Stack N Store
I know that the title says “Pet Food Storage” but any feed storage questions revolve around what type of animal and the time of year. Horse, chicken, cattle, pig, goat and exotic animal feed will remain in usable condition for 2 to 3 weeks after purchase in the hottest part of summer and 6 to 7 weeks in the wintertime. Insect contamination during the summer is the prime concern and that insect is the weevil. And even though chickens eat bugs it’s not a good idea to use infested feed. The bottom line is, buy enough feed to last 10 to 14 days in the summertime. Never use feed that is infested or moldy.
Dog and cat food (Pets) shelf life is different from their barnyard counterparts. Pet food bags are glued on the ends and not stitched so insects are not much of an issue. Most pet food has a shelf life of 1 year in the sealed bag. Once they are open is where it gets tricky. For all-natural, organic and holistic pet food consider 4 to 6 weeks before it starts going stale. For conventional pet food, that time can be up to 6 months. Purchase the amount of pet food accordingly.
So where do you store pet food? If the answer is inside, then the bag will probably work fine. The “Tupperware” type containers like “Stack and Store” are an excellent choice. We have Stack and Store containers that hold 65 and 100 pounds. For the folks storing bagged pet food in the garage, the plastic type containers should be avoided because we have so many rats and mice in our area. They will chew through the plastic in short order. This is where the galvanized steel trash cans with lids come in. They will not keep the food as fresh as the plastic but the rodents can’t chew through it. Wells Brothers has galvanized trash cans that hold 6, 10, 20 and 30 gallons.
