Food Storage Ideas

[KilbournFarmhouse]

Okay , OP..... Four chickens. Do you buy small bag. Get a plastic gallon storage container... Or better yet Walmart has large glass container with lids. I'll take a picture. It holds a big bag of sugar or flour. It's a giant jar..... Bigger than a mason jar.

Ours are currently on growers feed which we get in small 5lb bags, but do plan to get larger bags once they are on layer feed

I think I know the jars you mean. We used to keep pet food in them in our condo when it needed to be stored in the open. I think that will be too small for what we're thinking but is a great idea for smaller bags like scratch. Thanks!

The local feed store we buy from has either 5lbs bags or 40lbs (or around there). Small bags seem to be repack from larger and I'd like to move away from that. I'd prefer to shop local so I only have two options for sizes!

 

[Jabebee13]

Okay i am proud to attempt helping. I'm going to sleep now. It's 9:30 almost here. I'm out of ideas.

 

[KilbournFarmhouse]

You said that the area where you plan to store it does have leak's. You can use a sealant to seal up any gaps on the inside of the lid where the handles are at on the metal garbage can's. That will stop any water from getting in. My lid fit's snugly on mine.

Edit: When buying one of these metal one's with the lid's, make sure that the lid is going to fit snuggly before you purchase it in the store.

This is super helpful to hear. Thanks to you and all for the suggestion!

 

[KilbournFarmhouse]

I run a bungee cord between the handles and through the lid handle, and it works great! Mine is out in the weather and has stayed perfectly dry inside even in pouring rain.

Awesome. Thanks for sharing!

 

[RojoMarz]

We have a Viddles Vault to store food in.

 

[alwaystj9]

I use Viddles vaults in my house but when used outdoors, a rat chewed through the bottom.
I love the large opening and the easy screw off top, better than many of the pet food containers available.
I often use regular rubbermaid trash containers, they are cheap and available in many sizes. The ones with wheels are not good, they let moisture and bugs in where the axle goes. The lids often break first but I have some old metal drum tops that I set over the plastic drums. They are heavy and I use them upside down so they don't collect rainwater or slide off.
Honestly, animal food storage is ever evolving around here. Rats, raccoons and huge roaches will exploit any weakness. As more development happens around my town I have been battling large wharf/Norway rats. Anything they can get braced against, they will chew through. That includes thin metal cans so I am trying out different sizes/types of drums.
When I lived in South Carolina, old chest freezers were often used for feed storage. They worked very well.

 

[Sally PB]

When I lived in South Carolina, old chest freezers were often used for feed storage. They worked very well.

What a fantastic idea.

 

[KilbournFarmhouse]

I use Viddles vaults in my house but when used outdoors, a rat chewed through the bottom.
I love the large opening and the easy screw off top, better than many of the pet food containers available.

I had planned to use something similar, but this is what I am afraid of. We're in the city and there are rats. They normally stick to alleys, but our block doesn't have one so they roam more. I don't want to do anything else than can tempt them to get more comfortable in our yard or our neighbors.

 

[alwaystj9]

Metal is needed if you have any rat issues. I would love to use 55 gal. drums but am too short to access them easily. They are good for storage -- with a weight on the lid they are rodent proof.

 

[Jabebee13]

Okay i am proud to attempt helping. I'm going to sleep now. It's 9:30 almost here. I'm out of ideas.

Again going to sleep. Watching this thread grow.