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critter care

Feed bins

Cj Sloane

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posted 11 years ago

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How are people storing feed? I have 2 really good Rubbermaid containers which are great, seal well, but they aren't being made anymore. I have 2 of their new kind which do not close well at all. It'll keep rodents out, I guess, but not really air tight. They look like this:

So what are people using for long term storage?

I've filled up one of those Brutes with acorns and now I need some thing else. I wonder if I can make something or I should just use a garbage can that locks well? Thoughts?

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Jack Edmondson

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posted 11 years ago

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CJ,

I don't know about the 'feed' bin pictured, as I have never seen one. However, Rubbermaid is still making a line of plastic cans with good sealing lids of all sizes in their industrial line. I purchase occasionally at work for trash. Lids seal pretty well.

http://www.uline.com/Grp_220_brute/

Several companies carry them. Not an endorsement of the supplier listed.

Cj Sloane

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posted 11 years ago

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The old Rubbermaid ones were black like their water tanks and food grade, which I assume the trash cans are not. I may wind up with trash cans but was just wondering what my options were.

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R Scott

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posted 11 years ago

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55 gallon drums with clamp-on lids. Found on craigslist, used to have food ingredients in them. I think I paid $10 for them, but you can get cheaper if you are patient--I needed them ASAP.

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Frank Brentwood

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posted 11 years ago

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I'm assuming you have larger feed storage requirements than I do, but I use recycled food-grade 4-gallon pickle buckets that I got from a local diner guy that I know. I like them better than the 5-gallon buckets because they are square rather than round and store better on shelves. Since I'm only feeding one rabbit at the moment, I only have one bucket in use.

In the past, when we had more rabbits, I stored larger, sealed bags inside a metal trash can to avoid rodents (rats, mice, & squirrels) that chewed through the plastic buckets and raided the poor bunnies food supply. Don't know your situation with storage location and potential for vermin, but once they discovered my pellet stockpile the only solution to avoid their invasion was to relocate the bunnies permanently.

Cj Sloane

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posted 11 years ago

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Right now the mice only get into the feed bin if the lid's not on tight.

Also, I was wrong. The bins I have and really like are made by Tuff Stuff and I guess Tractor supply isn't selling them anymore.

They are crazy expensive on amazon. I think for $20 those blue plastic 55 gallon drums are the best deal.

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Cj Sloane

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posted 11 years ago

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Update if I buy anything else I think it might be this 31 gal metal trash can with a lid for $25 from Tractor Supply:

Not often that metal is cheaper than plastic.

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Craig Dobbson

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posted 11 years ago

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I bought that same metal can for duck feed this year. It's sturdy, durable and the lid fits tightly. The one drawback is that the handle for the lid is riveted (I think) and that allows water to drip through and onto the food. I have been planning to patch it with a little silicone or something. It's a small gap but a gap nonetheless. Probably best to seal it from the inside too.

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Craig Dobbson

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posted 11 years ago

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I just took another look at it. There are slots cut in the top so that the handle can be inserted and then bent to prevent it coming loose. The gap is where the slots were cut too large for the handle tabs.

The riveted ones I mentioned before are on a different can that I store chicken feed in. I swear I have so many containers and not two are the same.

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Cj Sloane

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posted 11 years ago

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I do keep my food bins under a shelter of sorts. but really I need more storage...more more more
see my thread here

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Timothy Norton

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posted 1 year ago

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I utilized galvanized steel cans like one previously mentioned to store my feed/supplements.

I lift them off the ground with some scrap 4x4s to discourage rust from the base and so far have been doing great. I store my feed cans for my chickens in their run so I cover them with a layer of burlap to make remove manure easier on me.

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Jay Angler

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posted 1 week ago

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Out in our field where rats, mice, and coons can roam with near impunity, we use a double bin system. We can download one bag of chicken pellets into two 15 liter square buckets which are fairly convenient for actually feeding our birds. However, these buckets aren't water tight and rats will absolutely try to chew into them, so in the field we use heavy duty plastic garbage cans to house the square bucket. The odd time we've had the garbage can lids blow off in a big storm, but we try to leave the cans in sheltered areas of the field to reduce this risk.

Last spring we had one of those "big storms" which ripped a huge limb off a tree and it landed on several of our feed garbage cans. The "double" system enabled us to rescue most of the feed. We lost at least one can and one bucket to the massacre, but considered ourselves very lucky that most of the feed could be salvaged.

I would love to shift much of this away from plastic, but galvanized cans corrode in our climate, and as mentioned above, tend to leak where the lid handle attaches. So far, stainless is beyond out budget!

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Carla Burke

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posted 1 week ago

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I buy only what they'll go through in a month, and store it all in the gravity feeder, with a lid. The chickens are vigilant about eating whatever wants to eat their feed, so nothing gets in, because they eat it, before it can.

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Nick Mick

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posted 1 week ago

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I currently keep all my feed in metal trash cans so rats can’t chew through them. Some of the newer ones have lids with no handle on top but a lip on the edge instead, so no rain water gets in. I used to keep my unopened feed bags in a metal stock bin with an old door as a lid. I could keep a lot of feed bags in that thing but I needed the bin for chicks so now they are just in a series of metal trash cans I got at a yard sale.

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