Storing Feed in Hot and Humid

[MrsRevDr]

I live in Fl, this week it's in the mid 90's during the day and 70's at night, but I know soon it will be 100 most every day. I have been storing my chick feed inside but I was planning on buying a 50# bag and storing it outside in a plastic trash can? Any tips to keep it from spoiling???

 

[debid]

I bought a "vittles vault" that I'll store in the shed by the coop once the chicks move into their coop. It's plastic (less likely to sweat than metal) and has an airtight seal with a lid that's easy to open and wide for scooping. Ozbo has very good pricing on them and $4.95 flat shipping.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Quote:
Ditto. Except you can also get the containers at just about any pet store

 

[CupOJoe42]

You can put the feed in a plastic garbage can with a good seal and then inside a metal garbage can with a good seal. Then place on blocks to keep it off the ground with good airflow around it and out of sunlight. Keep in a cool, dry place.

 

[debid]

Quote:
Ditto. Except you can also get the containers at just about any pet store

Yep, and pay twice as much

I found Ozbo while looking for a Gamma lid for my 5-gallon nipple water bucket so I don't have to pry the lid off every time I need to clean/fill or leave it sitting loose. They have great pricing and actual humans answer the phone if you call with a question.

 

[ailurophile23]

What?! You still use a phone?!

Just kidding - it is nice to still find places you can call in an order and talk to a human. Kinda novel.

 

[ailurophile23]

We have this same issue with horse feed - heat and humidity are not it's friends. We have two solutions - buy less feed at one time so it doesn't sit around for very long and we also use an old chest freezer for storage. We got it free as it no longer worked and just had to haul it away. It is very rodent proof and as long as you keep the gasket in good condition, it seals airtight. No moldy feed in there.

 

[GiddyMoon]

I lived in different areas of Florida so I understand the humidity..there is no keeping it dry. I would look into putting a drying agent in a bag inside the feed, there are natural earth minerals or those desiccate pellets. Just keep a bag full in top of the feed in a layered pantyhose bag or something. We used to use these for our garage to keep books from getting moldy. It works well and keeps the mold from happening.

 

[MrsRevDr]

I could keep at the most a 25# bag inside the a/c house, I would just have to buy it once every 2 weeks or so, it would cost more but throwing away moldy feed would cost too, my husband suggested putting one of those "damp rid" cartons on the top, but I didn't like the idea of putting a chemical so close to it.

 

[ailurophile23]

Plus don't the Damp Rid cartons collect water in the bottom? What if it spills? The dessicant packs seem like a good option if you can't make do with the smaller quantities stored in the house. I may try using some dessicant for our horse feed - we buy hundreds of pounds at a time and it must be stored in the barn (no A/C -

).