How to Store Chicken Feed

[Yucca quail]

Following. recently discovered mouse poop in my shed and a hole in the bottom of my feed bag

 

[alwaystj9]

My stuff is kept in a not very weather-proof lean to

 

[preciouschick]

I am having an issue with the galvanized garbage cans. Moisture is getting in or its moisture from the feed. The bottom is rusting as well. going to switch to a plastic can and see if it makes a difference. I had 4 inches of hard feed that molded on the bottom. yuck!!

Hello,

I've had an issue with storing my chicken feed. I keep them in big tin trash cans outside so no critters can get in. However over the past few months if I do not use the feed it gets moldy within couple weeks? seems a little water gets in. How do you store chicken feed?

Thanks
Jessica

 

[alwaystj9]

I have had past issues with the metal trash cans. The moisture either came from where the top lid handle was attached or where the handles were attached on the sides of the cans.

There are rivets that go through the lid and handle attachments.

This allows the wire handle to fold down but you can put some silicone on and around the rivets to make them more weatherproof. Gorilla tape on the interior may also work.
As for the rusting bottoms, setting the cans on a pallet a bit above ground helps some but most of these cans have a short lifespan.
I tried plastic barrels (30 and 40 gallon) like these:

but Norway (also called wharf rats) rats were able to chew through the lids in one night.
After changing to metal covers, the rats simply got underneath and chewed up through the barrels.
Now I use metal barrels, I use metal lids and I have them up on pallets so they don't rust so quickly. I prefer the 30 gallon barrels because I am short but they are hard to find. Sometimes I pour feed off into 5 gallon buckets and stack them in the barrels.