Food Storage???

[chuckzoo]

chickie<3 :

I have 5 pullets and when they were chicks I bought 5lb. chick starter bags...but now that they will be on developer/grower for a while I bought a 50 lb. bag. I stored it in a plastic container but when I went to replenish the feeder..little moth like things were all over the place...so i transferred whatever i had to those huge oversized ziploc bags...when i went to replenish the feeder there was like 1 of the moth like things..so definately better then the plastic bin..but what would be ideal for storing the food??

It is going to take the chickens quite a while to get through 50Lbs.

Some of the advice I have read on the poultry food producers site indicate that in summer food should not be keep for longer than 1 month, 2 months in winter. It tends to loose it's nutritional value and palatability. I know because this happened to me and me chickens were eating very little in the winter!

Also, if storing feed in a metal trash can keep the feed in the bag, contact with the metal leaches nutrients from the feed.

Additionally feed must not be stored in a clear plastic container, constant exposure to light and the feed also looses it nutritional value.

There are some good suggestions regarding your current bag of food, i.e. freezing to get rid of the insects.

I have my feed store special order 25Lb bags of feed - I have 4 chickens, two fully grown and two 14 week olds. It takes them just under a month to eat 25 Lbs.​

 

[super roo]

We have 2 metal trash cans, 1 holds a 50# bag of scratch and a 25# bag of laying crumbles (layana) in the other I keep the chick starter. Never had any trouble with bugs or moths.

 

[Xanthro]

Get more chickens so a 50lb bag only lasts two weeks. Bugs are less of an issue then.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
While that may be true, if you check the milled dates on your feed, in the winter and spring especially oftentimes you are feeding grains that were milled last summer when the crops were brought in. Corn just don't grow well when it's 5 degrees out! I don't know how you can get fresher food when there is none being sold

 

[nitro3custom]

I've been using storage containers That I got at Walmart that have locking handles on both ends. I keep them in the garage and have used them for 2 years for bird seed and rabbit food and now my chicken feed. I have seen mouse droppings on them but never in them and have never had moth or bug problems..........................HMMMMMM so I just ran outside to get the mane of the containers. They are Sterilite brand. And as I open the rabbit food there's a @#$%%^^&&&** moth. but that is really the first time I've seen bugs of any type in the food, so I feel comfortable about recomending them for food.

 

[NevadaRon]

Quote:
Interesting! Asian meal moth? I wonder if Walmart's dog food comes from China?

I've seen chicken and pig food at Walmart but have hesitated to buy it because I thought it might be from China...

 

[NevadaRon]

Quote:

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
While that may be true, if you check the milled dates on your feed, in the winter and spring especially oftentimes you are feeding grains that were milled last summer when the crops were brought in. Corn just don't grow well when it's 5 degrees out! I don't know how you can get fresher food when there is none being sold

Intact whole grains retain their nutrition longer than grain that has been ground.

 

[moondog425]

I use new five gallon buckets.

 

[chuckzoo]

Quote:
While that may be true, if you check the milled dates on your feed, in the winter and spring especially oftentimes you are feeding grains that were milled last summer when the crops were brought in. Corn just don't grow well when it's 5 degrees out! I don't know how you can get fresher food when there is none being sold

I could be wrong, but I think the indication is meant from the time the bag is opened.