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Author Topic: How long to store Bulk feed in a silo  (Read 2976 times)

Jimmy 84

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Suffolk
How long to store Bulk feed in a silo
« on: April 24, 2018, 07:01:59 pm »
Hi Everyone,

I'm looking to purchase a feed silo for buying pig feed in bulk.  I am wondering how long i would be able to store the feed before it goes off and if anyone has any experience with this sort of storage.  The reason i'm asking is because i will have to buy the feed 4 ton at a time and this is going to take me about a month and a half to use up.

Thanks in advance.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: How long to store Bulk feed in a silo
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2018, 08:17:31 pm »
Haven’t done it with pig feed but we had hoppers for sheep and cattle feed on the upland farm.  Check with the supplier on ‘use by’ dates but I’d have thought six weeks will be no problem.
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

PK

  • Joined Mar 2015
  • West Suffolk
    • Notes from a Suffolk Smallholding
Re: How long to store Bulk feed in a silo
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2018, 09:59:20 pm »
My feed merchant tells me that the storage life for pig feed is 3 months.

shep53

  • Joined Jan 2011
  • Dumfries & Galloway
Re: How long to store Bulk feed in a silo
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2018, 08:24:08 pm »
My sheep feed comes with a 3.5 month best before date , but still looks and smells ok beyond this . Forgot to say two 15tonne Collinson bins here .
« Last Edit: April 25, 2018, 08:26:21 pm by shep53 »

fsmnutter

  • Joined Oct 2012
  • Fettercairn, Aberdeenshire
Re: How long to store Bulk feed in a silo
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2018, 08:28:44 pm »
Usually the vitamins in livestock feed are guaranteed for up to three months, that's why the best before date. It will usually be safe enough to feed for a while after that (using your own judgement) but vitamin/mineral content could be sub optimal

Buttermilk

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: How long to store Bulk feed in a silo
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2018, 07:37:38 am »
Just as long as the feed does not get damp in the storage bins it is ok.  You may get a problem with the feed bridging, we used to keep a lump of wood handy to tap the silo to keep things flowing.

Jimmy 84

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Suffolk
Re: How long to store Bulk feed in a silo
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2018, 06:01:33 pm »
Thanks for the reply’s,

I’m getting mixed messages from the feed suppliers as some say no more than a month and others say 3 months from the date of manufacturing.


 

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