How can I dispose of old feed?

[K0k0shka]

Back in March when COVID started, I may have gotten a bit anxious about feed supply and ordered a bunch of bags of feed... The chickens have been eating through them and I only have one bag left - a 50 lbs bag of layer crumble. They're not laying yet, so the bag is just sitting there. Its mill date says January though, so at this point the bag is quite old... One of my pullets is showing symptoms of wry neck and I'm treating her with extra vitamins, which makes it even more questionable whether I should feed them this old feed with potentially degraded vitamin content. I can just get more feed now, but my problem is - how do I dispose of this heavy bag of unwanted feed? It's too heavy for trash pick up, and I'm afraid that if I try to compost it, it will attract pests. Any ideas? I'm thinking of getting a galvanized metal trash bin and letting it compost in there with some water and other material - would that work? It will have to be anaerobic to keep pests out, so I guess I just don't open it for a year and hope by the time I do, it doesn't smell anymore

 

[darkbaysfordays]

If there isn't anything wrong with the feed (mold or pests) I would just feed it. You could always mix it half and half with a new bag if you're worried about nutrient degradation. Otherwise, I'd probably just find a spot away from things to dump it or bury it in the compost

 

[mommiesrcool]

Back in March when COVID started, I may have gotten a bit anxious about feed supply and ordered a bunch of bags of feed... The chickens have been eating through them and I only have one bag left - a 50 lbs bag of layer crumble. They're not laying yet, so the bag is just sitting there. Its mill date says January though, so at this point the bag is quite old... One of my pullets is showing symptoms of wry neck and I'm treating her with extra vitamins, which makes it even more questionable whether I should feed them this old feed with potentially degraded vitamin content. I can just get more feed now, but my problem is - how do I dispose of this heavy bag of unwanted feed? It's too heavy for trash pick up, and I'm afraid that if I try to compost it, it will attract pests. Any ideas? I'm thinking of getting a galvanized metal trash bin and letting it compost in there with some water and other material - would that work? It will have to be anaerobic to keep pests out, so I guess I just don't open it for a year and hope by the time I do, it doesn't smell anymore

on garbage day why don't you fill up bags with the old feed and then the garbage truck will pick it up and the pest won't eat it. that's what i do

 

[K0k0shka]

If there isn't anything wrong with the feed (mold or pests) I would just feed it. You could always mix it half and half with a new bag if you're worried about nutrient degradation. Otherwise, I'd probably just find a spot away from things to dump it or bury it in the compost

I'd rather dump/bury/compost than feed, but I'm in a tightly-packed suburb with one neighbor who hates me and my chickens, and I really don't want to give him any excuse to make a fuss about pests So I'm looking for ways to compost it without attracting every rodent in the neighborhood.

 

[K0k0shka]

on garbage day why don't you fill up bags with the old feed and then the garbage truck will pick it up and the pest won't eat it. that's what i do

Good point... I could break it up into smaller quantities and "feed" it to the garbage truck a little at a time

 

[mommiesrcool]

Good point... I could break it up into smaller quantities a

i always do that when its past the date

 

[shineandrise]

It's totally up to you to decide if you want to feed it to your chickens, if they are like your precious babies, then I suggest not feeding. The odds that they would get sick from that aren't too high, but you always should take precautions. We have a batch of 30 full grown chickens, + 10 chicks/pullets, its funny, I totally would for the chickens, but not for the chicks! Breaking it up into smaller quantities is a great idea! You could do that with half, and then bury the other half in the compost pile.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I’d feed it. Or buy a new bag and mix some new with the old. I’m feeding mine feed mixed from April and they are doing alright. My neighbor had actually given me several bags which is why I have so much. My little girls are good foragers and for a flock of 17 I only refill the feed bucket 1-2 times a week in the summer.

 

[K0k0shka]

It's totally up to you to decide if you want to feed it to your chickens, if they are like your precious babies, then I suggest not feeding. The odds that they would get sick from that aren't too high, but you always should take precautions. We have a batch of 30 full grown chickens, + 10 chicks/pullets, its funny, I totally would for the chickens, but not for the chicks! Breaking it up into smaller quantities is a great idea! You could do that with half, and then bury the other half in the compost pile.

I would’ve just fed it to them if it wasn’t for that one chicken with the wry neck. So I suddenly got paranoid about vitamin deficiencies Mine are pet chickens, but they’re still chickens, so I don’t insist on the best of the best of all feed. I just don’t want them developing neurological disorders or some serious crap like that, because of an easily preventable cause like old feed...

 

[K0k0shka]

I’d feed it. Or buy a new bag and mix some new with the old. I’m feeding mine feed mixed from April and they are doing alright. My neighbor had actually given me several bags which is why I have so much. My little girls are good foragers and for a flock of 17 I only refill the feed bucket 1-2 times a week in the summer.

Mine don’t free range and forage though. They have their run and that’s it.