Storing large amounts of animal feed

Frugalista

I am thinking of becoming a distributor of a well known brand of dog food. It will involve storing upwards of 60 sacks at a time :eek:. Does anyone else on here have to store large amounts of feed (kennels, stables, catteries, etc) and how do you keep rats at bay.

I was thinking of a metal shed/garage or maybe even a storage container - but as cost is a major factor I was wondering if anyone has any experience of these - and, most importantly, how rodent proof they are.

Thanks in advance .

foreign_correspondent

I think you will have to have rat poison down - it is used in packing sheds etc which store human food, as rats and mice will get in anywhere - mice only need a gap as wide as a pencil to get through. You need someone to put it down in proper boxes to keep it well away from other animals or the the pet food (eg rentokill). I know hou have dogs too though, so you need to keep an eye on them from picking up poisoned rodents - although I am not sure how much is present in a poisoned moise or rat - I had to get a dog to drop a dehydrated dead mouse the other day - luckily he listened before crunching it up too much!

orlao

Storage containers are great but nothing is rat proof:mad: Bl00dy things get everywhere.

We manage large quantities of horse feed by

1) using metal feed bins - the good quality ones are expensive but do work.
2) We don't have any feral cats anymore so the feed is kept in an area that dogs aren't allowed in and rat poison is used liberally as a preventive rather than cure. It also stops the male dogs "watering" the bins.
3) Good housekeeping is vital, all feed that gets on the floor is immediately cleaned up, buckets are washed before they are stored, feed is never left out without a good lid and even then it's for a very limited time.


We still get mice and the very occaisional rat in the hay barn but we just tolerate those and the terriers are encouraged to work that area but they don't eat what they catch - they much prefer to show the mouse off to random walkers:o

It really depends on how long the food would be at yours.......and how well it was packaged....

Fire_Fox

Frugalista wrote: »

I am thinking of becoming a distributor of a well known brand of dog food. It will involve storing upwards of 60 sacks at a time :eek:. Does anyone else on here have to store large amounts of feed (kennels, stables, catteries, etc) and how do you keep rats at bay.

I was thinking of a metal shed/garage or maybe even a storage container - but as cost is a major factor I was wondering if anyone has any experience of these - and, most importantly, how rodent proof they are.

Thanks in advance .

You will need to keep the food dry and at a stable temperature too, otherwise you may have aflatoxins (mould) to deal with as well as pests. Metal sheds or storage containers may well get very hot in summer.

olias

Surely the company you are becomming a distributor for can give requirements/guidance on what sort of storage facilities they require you to have or what they reccommend?

Olias

Frugalista

olias wrote: »

Surely the company you are becomming a distributor for can give requirements/guidance on what sort of storage facilities they require you to have or what they reccommend?

Olias

They were the ones who recommended the metal shed. However, I am still at the "just thinking about it" stage and, as I would have to buy the storage (and therefore make quite a large financial commitment) before putting in for my first delivery , I am looking at different options - hence my questions to those who already store large amounts of feed.

oscarsmum

We store large amounts of horse feed, carrots, hay etc in a metal storage container and havent had any problems with rats getting in. Prior to that just used good quality metal dustbins. We managed to get the storage container free from a local firm that had finished with it, just needed to pay for the delivery so dropped lucky there.

lostinrates

Rats this year ate through the rubber lids of our metal bins, and have knawed holes in the bottom of our plastic bins.

But so far I think we're all been talking about storage for opened or potentially opened bags? For pallets of feed the best storage I've experiences was a shipping container. Rat proof (although with m mood towards rats this year I'd have fun watching them try!) and lockable, pretty important with the investment costs of a pallet or so worth of high sales value feed at any one time.

Otherwise I agree with orlao on good housekeeping and preventative measures. Feed stores round here have metal/breeze block barns/warehouse, with food sacks packed on shelves or on pallets on th floor I always reject anything that looks ''torn'' from their warehouse: and there are a few.

Frugalista

lostinrates wrote: »

For pallets of feed the best storage I've experiences was a shipping container. Rat proof (although with m mood towards rats this year I'd have fun watching them try!) and lockable, pretty important with the investment costs of a pallet or so worth of high sales value feed at any one time.

Thanks for that. I will have to start looking at prices of storage containers then . The idea was that by becoming a distributor I would be able to feed my own dogs for nothing and possibly earn a little on top - but, obviously, the initial outlay of a container will make this quite a financial commitment before I start to see any return. Hmmm! Looks like I'd better have another look at the figures :think:

foreign_correspondent

it may be worth asking round locally, looking on fleabay, or asking on freecycle - I think there are all sorts you could use if you are not too bothered about aesthetics (probably depends on where it is going though, and how much you will see it!)- a metal shed or storage container, an old caravan stripped of its fittings, a small portacabin, one of those prefabricated garages, or even a lorry back (we used one at my dad's for storage and it was fine).. you never know what you may stumble accross if you think laterally and ask around!