How long does chicken feed last in storage?

[Scooter&Suzie]

Quote:
It gets about as hot in my shed as it does in my house - Hot. We don't have AC, just so you get the temperature straight I could put it in our storage room during the summer - it's the coolest place in the house.

Sometimes bugs hatch out in feed...you'd not want them to hatch out inside your home. Just FYI.
Hmmmm... Good point. Even if the bag is sealed? Once I open it it would be in my shed. *shivers*

 

[ocap]

my mom kept feed for wild birds in her the trunk of her car and mice that were attracted to the feed ended up eating the wiring. All kinds of storage problems !!

 

[LGJ3]

Saying that chicken feed is only good for 60 to 90 days is fine, but what do you base that opinion on. Where does that information come from? As noted by other contributors grains are harvested once or in a really good year twice a year. And, so if it is a grain product and it is from the grain harvested this year what difference does it make if its June this year or June next year, it is still the same grain. If there is something out there that is objective and not subjective I would like to know. Why, because I have my feed shipped in and it is very costly, the larger the shipment the more the cost is spread.

 

[lazy gardener]

old thread.

 

[aart]

old thread.

But not irrelevant due to age....of thread.

Saying that chicken feed is only good for 60 to 90 days is fine, but what do you base that opinion on. Where does that information come from? As noted by other contributors grains are harvested once or in a really good year twice a year. And, so if it is a grain product and it is from the grain harvested this year what difference does it make if its June this year or June next year, it is still the same grain. If there is something out there that is objective and not subjective I would like to know. Why, because I have my feed shipped in and it is very costly, the larger the shipment the more the cost is spread.

Some ingredients could degrade/spoil with time, heat, humidity.
Pests could hatch out in it (I mix in some DE if that happens)....mold could grow in it.....
How long feed is 'good' for is highly situational and rarely quantifiable.

 

[lazy gardener]

Pg 158 of The Small Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery quoted Jeff Mattocks regarding "stale feeds". Mattocks states, "Feeds are at the optimum level for up to 14 days, and are satisfactory up to 45 days after grinding or milling. After 45 days, the feed is generally so stale or oxidized that poultry appetite will be serverely depressed. Oxidation starts immediately after the grinding or cracking of the grain."