50 Pound Bag of Purina Chicken Feed

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shelf life of chicken feed

• Thread starter bugkiller
• Start date Nov 8, 2011

• #1

Does chicken feed have a shelf life, will it go bad. I am planing on feeding them purina layena pellets i believe it is called. ( easy to get hear and heard it is good quality)

• #2

Mine go through it so fast I've never had to worry about it

Are you concerned about how long it has been sitting on the store's shelves prior to selling to you, or how long you might have it before its all gone?

• Thread starter
• #3

How long before its gone i am only planning on getting 2 birds right now and can only buy 50 lb bags of food

• #4

I'm thinking the shelf life of most feed is 90 days.

• #5

I'm not sure what the shelf life is, but store it properly and it will last longer. I prefer plastic garbage cans (although I have read this can be bad and metal is better). Personally I go through feed fast enough the plastic seems to work fine. Make sure you keep out moisture, insects and rodents. Also, not all feed stores are created equal. I've purchased feed from a local store and it already had bugs in it. I wasn't very happy and they didn't seem to understand why. I figured the feed was old since it was literally infested with weevils. Extra protein I guess, but I don't buy anything from them anymore.

• #6

I buy organic and have it shipped in large quantities to keep the shipping low.

The company says 3 to 4 months for shelf life.

I have some that I have had since July and it still smells and looks the same. Grains of course can store long periods it is how they handles the protein and such.

The main question is how are you going to store it. Mine gets a out of the way spot in a cool, temp and humiditiy controlled room inside my house. I leave it in the bag until opened then I have some air tight containers to put it in.

I haven't used layena to know what it looks like when you open the bag. My feed when you open it has some crumble and some whole and cracked grains naturally fairly dry.

edited to say I haven't used layena not have.

• #7

If stored by double sacking inside a black, plastic garbage bag and kept in a cool, dry place, I should think it would last up to 6 months without any problems. The nutritional value might slip a wee bit, but still. A 50# bag would certainly last 2 hens 3 plus months. Two hens can eat a 1/2 pound per day, or 100 days on the 50 pounds of feed. If you can only buy 50 pounders, then that's what you can buy. It isn't economical to buy smaller bags anyhow. It'll be fine.

• #8

• #9

I store in 35 gallon galvanized trash cans with tight lids. Keeps mice and rats out, and the air off.

A big factor in shelf life is molasses content, in the summer it keeps for a much shorter time then now, where you are also makes a difference.

One thing about commercial mixes is we dont know how long since it was milled, so buying in 25lb lots would be better for you, but 50lbs in a trash can should stay good for 3-4 mos at least this time of year. Keep smelling it as you feed. If it gets a moldy smell trash it.

• #10

Imp

All things share the same breath- Chief Seattle

I use Purina Layena, and vary from 3-6 hens at any one time. A 50# bag lasts me a long time, easily 6 months. I fortunately have never had a problem with bugs or mold or off smells.
I use rubbermaid garbage cans. I have 4 lined up in the shed, layena, scratch, peanuts, BOSS, wild birdseed, and a couple other things that slip the mind right now. The squirrels have chewed holes in all the lids, going after the peanuts; so the Layena and scratch is not covered and the bag is open. I think the coolness and air circulation helps, with the dampness. Might be a different story if I had to deal with heat, humidity, or rodents.

Imp

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