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Feed bins - How do you store livestock feed?

Cj Sloane

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posted 12 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 12 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 12 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 12 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 12 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 12 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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Jay Angler

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posted 2 months 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 2 months 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 2 months 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.

Timothy Norton

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posted 3 months ago

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I keep chickens and I store their feed inside of their enclosed run for convenience. Two galvanized garbage cans can store at least a month's worth of feed and many months more of supplements/accoutrements. Their feed come from a local grain mill and I can fit several standard feed bags in each can.

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John F Dean

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posted 3 months ago

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Critter proof garbage cans. I keep more feed on hand during the winter than the summer… in case of weather issues keeping me. Home.

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Ellen Johnson II

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posted 1 month ago

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An old freezer works great. You can get the size you need.

marie-helene kutek

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posted 1 month ago

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Hellooo
We ve had rain, not enough but gratitude anyway, accompanied by rip roaring thunder.
It was quite fabulous but the cats thought otherwise.
They are my principal livestock. There has been a canine presence and may well be another, soon.
To minimize feeding all the neighbourhood cats rats badgers fox, the usual suspects etc all the time, I too have galvanized bins outside under a roof.

For other stuff of interest to uninvited visitors, I have found washing machine drums useful as the holes are sufficiently
small to make access tricky.
When beekeeping, I was amazed to learn that tiny rodents can gain access to a hive with openings of just over 5mm, just under is too small. It s a fine line.
I don t know know how that translates into inches if at all it s that tiny.

Neighbours have old freezers, upside down commercial ovens and fridges. And of course silos but those are not immune to hungry beings.

I am full of admiration for the ingenuity of critters to gain access wherever, a bit like me really.

This year, I have put water out in all sorts of places and of course this attracts all and sundry, yet still haven t seen a hedhehog but where do the froglets come from?
They are most welcome as are the adders as long as they don t chomp each other.
I have asked, nicely.

Blessings from this cooler weather
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Douglas Alpenstock

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posted 1 month ago

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Ellen Johnson II wrote:An old freezer works great. You can get the size you need.

Agreed. I know people who do this -- it keeps the rodents out and protects against excessive humidity. Sometimes they add a small open pail with dry, loose salt to help with humidity also.

Sandra Scarce

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posted 1 month ago

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Ellen Johnson II wrote:An old freezer works great. You can get the size you need.

Perfect timing. This would be ideal. We bought Sears largest chest freezer 40 years ago with money we received at our wedding. It's still out in the garage working perfectly but I had decided to send it to the dump when it finally died or when we moved. This would make a perfect feed storage container because it's huge. It will be making the move with us now. This is a great idea. Thank you.

Kara Ann

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posted 1 month ago

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Wow - that is SUCH a great idea about the freezer as storage - Thanks Ellen and Douglas - I had just been looking to problem solve this, and so this is very good timing

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John F Dean

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posted 1 month ago

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For what is is worth, I had a raccoon chew through the side of heavy plastic critter proof container.

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Douglas Alpenstock

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posted 1 month ago

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Re freezers: Some of the old ones have an opening at the back where the compressor sits. If you have rats it's a good idea to screw sheet metal over this.

Mary Cook

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posted 1 month ago

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We have three kinds of chicken feed in large plastic buckets, in the house.

Dennis Barrow

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posted 1 month ago

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I am fortunate to have a conex that is critter proof, (unless someone leaves the door open). I keep my bags of feed in there.
In my coop I have a metal garbage can I keep all the supplements in.
I built a garbage can feeder I have in the coop that holds 100 lbs of feed. I know the mice help themselves, but my cats think it is a feeder for them now.

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Thekla McDaniels

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posted 1 month ago

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Our feed store delivers in 55 gallon barrels. They unload the barrels into the shed , and I leave them there.

It’s great not having all the trash build up… the feed sacks I mean.

I used to have bajillions of mice, which would have been a problem because the lids on the barrels don’t necessarily fit tight, unless I put the clamp on, which I don’t want to bother with!

The barrels are rotating stock. They arrive full and depart empty so there’s no point trying to adapt them for a tight fit.

I had some half grown cats show up a couple years ago. I fed them and tamed them and they stayed and multiplied. They’re all neutered now (5 of them!). They keep the mice out of the house and all the outbuildings. YAY.

I used to keep the cat food in a high quality Brute trash can with lid that latches down, but the cats took the lid off at their convenience.

The cat food is now stored in the house. For now, things are working.

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Cécile Stelzer Johnson

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I have a shelter that I had planned to winter bees over. It has 3 walls and a transparent roof and looks to the south.
Now that I no longer keep bees because of all the problems with -icides being used next door, I've gotten to storing their feed in homer pails under that roof. It is still accessible to me when it snows
I try to color code the various ingredients but it never quite works. Tractor supply isa now selling a mix with a great variety of whole grains. Sunflowers, corn etc. get mixed at the last minute.
The birds and mice cannot get at their feed in those homer pails. I noticed that 50 LBS of feed fit nicely in 2 homer pails, and I can carry one fairly easily for the few feet between the storage and the coop.
I'm trying to fin a way to store them in the coop itself, but I don't care to grab a pail and find myself with a handful of poop.
Once there is snow on the ground, I can use a sled for food and water.
It's not a perfect system, but it works. Everyday, meal leftovers go in a smaller (1 gallon) pail that I take to them daily. The hose runs from the house during the warm weather, so I'm taking advantage of that now.

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Dennis Barrow

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posted 1 month ago

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Thekla McDaniels wrote:
I had some half grown cats show up a couple years ago. I fed them and tamed them and they stayed and multiplied. They’re all neutered now (5 of them!). They keep the mice out of the house and all the outbuildings. YAY.

Our two cats are very thoughtful and bring the mice indoors for us. Most they end up eating, leaving the stomachs for us or they let them go live in the house so they can have something to chase later. lol

Real funny, Scotty, now beam down my clothes!

Mark Wyborny

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I bought the galvanized metal garbage cans based on someones advice nearly 30 years ago. The lids leak and they must be kept under shelter or they'll rust away fast. Ellen up there suggested an old freezer. YES! My old freezer stopped being affordablly fixable so I put my feed sacks in there. Perfect even outdoors and animal proof unless you have a smart mammal or something like that. Mine holds a huge amount of feed bags and its easy to rotate bags and scoop out daily needs from each kind of feed sack. I vote for recycling an old freezer. People want them hauled off, they look ok and they weigh very little. Get one for FREE!

Ken Barston

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I use 55 gallon plastic drums. I cut the top off by placing the wide edge of my saw shoe against the top lip. I then flip the saw around and use the narrow side to trim the top again which will let it fit into the barrel. works great but they are not weather proof. Each barrel will hold about 600# of ground grain.

The Kidd

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