Old Fridge for feed storage - good or bad idea?

[wyoDreamer]

The freezer would be a sealed container as long as the inside plastic walls are intact and the door seal is good. They are made to be air-tight. I would make sure that the vent is covered with a small mesh so mice can't get inside there and chew teh insulation up and nest in there. They won't get to the feed, but it would make a nice, secure home for them in the motor area if they can get there.

The feed has been in the fridge for about 2 1/2 months now and the little canister of desiccant has very little moisture in the tub - so the fridge is very air tight. The feed smells fresh and the birds are gobbling it up.

 

[Inharmony]

We use old chest freezers they work great! Thw only thing to watch for is if you use it outdoors water could leak around the seals. (We store ours outdoors no issues with one, the other due to design of thw freezer it pools around the edge and water seeps in. But a tarp.over it works and no rodents!

 

[wyoDreamer]

Just to update - the fridge is working great! That little cannister of desiccant is about 1/2 way used up, the second one has not been opened. The feed stayed fresh smelling until I finished feeding it to the layers about a month ago. No mold or clumpy feed so it stayed dry even with our high humidity days. It stores the 50 pound bags of feed at a nice height for me stack in there and to remove. Looking forward to filing it with feed and doing another batch of meaties next summer.

 

[jjaazzy]

We recently had our refrigerator die and had to buy a new one. The old one was in great shape, but the compressor went out so it had to be replaced.


I also discovered that the local feed store will custom grind feed at a much lower price than buying at the store, BUT the minimum order is 250 pounds. That will work well for the broilers that I am currently raising. 250 pounds of feed is about what I need to feed them out to freezer camp. But this is Wisconsin, we do have humidity during the summer and although the feed would only be sitting around for about a month and 1/2, I still worry about it going bad by the time I get it used up. Plus the mouse factor of having bags of feed sitting around in the barn.

My brain works in mysterious ways and told me to use the refrigerator to store the feed in.
1.) It's mouse proof.
2.) It's sealed storage.
3.) The bags will be at a level that is easy for me to reach.

View attachment 2634546 View attachment 2634552

I put a moisture absorber in there to help keep the feed dry so humidity doesn't build up and cause spoilage.

What do you think? Good idea or Bad Idea?

Wyodreamer, how did this system work for you with the heat of summer? I am in hot florida and concerned buying from a mill, 1 ton at a time is way too much even tho I go through a lot of it. Did the fridge feed get moldy?

 

[wyoDreamer]

I love the fridge! It is working out great for me. We now store extra dog food in there also. It is fairly air-tight and I had 300 pound of feed in there for the meat birds. It still smelled fresh when I used the last of it when it was 4 months old.

I did buy a small Damprid bucket that fits in the door shelf to help control the humidity in there. I was surprised that only 1/2 of the Damprid was used up, it will still be working for this summer.

I use their closet ones also. They work great for small closed up areas.
Wisconsin gets humid, just not as bad as Florida.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Wyodreamer, how did this system work for you with the heat of summer? I am in hot florida and concerned buying from a mill, 1 ton at a time is way too much even tho I go through a lot of it. Did the fridge feed get moldy?

Hey @Jaazzy I expect we will bump into each other alot here.

The reclaimed fridge/freezer works great in summer, even with our humidity. I ended up building a "vault" which doesn't seal using a combination of 3' x 8' metal roofing panels and 1/2" plywood to control rodents, which I use to store around 700# of feed at a time. Its not as air tight, I don't keep a commercial dessicant in it, and I don't have mold/mildew issues. The faster you go thru feed, the less likely you are to have issues. I try to by a month at a time, and keep a week in reserve - so 5 weeks worth +/- is about the most you will ever find in mine. I have used a failed fridge as well - did my first year, before my collection of animals grew to sizes where it was simply too small - and the pandemic has made supplies of busted firdge/freezers much more expensive than they once were.

