How do you store your poultry feed?

[aoxa]

I never thought about mice or rats chewing through the plastic buckets. :/ They are really thick polypropylene plastic. I know plastic because I work in QC in plastics. I guess it's possible though. I've been lucky in using these plastic buckets for a year now with no problems yet. Hope that doesn't change. I thought about going with metal but over time even that can rust.

I store mine in plastic as well. No issues, and we DO have mice in the barn. Visually saw a rooster catch and kill one, and also found one in the feed when I forgot to put the lid on

They eat through a garbage can every 3 days.. My wallet cries. The chickens - not the rodents. Also - they hold 1.5 bags of feed (roughly 75 pounds).

 

[bruceha2000]

Cost per bucket: FREE!

Sounds like you can start a BYC container sales company. Free product, shipping plus a buck - all profit!

Cheaper than buying them at the store.

I have a single container, don't need more at this time since I have 12 birds all the same age. I only worry about the feed. I don't think the rodents will bother the oyster shells or the diatomaceous earth

It is, I guess, a large stock pot. It has a tight fitting but not locking lid and holds a 25# bag of pellets. It came with the barn and was probably used for feed in the past. No critters in it so far. I suppose I actually COULD use another container since the bag of BOSS is kept in the house. If I had a critter safe container, I could keep some in the barn with the girls. We now carry it down in a SMALL (maybe a quart?) round container with a snap on lid that had ribs in it originally. Fancier (and more wasteful) than vacuum packing in plastic but since I am now using it for BOSS, NOT wasteful. It is good for a few days, we don't give them a lot at one time. The ribs were pretty good too.

Bruce

 

[bruceha2000]

Yes, in my house, i have all the duck/chicken feed, horse feed in there,

Do you sleep on the bales of hay? When you say "time to hit the hay" you MEAN IT!

Must be a BIG room

Bruce

 

[joebcarr]

i find that (one) 50 pound bag of feed fits perfectly into (two) 5 five gallon plastic buckets. the kind that paint and drywall mud sold in. they are kept outside with their snap on lids. they stay moisture free and in 3 years, never once has a mouse attempted to chew through.

 

[LaynaDon95]

I store my feed in plastic totes in the coop. I go through it fast enough I don't have to worry about other things eating it!

I have gotten free buckets from the Wal-Mart bakery a couple times and I love it! They are definitely hard to clean, though! I made mine into nesting boxes! I have 2 broody girls hogging them up right now, and of course they chose the 2 favorites.


This is the best pic I have of them right now. I put the lid on the bucket and cut about 2 thirds of it out, then covered the lip with duct tape because it was a little sharp and I didn't want my girls to hurt their feet. They love them! I pick more buckets up every time I remember. They are great for all kinds of projects!

 

[bruceha2000]

at times one of the bathrooms too!

Weren't bathtubs made to do double duty as brooders?? That is where my 12 spent their first 4 weeks. 3 weeks in the tub and one where they spent more time sitting on the edge than inside. They would eat, drink and sleep inside but during the day they would pop in and out. Rarely jumped out to the ground though. Pretty far, and probably scary, for a little bird.

Bruce

 

[jksranch]

I had squirrrel problems they could go thru a plastic trash can over night!! if you use metal barrels make they are vented or the feed is likely to mold in them. Metal trash cans work best for outside storage.

 

[sunnyvera]

I too store my feed outside next to the coop door. A 40# bag fits into the heavy plastic garbage cans and the lids are very snug. Have had no problem for years. Scratch is also in one of the heavy garbage cans. We have plenty of raccoons around, but the feed has been untouched. BTW - I only have 23 chickens, so feed lasts pretty long time.

 

[Poetical Peeps]

Those plastic pails look much like the ones our cat litter comes in. We reuse them for a lot of things, but I've been uneasy about using them for feed. I'm mainly concerned that I might be unable to get all the kitty litter chemicals out and it might be toxic to my birds. Rodents aren't a concern (as the giant vats of cat litter may indicate!), but I'm wondering if any of you have used them and, if so, did you notice any ill effects?

Curious, too, about whether the cans are water tight. I saw someone else asking about this -- sorry if I missed an answer somewhere.

 

[Jenny1]

My problem isnt mice or rats. Its two little monkeys who open the bin and throw it all over the kitchen floor.... they are adorable little troublemakers! Or, they go outside and put the food on the grass. It either grows into weeds (scratch) or it gets to be soggy nasty fly attractant. Eww. A bungie cord has helped.