garbage can full of wet scratch

[taprock]

We had high winds last night and 3 inches of rain. This morning I went out to discover the lid had blown off the garbage can half full of scratch. If I throw it in the compost the chickens will eat themselves silly, but I don't know that I should feed it to them. I'm sure it will start to ferment.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

or get moldy

 

[goldeneggtees]

I would be very careful of mold, i would think that if it was only recently wet, you might get away with today to feed it to them but other than that, i would toss it. Or maybe even dump it somewhere where wild birds could eat it. Before it does go bad.
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[tclegg]

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I would use what u can in a day or two but after that get rid of it-it can be hazardous for them--not worth the chance....

 

[suzettex5]

Its not going to go bad in one day or night- its safe to feed it to them today, but not so safe beyond that. You could spread it out as far as possible and let them eat it and toss some in compost too. Bury or toss whatever amount you think is too much for them to eat in one day.

 

[zookeeper15133]

Do you have any large window screens you could put up on blocks and spread it out to dry? Sort of like a sweater dryer?

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Time to fire up the the old still...

or just spread it thinly in the yard with a rake and let them eat it.

They don't really gorge themselves. They'll just eat what they need and come back for more. It may take them a few days to clean it up.

 

[Chris09]

Well the other thing you can do is fill the can up with water (enough to cover the grain) and let the grain soak in the water it isn't going to mold under water it will sprout and ferment but not mold.
Just keep the grain covered with water as the grain and you use it and try to use what you can in 3 or 4 days.


Chris

 

[A.T. Hagan]

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This is what I'd do. Rake it out thin in the sunshine. If the ground isn't still soaked it'll dry out pretty quick and they can clean it up at their leisure.

 

[Stingrayg4]

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A sensible and well thought out reply!

-S