything at any time if you could scrape together the $$, combined with feed sales used to add up to real savings regardless of the quantity purchased. I like your broken bag methodology!

 

[gtaus]

For sure! Our local co-op (pre-Covid) did gift card deals twice a year - it amounted to a 20% discount on anything at any time if you could scrape together the $$, combined with feed sales used to add up to real savings regardless of the quantity purchased. I like your broken bag methodology!

That's a pretty darn good deal on your gift cards. My local farm store sells the gift cards twice a year for 10% off, and I usually buy enough gift cards to last me about 6 months. But, yeah, little advantages add up. So last week I bought a broken bag of feed for 25% discount, but the feed was on sale for $1.00 off per bag, and I used my gift card to pay for the purchase to get that extra 10% off.

Full cost 50# bag of feed: $14.49
Sale price: $13.49
Broken bag 25% discount: $10.12
Gift Card 10% discount: $9.11

Total savings: $5.38 or about 37% off on that one bag

Of course, that was only 1 bag of feed. But it shows that it pays for me to always check the feed aisle for any broken bags that they will sell at a discount.

@Jessica Lyn, I hope some of this helps you save some money if you plan on buying feed in bulk and store it. There are many ways to save money.

Oh yeah, I bought my 10% off gift cards at my farm store using my credit card that gives me back 1.5% in cash rewards. So really, I guess those gift cards could be thought of as 11.5% discount. Of course, you have to pay the credit card balance off every month or it ends up costing you more money in credit card interest.

 

[Jessica Lyn]

That's a pretty darn good deal on your gift cards. My local farm store sells the gift cards twice a year for 10% off, and I usually buy enough gift cards to last me about 6 months. But, yeah, little advantages add up. So last week I bought a broken bag of feed for 25% discount, but the feed was on sale for $1.00 off per bag, and I used my gift card to pay for the purchase to get that extra 10% off.

Full cost 50# bag of feed: $14.49
Sale price: $13.49
Broken bag 25% discount: $10.12
Gift Card 10% discount: $9.11

Total savings: $5.38 or about 37% off on that one bag

Of course, that was only 1 bag of feed. But it shows that it pays for me to always check the feed aisle for any broken bags that they will sell at a discount.

@Jessica Lyn, I hope some of this helps you save some money if you plan on buying feed in bulk and store it. There are many ways to save money.

Oh yeah, I bought my 10% off gift cards at my farm store using my credit card that gives me back 1.5% in cash rewards. So really, I guess those gift cards could be thought of as 11.5% discount. Of course, you have to pay the credit card balance off every month or it ends up costing you more money in credit card interest.

Thank you!

 

[swamphiker]

Depends on the size of your flock, and your climate/storage areas. I have a small flock and store their feed in a shed, so I don't keep too much on hand due since it's humid here. I keep it in a plastic bin with a sealed lid. I may need to switch to a metal can at some point if/when the rodents come back, which is what I had to do with the sunflower seeds for the wild bird feeders.

 

[ChickenLeg]

Depends on the size of your flock, and your climate/storage areas. I have a small flock and store their feed in a shed, so I don't keep too much on hand due since it's humid here. I keep it in a plastic bin with a sealed lid. I may need to switch to a metal can at some point if/when the rodents come back, which is what I had to do with the sunflower seeds for the wild bird feeders.

I agree with Swamp, its humid here in west TN so in the summer I only buy 2 weeks of feed at a time so it doesnt go bad and mold. Now in winter I go ahead and buy 2 months at a time cause I dont have to worry about it spoiling I keep mine in plastic trash cans, you can score 25gal trash cans with lids for about $12. Metal is nice and I have seen mice chew through plastic if desperate enough lol.

 

[saysfaa]

My source of 55 gallon steel barrels asks $5 per barrel. Similar food grade barrels have been offered nonstop on craigslist for $20. I haven't looked at prices in other areas, though.

 

[User105877]

I store feed in a metal trash can with a lid. Holds 100lbs. Last me 2/-3 weeks no problem

 

[Aunt Angus]

Full cost 50# bag of feed: $14.49
Sale price: $13.49
Broken bag 25% discount: $10.12
Gift Card 10% discount: $9.11

I won't tell you how much I spend on feed. You'd all be ashamed of me...