# How much feed fits in a 55 gallon drum?



## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

I read a thread on here a few years back that the person bought feed in bulk then stored it in 55 gallon drums. Now here's the question. How many drums do I need to store 4000lbs. I was figuring half mash for the hogs/chickens and half cracked corn.
Thanks


----------



## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

It depends on the volume of feed per pound, but I can normally store about 250-300 lbs of layer feed or rabbit pellets in a 55 gallon drum.
Hope that helps.
Trisha


----------



## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

I count on 7 bags of 50 pound feed in a 55 gallon barrel when I am stocking up for winter but the bags need to be emptied into the barrel not put in intact.


----------



## EasyDay (Aug 28, 2004)

Yep, Trisha, that has to be a close estimate. We usually put (5) 50-lb bags of feed (50/50) in, and that leaves just a little room left over. 50/50 is pretty heavy with the grain and molasses, so maybe less of a lighter-weight food.


----------



## MisFitFarm (Dec 31, 2007)

anniew said:


> I count on 7 bags of 50 pound feed in a 55 gallon barrel when I am stocking up for winter but the bags need to be emptied into the barrel not put in intact.


Same here.


----------



## Scrounger (Jan 6, 2007)

Pretty close on the weight of feed. I usually get corn in 55 gallon drums. They hold a little over 6 bushels of whole kernal corn.


----------



## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Thanks all for the quick replies.


I'm gonna get my grain requirements for the year put up before the feed prices get much higher. I was kinda concerned to buy the grain and keep it in the bags. But this should work well.


----------



## Wildcrofthollow (Apr 20, 2005)

My guess is 55 gallons.......


----------



## ceresone (Oct 7, 2005)

It dosent Mold?


----------



## Guest (May 12, 2008)

I can get six and a partial fifty pound bags of feed in a plastic drum - poultry mash and scratch grains. Ought to be close to the same for any grain based feed.

.....Alan.


----------



## Siryet (Jun 29, 2002)

We store our hog feed in 55 gal drums and the mix is already done and we put 350lbs in each drum.

We get a better price by buying it in bulk plus it is our mix design that we get no some poison laden commercial mix.


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Stan,
sounds like a great plan... I ought to do the same thing.

One caveat... insects. A couple times a year I get sacks of grain with weevils in em... no biggie, as I feed most of it out within two weeks. Would be a heartbreaker though, to get a years supply of grain, and get through several barrels and find the rest eaten up with bugs...

I don't know if you could make a barrel airtight or not... but if you could, you could add some dry ice while filling, to displace the oxygen...


----------



## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

I have heard that putting DE in with your grain will kill the bugs and is not at all harmful to your stock...in fact many feed it as a dewormer.
Trisha


----------



## Aintlifegrand (Jun 3, 2005)

texican said:


> Stan,
> sounds like a great plan... I ought to do the same thing.
> 
> One caveat... insects. A couple times a year I get sacks of grain with weevils in em... no biggie, as I feed most of it out within two weeks. Would be a heartbreaker though, to get a years supply of grain, and get through several barrels and find the rest eaten up with bugs...
> ...



I wonder if it works like the flour? Can you put the feed in the freezer for four-five days and kill the eggs and have better luck?


----------



## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

texican said:


> Stan,
> sounds like a great plan... I ought to do the same thing.
> 
> One caveat... insects. A couple times a year I get sacks of grain with weevils in em... no biggie, as I feed most of it out within two weeks. Would be a heartbreaker though, to get a years supply of grain, and get through several barrels and find the rest eaten up with bugs...
> ...





Aintlifegrand said:


> I wonder if it works like the flour? Can you put the feed in the freezer for four-five days and kill the eggs and have better luck?



Is the ready made freezer good enough? Well I guess not this time of year. 

We generally don't have problems with weevels even in our food. I figure it's too cold too often. Even the summer highs don't get above 90F with lows in the fiftys. Here we have a bigger problem with mold due to dampness. Thats why I need the barrels.

But I will take that under advisement.


----------



## Guest (May 12, 2008)

*Florida Feed Storage Experiment*
http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=207195

.....Alan.


----------



## crafty2002 (Aug 23, 2006)

Can I be a smart A double s for a second??? A 55 gallon drum will hold 55 gallons of feed. :hand: Just joking. 

But for real I just put 8 bags of what is supposed to be fifty LB bags of cracked corn, layer pellets, and crumbles in a 55 gallon plastic drum I got from the dump. I cleaned it really good first.
I took a rubber mallet and banged on the side of it to get it to settle get the rest of the last bag in but it all fit. Barely but it fit. 
It has one of the tops that have the ring around it to lock it down and I had to tap the top to get it to close but it did. I didn't want any extra air in it is why I filled it so full. 
How much does your feed cost????? Those 8 bags were something over a hundred dollars. I forget exactly but it was I think $103 plus change.
My hens are barely laying enough eggs to pay for the feed but I have about 40 some roosters for meat they are growing like crazy also.


----------



## Farmerwilly2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Where do you buy dry ice? I've never had occasion to need it.


----------



## Cornhusker (Mar 20, 2003)

6.875 bushels will fit in 55 gallon barrel.


----------



## ibcnya (Feb 16, 2004)

I buy ground corn from the feed store for the chickens in the winter and I get right at 320 lbs more or less in a 55 gallon drum depending on the moisture content. Use to pay 12 bucks for a drum now it's 27 to 30 bucks. I got some expensive chickens here, still working on the golden egg thing though with very, very little success.


----------



## Sand Flat Bob (Feb 1, 2007)

Trisha in WA said:


> I have heard that putting DE in with your grain will kill the bugs and is not at all harmful to your stock...in fact many feed it as a dewormer.
> Trisha


I use DE a lot to keep weevils etc out of the feed. It is good for the chickens etc. but be sure you use food grade DE and not the stuff for swimming pools as that will kill animals.

Bob


----------



## stickinthemud (Sep 10, 2003)

FarmerWilly2- one place is: 
Kelly Dry Ice, Jacks Run Road, Pittsburgh PA 
40 29' 26.14" N 80 02' 43.59" W


----------



## ozark mike (Apr 20, 2008)

corn weighs 56 lbs per bu, oats 32, wheat 60 and barley 48..so without the ratio of any or all of the ingredients used to make the feed, how can we know...I was a grain buyer/elevator operator/feed mill operator for some years and would not even take a wild guess..factor in all the extras in that feed and we change weight per cu ft of area again..bugs can and will be a problem..about 20 years ago I made many grain bins that holds about two ton of feed that are still being used..... made of plywood.. contact me if you need a list of materials and a step by step "how to"...mike

[email protected]


----------



## shagerman (Apr 10, 2008)

here we go a math problem ..ok my turn . i have a old grinder and i use 5 gallon buckets to load the grinder then put in the mixer so i do alot of counting and alot of lifting i can get 11 buckets depending on what i am doing. chicken feed is diffrent then hog feed so i cant get as much. so it depend on what you are doing if it is ground or not .. i just had this conversation with some one. the only diffrence is if it is ground and the tallness of a 55 gallon drum. and roundness, i can get 11 buckets of chicken feed in and 9 1/2 of hog feed . one is ground the other is not.


----------

