How do YOU store your chicken feed???

[keeko]

Hey folks!

It's my first time with chickens (and they're arriving next week!). I bought two galvanized steel trash cans with tight fitting lids, but I'm wondering if I should dump all the feed in them as-is, or if I should leave them in the paper bags they came in. How do you guys store your feed to keep it safe and keep critters out? How would you recommend NOT to store your feed??

 

[Imp]

I leave mine in the bag. Don't let it get wet.

Imp

 

[jennh]

I have a plastic trash can that I dump mine into. No bag. I use an aluminum grain scoop to scoop it out.

Jen

 

[BarkerChickens]

We keep ours in a bag and the bags are placed in a steel 55 gallon drum (to keep bugs, rodents, etc out!). We also have a large gravity fed feeder in the coop that holds about 5 bags (but we usually on have 2 or so in there).

edited to add: The steel drum has the lid and the hoop to secure it...it isn't open. Thought I'd clarify.

 

[BlackBart]

I store all feed, in their bags, inside a old non working chest freezer.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

I store mine in a plastic trash can with no bag.

 

[bison]

i get free 5 gallon buckets (WITH lids) from the grocery store. The lids are watertight, and of course make it predator proof. (When I kept them in just the bags, I had a mouse problem) I dump one bag of feed into two buckets. It's a cheap way to store it and light enough to carry if I need to.

 

[Illia]

I used to store all mine, in the bag, in the steel trash bins. But now, I just open each bag and pour them into the bin until it is full. The bin is in a building, and even with all the rain and humidity we get here - It stays nice and fresh.

 

[Laney]

We have the steel or aluminum buckets... and I have no idea the size... just big? I'd say 30 gallon? But I'm female and I don't measure well without having it right here. We dump the grain in and use a scoop to get it out. Each of our large trash buckets (with tight lids) holds 3 bags of feed. The small trash bucket is for starter/grower and it will hold 2 small bags, or 1 large.

We started using the trash buckets with lids because we GOT the rodents in our garage having a nice old winter, warm and cozy with a free buffet eating right trough the bottoms of the bags. Once we sealed up the bags they came into the house and started rifling through our pantry...so everything in there had to go into a tupperware. As soon as that happened they started searching under the cabinets, then into the bathrooms and finally bedrooms until we were finally rid of them when they determined that there was not a speck of food left in the house they could access.

The whole cycle took about a month. They were not going to give up the warmth until they were sure they'd have to starve to keep it. When you have a 14yo it's an uphill battle.

So, my advice to anyone is do not bring a lick of feed near your home unless it will always be in a sealed container!

Thank goodness we have a hay barn!

Laney

 

[Peeplperson]

We keep ours in the original bags inside galvanized steel trash cans with bungee(sp?) cords through the lids & handles to keep out the critters. By keeping the original bags, we don't get that 'smudge' in the cans that needs to be cleaned out.