moldy food?

[StarryEyzz]

We feed Scratch & Peck chicken feed which is whole grain. Yesterday the food dispenser got caught in a sudden downpour. I mixed the food all up. Some is dry, some formed crumbles from the wet stuff. I put it back in dispenser and fed it to them last night and today. I'm sure I will need to remove it soon to replace with fresh. How long till I should be worried about it going moldy?

 

[Barrdwing]

Generally I won't feed wet feed that's older than 36 hours, and if the weather is really warm, even that could be risky. Mold seems to grow really fast in damp feed, and some varieties are deadly. You can also get growth of some truly evil bacteria species. It's hard to know, looking at the feed, whether there's something dangerous in there or not, so I err on the side of caution.

When one of our feeders gets wet, the next day I dig out all the damp feed and throw it away. Sometimes there's no good way to separate it from the dry feed, and you can end up wasting some feed. Then you'll want to dry out the feeder thoroughly (I leave it in the sun for an hour or so) before refilling it. It's a nuisance but better than having sick birds.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Depends on the local temperature and humidity. This time of year here in Florida less than twenty four hours. In fact if I find it wet I dispose of it. Moldy feed can be bad news for poultry.

 

[chfite]

I would toss the wet food after a day or so. Moldy food can be bad news for the chickens. Not worth the risk, just the same as food poisoning for humans.

Chris

 

[StarryEyzz]

I kept it for about 2 days then tossed the rest.

THANKS, everyone, for your input.