Long term storage of chicken feed?

[Camalot]

My friend has chickens and asked me how to store a volume of chicken pellets long term. I naturally, was clueless so I have turned to the professionals. However, until they get back with me I have asked the community here! lol She told it that pellets mold if kept in the sacks or otherwise long term. Any suggestions?

 

[viking]

Boy oh boy did we ever learn a lesson on trying to store extra chicken layer pellets, the 40 pound bags started heating up from enzyme action, just like composting, then thousands of little weavels hatched out and some we crawling up the wall behind the sacks, they also got into sacks of rice, it got pretty crazy until we got rid of all of the infestation and yes, the mold. Probably the only way one could long term store some feeds would be to have the bags in a freezer, that would kill the bug eggs, and stop rancidness that comes from the natural oils in grain germ. As it is, for long term storage of brown rice, we store it in a freezer. When I was working custodial/maintenance for the local school district I had to stack government commodities in a storeroom of the elementary, some of those things were regular wheat flour, whole wheat flour and corn meal, this room never got all that warm due to the large walk-in freezer that was in the same room, but many times when I walked into that storage room, I could smell rancidness, especially from the whole wheat flour and the corn meal. I told the kitchen boss that they needed to put those in the freezer and that's what we ended up doing. Anyway, there's my 2 cents worth of experience, hope it's of some help.

 

[Camalot]

Thank you Viking. That is very good information. The "don't does are just as valuable as the "to dos." in my opinion. My friend and I are going to start really laying in things are we have decided we may be close to out of time to do so. We're going to commit all our available resources to this now.

 

[Amish Heart]

I would look at growing food that chickens can eat

 

[Magus]

Put them in a clean 55 gallon drum with a sealable air tight lid, before you close it up, put a metal pan on top with a quart of dry ice in it and lightly crack the bung with a wrench, go back in a few hours and tighten it, you should be good for around 5 years. mold and mildew can not grow without oxygen. the CO2 forces it out. Once you break the seal you're back to square one however.

EDIT:
A pan of liquid nitrogen works well too and if there are seeds involved, they will still sprout.

 

[viking]

Put them in a clean 55 gallon drum with a sealable air tight lid, before you close it up, put a metal pan on top with a quart of dry ice in it and lightly crack the bung with a wrench, go back in a few hours and tighten it, you should be good for around 5 years. mold and mildew can not grow without oxygen. the CO2 forces it out. Once you break the seal you're back to square one however.

EDIT:
A pan of liquid nitrogen works well too and if there are seeds involved, they will still sprout.

I heard years ago that apples and probably other fruits were stored in sealed warehouses that were near freezing and had a nitrogen atmosphere, that process really slows down the ripening, I remember my dad mentioning that bananas used to be shipped in a controlled atmosphere, probably refrigerated and gassed with nitrogen.

 

[Magus]

In great granny's day they put apples and potatoes in a wood barrel and lit a little pan of sulfur on top, then covered it in a coarse cloth, the apples would turn white but were still quite edible and kept all winter and mice and bugs avoided them.
This article is about sulfur treating dried apples but its the same method.
https://www.themountaineagle.com/articles/sulfuring-apples/I love your quote Viking, makes one feel a man among men don't it?

 

[Bacpacker]

In great granny's day they put apples and potatoes in a wood barrel and lit a little pan of sulfur on top, then covered it in a coarse cloth, the apples would turn white but were still quite edible and kept all winter and mice and bugs avoided them.
This article is about sulfur treating dried apples but its the same method.
https://www.themountaineagle.com/articles/sulfuring-apples/I love your quote Viking, makes one feel a man among men don't it?

Sulfuring apples was quite the thing around here back in the day. they kept very well

 

[Wyatt]

In my mind, long-term pelletized feed storage is neither wise nor cost-effective for most small holders, unless you are getting your feed for a ridiculously low, below market, initial cost.

The often out-of-sight, out-of-mind variable is loss of nutritional value over time. Once the cereal grain is broken, it begins to deteriorate in nutritional value/quality. Mold is another consideration. By feeding moldy feed, (not always observable) you can effectively be poisoning your livestock. maybe not enough to kill them, but enough to sicken them and impede production of eggs, meat, milk, etc. Insect/weevil infestation has already been mentioned. Then there is rodent, raccoon, etc.

The cost of setting up a feed mill is unreasonable unless the scope of your operation justifies it. Then there is grain storage capital expense and the labor involved in hauling components, grinding and mixing feed and the knowledge required to blend a nutritionally balanced concentrate or TMR, (total mixed ration)

I believe that one's interests would be better served by cultivating a good brain trust relationship with their county university extension service and local feed mill.

I would rather purchase from a feed mill rather than a Tractor Supply type operation because if feed sales are just a sideline you have no way of knowing how fresh the feed is.

The fresher the feed, the better the desired end result from the animal being fed that feed.

I gotta wonder about folks that feed their dogs a cheap feed they bought at a bargain store that's as old as Methuselah.

 

[montanabill]

Storage and procurement depends on the situation you will be dealing with. With mentions of chicken feed already becoming scarce I plan on having winter feed for my flock of 14 to carry them thru the winter.
Whole wheat and corn kernels which can be cracked with my crude grain grinder will be one thing. If commercial feed is still available this fall I will stock heavy and count on our cold temps to enable me to keep it thru the winter.
Luckily chickens are omnivorous and can eat many different things to gain nourishment. I also have a good supply of coarse sand to small gravel for them to peck at to ensure their craws have the grinding components for rough feed.

