Shelf life of feed

[Tamidon]

If you have a small number of birds how long can you keep chicken feed? It's much cheaper to buy by the 50# bag,but i don't want to waste more by it going off.

Also, if feed can go bad, how can you tell?

 

[warren]

I think that there is a lot of rubbish talked about shelf life of food. Sometimes supermarkets throw away fruit that is not even ripe because it has gone past the date.
I check my feed by giving it a sniff regularly. If it has got damp it will go off even if it is months before the date.
If it smells wrong then don't use it. If it smells OK then it most likely is perfectly OK. It might lose some of its vitamin content if it is past the date, but if your birds free range then they will get plenty more vitamins themselves.
I always buy a large bag as it is cheaper.
And to be even more of a cheapskate I mix the dust in the bottom of the bag with boiling water to make a sort of porridge which they love.