# Storing feed



## Seasoned-prepper (Aug 27, 2013)

Over the years my wife and I have tried several different ways of storing feed for our animals. Here I'd like to tell you the best way we've come up with to store hundreds of pounds of feed for up to four months. We've never lost any feed storing it this way. Hopefully it will work for you too. I'd like to add that we live in the northeast, so this method may be less successful for someone in a very humid or hot climate. I'm sure you're familiar with the metal garbage cans made by Behrens, if not, you can do a quick search and see them online. The 20 gallon size holds exactly 100 pounds of pelleted feed. They cost around $20. Made in the USA even! 

When we buy a new can, we use a hot glue gun to seal all the seams. Inside and outside of the can, push that hot glue right into the seams, don't forget around the handles. The handle on the lid will need done inside and out also. When we fill the can, we use diatomaceous earth dusted into the feed as we fill the can. Once the can is full, we use vaseline around the rim of the lid to close any gaps between the lid and the can rim. Put a generous bead the whole way around. 

Our cans are stored in a shed, a couple feet off the ground and out of the sun. The 20 gallon cans take up about 20 by 20 inches of floor space. I made a rack from 2 by 4's that they sit on and the under side is used to store water buckets feeding bowls, and things that won't be harmed by any moisture from the ground. On the lid handles we put numbered tags so we're always using the oldest feed first... Right now we have 18 cans.. I will load some pics.


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## jnrdesertrats (Jul 3, 2010)

Welcome back, you have not posted in awhile. Why hot glue on the seems instead of Henrys or something else?


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## terri9630 (Jun 2, 2016)

We use the metal 30 gallon cans to store feed. We don't do anything special to them except keep them out of the weather. The biggest problem we've had is the handles popping off the lids. I think the longest we've had feed stored was 8 months. Of course I'm in the desert and don't have much in the way of moisture problems.


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## Seasoned-prepper (Aug 27, 2013)

We used hot glue because... 1. We had it. 2. We felt it would push into the seams of the can and stay there. I would imagine that anything that closes the seams would work. Wax, paint, jb weld...


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## Seasoned-prepper (Aug 27, 2013)

terri9630 said:


> We use the metal 30 gallon cans to store feed. We don't do anything special to them except keep them out of the weather. The biggest problem we've had is the handles popping off the lids. I think the longest we've had feed stored was 8 months. Of course I'm in the desert and don't have much in the way of moisture problems.


We thought about using the bigger cans, but 100 pounds is enough to wrestle around if you have to move it. Yeah, the handles are a weak point. We got into the habit of just pulling up on the edge of the lid instead of the handle. Early on, we lost a couple cans of feed to bugs. That's when we started sealing the seams and haven't had any problems since.


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## Seasoned-prepper (Aug 27, 2013)

jnrdesertrats said:


> Welcome back, you have not posted in awhile. Why hot glue on the seems instead of Henrys or something else?


Thanks... yeah we've been busy... hahaha


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## terri9630 (Jun 2, 2016)

Seasoned-prepper said:


> We thought about using the bigger cans, but 100 pounds is enough to wrestle around if you have to move it. Yeah, the handles are a weak point. We got into the habit of just pulling up on the edge of the lid instead of the handle. Early on, we lost a couple cans of feed to bugs. That's when we started sealing the seams and haven't had any problems since.


If I need to move one I use a hand cart/dolly. I really haven't had any problems with bugs except for one year when wevils were in a bag I had just brought home. Took a while to get rid of those.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

terri9630 said:


> If I need to move one I use a hand cart/dolly. I really haven't had any problems with bugs except for one year when wevils were in a bag I had just brought home. Took a while to get rid of those.


Not a chicken guy, but wouldn't the chickens think a weevil ridden feed to be a treat?


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## terri9630 (Jun 2, 2016)

Caribou said:


> Not a chicken guy, but wouldn't the chickens think a weevil ridden feed to be a treat?


The chickens probably would. The horses not so much...


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