Expired chicken feed

[brendaolson]

My local feed store had what I thought was a great deal on organic crumbles. In order to get the great price, you had to buy 10 bags. When I brought them home, I noticed they expire in Dec 2015. Is this safe to feed my flock? Thank you.

 

[CluckerCottage]

It may be ok technically, but I would not feed it to my flock.
I am very careful about what they eat.
Was this stored in a controlled environment?
Outside?
My concern would moisture/spoilage.

 

[brendaolson]

It was all just shipped in on pallets. They were all wrapped nicely. I don't think there would be an issue with moisture.

 

[CluckerCottage]

Ok, so open a bag-- does it smell fresh?
Any musty odor? Is there mostly dust or are the crumbles intact?
You be the judge.
Good luck!

 

[SueT]

Also, even if there is no mold or strange smell,   see if they will eat it.  I had some that turned out to be getting moldy and the chickens wouldn't touch it....
I would think they'd have to give you a refund if you brought it back.

 

[brendaolson]

I would too. They didn't advertise for expired chicken feed at a lower cost.

 

[Folly's place]

Besides the mold, rancidity, and insect issues, some of the essential vitamins degrade rapidly in feed. I don't buy anything older than four weeks from date of manufacture, and only buy enough to use in a month or less. The date on the bags should be the date it was processes, and Dec 2015 is way old! Mary

 

[lazy gardener]

According to a quote by a nutrition expert in the book written by Harvey Ussery: https://www.amazon.com/Small-Scale-Poultry-Flock-All-Natural-Approach/dp/1603582908 The nutrients in milled feed are pretty well degraded after 42 days. I will dig to the bottom of a pallet of feed to get a fresher bag. Have seen bags as old as 3 months old at the feed store. Whole grains have a very long shelf life.

 

[MorganC]

Unless you live right next to a feed mill and can get feed right out of the mill, most bags that you find at a feed store are well past their 60 day mark, which means most if not all of the nutrients are gone.
You can feed expired feed to your flock, providing that it is not moldy and that they will eat it. Keep in mind that if it is clumpy like it has been exposed to moisture, don't use it. But other than that, you are ok. I know a lot of people that won't feed their birds feed that has bugs in it....but really, that's ok too.
On the other hand.....I knew a goat breeder who wouldn't feed her goats anything she wouldn't eat herself, so what did she do.....she ate everything before she fed it to her animals. So, you could do that too, not that I would recommend it.

 

[triplepurpose]

yeah, most of us dont have access to feed that fresh, so we make do. im also not a big fan of wasting stuff, so my standards of what can serve as chicken feed are clearly lower than some--i mean, around here, what is no longer fit for us to eat goes to the chickens, so that it gets upcycled into better food again, of course, they dont have to eat anything they dont want to, but i generally notice that they arent very picky.

if the feed is moldy or seriously degraded, id absolutely want a refund. but if its just a little old and stale, well, thats why it was on sale and you get what you pay for. few people hold feed to the same standards as human food, and, honestly, theres good ecological and economic reasons why...

the fact that so much feed is not very fresh is another good reason to supplement the "complete" ration with fresh greens, insects, and other things to make up for the loss of nutrition. "complete" feed is not really so, in my opinion--but its still useful.