 

[joel]

My Father had an acre of Okra, when the market price fail from $22.00 to
$12.00 a bushel in 1975, he stopped harvesting & let the field go to seed.
We had five pounds of seeds in the six foot freezer for many years & the seed spouted when planted. So A large freezer will work, but that's $1000.00 + electric until you use all the feed.
But you never ask cheap, just long term.

 

[Magus]

I wonder if just planting seed grass isn't a better option for minor things, use the stored stuff first, then plant sustainible seed crops if the SHTF lasts longer?

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

I have a years worth of pellets. I don't like them but I have them. I also have a years worth of wheat and peas which is better.

The pellets need to be kept coolish and dry. The chickens actually like them better, fermented. Who cares about weevils in chicken feed. More protein and the chickens eat them. I have never had a weevil problem though. In a pinch, stack the pellets in the coop. If they develope weevils the chickens will deal with it

During the summer I hang maggot tubes in the chicken yard.

 

[Hooch]

I need to get better on rotating my feed..but I store my chickens feed in clean , new steel trash cans and i just scored two freezers for grain.
I found out the hard way that i had to caulk the lid rivets n handle holes on the trash cans. Moisture ruined the feed in that can..but since I've caulked all the lids, i havent had any rotten, moldy or rancid feed that I'm storing. 3 cans are outside in the coop run, 3 are inside the coop.
I just started filling the freezers with grains , layer n a bag n half of chick feed. I hear chicken food is getting harder to source so im buying a few bags every payday so by winter I have enough to get them through if it's as bad as I hear it will be.
Once the freezing temps stop , i ferment my chicken food too. They love it n it extends feed cost. Right now they all have some of that in the am but the rest of the day they all free range. Grass, weeds and copious amounts of pesty grasshoppers..

 

[joel]

 

[Tim Horton]

We occasionally buy bulk layer mash pellets in a bulk mini tote, about 7-800 kilo or so.. We have stored it in some old chest freezers in the chicken house vestibule.. We have bought hen scratch and rabbit pellets in pallet quantity bags, again storing either bags or loose in old chest freezers.. In these quantities it has made feed significantly more affordable.. Here in the north, this has worked well..

 

[AR_Country]

Boy oh boy did we ever learn a lesson on trying to store extra chicken layer pellets, the 40 pound bags started heating up from enzyme action, just like composting, then thousands of little weavels hatched out and some we crawling up the wall behind the sacks, they also got into sacks of rice, it got pretty crazy until we got rid of all of the infestation and yes, the mold. Probably the only way one could long term store some feeds would be to have the bags in a freezer, that would kill the bug eggs, and stop rancidness that comes from the natural oils in grain germ. As it is, for long term storage of brown rice, we store it in a freezer. When I was working custodial/maintenance for the local school district I had to stack government commodities in a storeroom of the elementary, some of those things were regular wheat flour, whole wheat flour and corn meal, this room never got all that warm due to the large walk-in freezer that was in the same room, but many times when I walked into that storage room, I could smell rancidness, especially from the whole wheat flour and the corn meal. I told the kitchen boss that they needed to put those in the freezer and that's what we ended up doing. Anyway, there's my 2 cents worth of experience, hope it's of some help.

I know this is old but thank you for sharing your experience. I am very keen on having "extra" of everything, and if I didn't read this, I might have made a mistake. I live in Arkansas as well. Hot and Humid, and the state bird in the Skeeter so that it would have been a disaster. Thank you, sir.

 

[oldschoolgenz]

My friend has chickens and asked me how to store a volume of chicken pellets long term. I naturally, was clueless so I have turned to the professionals. However, until they get back with me I have asked the community here! lol She told it that pellets mold if kept in the sacks or otherwise long term. Any suggestions?

One thing I'd suggest first off is to not feed them pellets. Find them a good 19-21% feed with corn, seeds and other better food sources. Down here in Alabama we have Keefarosa Chicken Crack feed which is the best stuff I've found. When I switched from pellets to that I immediately saw increase in egg production, activity level, general happiness, and my hens became fatter.
As far as storage, I keep my feed in an aluminum trash can outside the pen. Every now and then an ant bed will form next to the can and I'll just throw seven dust all around. After so long the pellets in Keefarosa will start to mold so if that's occurring for your friend just try not purchasing as much feed.

 

[montanabill]

My chickens don't like the pellets. They free ranged all summer and now like the cracked corn grain mix or the wheat and other grain "cleanout grains" I get from a local feed mill for cheap. If you feed the whole grains and seeds just make sure the birds have some grit for their craws to grind things up. I also have some dried meal worms but those are pricy for everyday feed. I bought some party mix also but it is just the same mix of corn and grains with some meal worms mixed in.

 

[GreenAcres]

Put them in a clean 55 gallon drum with a sealable air tight lid, before you close it up, put a metal pan on top with a quart of dry ice in it and lightly crack the bung with a wrench, go back in a few hours and tighten it, you should be good for around 5 years. mold and mildew can not grow without oxygen. the CO2 forces it out. Once you break the seal you're back to square one however.

EDIT:
A pan of liquid nitrogen works well too and if there are seeds involved, they will still sprout.

Thats a really good idea. I had never thought of that. even if you couldnt get all of the O2 out, it would still greatly slow the process down.

 

[montanabill]

Just make sure you don't close up a 55 gal with dry ice melting. It has in the past blown up the barrel for some folks.