Space wise, that's the equivalent of a number (maybe 3?) of medium chest freezers - FIFO [First In / First Out] MUST be your rule - I strongly oppose those who simply lay bags horrizontally one on top of another in the freezer/fridge - too easy to stack new bags on old, rather than rotating stock. SO though its wasteful of vertical space, for reasons of inventory management, better to lay a fridge/freezer with compressor removed on its back, and store the bags upright.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Definitely need to rotate your feed. I always do.
I have a shelf nearby and do rotate the bags as needed. However, I only replenish as I get low - so when the last bag is removed is when I buy more to fill it back up. The feedstore used a tie-top bag for the meat bird food and I had to stand them up next to each other. I prefer to lay flat if I can.
I have trouble pulling 50-pound bags out of a chest freezer. That vertical lift is getting to be too much for this old body. Feed bags stacked flat are easier for me to slide out and carry to the feed bin by the coop.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Definitely need to rotate your feed. I always do.
I have a shelf nearby and do rotate the bags as needed. However, I only replenish as I get low - so when the last bag is removed is when I buy more to fill it back up. The feedstore used a tie-top bag for the meat bird food and I had to stand them up next to each other. I prefer to lay flat if I can.
I have trouble pulling 50-pound bags out of a chest freezer. That vertical lift is getting to be too much for this old body. Feed bags stacked flat are easier for me to slide out and carry to the feed bin by the coop.

Jaazy is using 50# a day. I use 10-12# per day for my flock (in signature, below) and simply scoop it out of the top of the open bag (with a plastic coffee can!)

and there are days I just can't unload 700# of feed on the back of the trailer - so I can appreciate where you are coming from.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I don't usually feed out of the fridge - trying to keep the humidity low in there so open only when needed. I have a sealed plastic container by the coop door that holds 50# of feed so I grab a bag from the fridge and fill it up.
My fridge would not hold 700# of feed, lol. I would have to use something else if I had that many animals. Also somewhere else as DH would kick me out if I had that many animals.

 

[jjaazzy]

Hey @Jaazzy I expect we will bump into each other alot here.

The reclaimed fridge/freezer works great in summer, even with our humidity. I ended up building a "vault" which doesn't seal using a combination of 3' x 8' metal roofing panels and 1/2" plywood to control rodents, which I use to store around 700# of feed at a time. Its not as air tight, I don't keep a commercial dessicant in it, and I don't have mold/mildew issues. The faster you go thru feed, the less likely you are to have issues. I try to by a month at a time, and keep a week in reserve - so 5 weeks worth +/- is about the most you will ever find in mine. I have used a failed fridge as well - did my first year, before my collection of animals grew to sizes where it was simply too small - and the pandemic has made supplies of busted firdge/freezers much more expensive than they once were.

Space wise, that's the equivalent of a number (maybe 3?) of medium chest freezers - FIFO [First In / First Out] MUST be your rule - I strongly oppose those who simply lay bags horrizontally one on top of another in the freezer/fridge - too easy to stack new bags on old, rather than rotating stock. SO though its wasteful of vertical space, for reasons of inventory management, better to lay a fridge/freezer with compressor removed on its back, and store the bags upright.

Absolutely I spent 2 years on here when I first started reading, learning it is a wonderful site and I refer everyone too it I come across. I love the question multi answer format. I grew very frustrated with FB with the constant stream of same questions because there is no format to search. So I am not around as much as I use to be but certainly when something comes up I come here first. Just a heads up on the feed, especially when dealing with baby feed. Purina states the feed should have a mill date between 30 to 45 days and not be over 60 days or the vitamins start to leach out, starting with the B's. So we go weekly or close to it for the freshest feed. I try not to go too low because certain things are tricky with stock. Like the chick starter, that one has been frustrating. So you deal with it. I was able to contact the mill that is the closest to me. It's a 2 hour drive but If I am heading north I am going to try and make it part of my trip when I do go. 27c a pound. Now for having to deal with getting enough to make it worth while, but not so much it goes moldy, it's a hot 85 today. Then getting a container to haul it.