The easiest thing to do is store it in metal trashcans. That's how we would store horsefeed at the barn.

The cheapest way is to build an enclosure out of 2X4's and cover it with 1/4" hardware cloth. Make a nice door and you have a mouseproof place to pile sacks of grain. Use some pallets to keep the sacks off the ground so they don't get damp/moldy underneath...

We use 55 and 35 gallon metal drums, with the metal lids. You need to make sure that they are either new or have been used for some food or food-grade stuff so you don't introduce toxins. We also keep a nice big rock on the lid of the feed drums to weight them down so mice and rats cannot simply slip under the edge of the lid and get in that way. Keeps everything dry and no problems. :)

The cardboard or plastic drums don't work, since rodents just chew through them.

The old freezer idea sounds great, and if it isn't working anyway you could just remove the machinery prior to moving it. The only concern would be not venting the refrigerant to the open air, there are HEAVY fines for that, so be careful.

Velvet ~:>

what i do is just like a couple of you said is i use metal trashcans. i just put the bag in there so if there is anything in the can like some old food or something it cant get to the good food. that freezer is a good ideal but yeah i can imagine that would be a pain to get it out of a basement.

but also, like it was brought out there is no venalation so i bet it could ruin your food or worse. the metal trashcans work great for me and they are just out in the open and they are doin great.

malorie =)

Thanks for all the replies, they are greatly appreciated.

Is hardware cloth the same as window screen? I've heard steel wool will keep mice out of holes, so steel window screen would do the same?

No, hardware cloth is NOT the same as window screen. Window screen has tiny holes and is made of very thin, flimsy fiberglass or metal, and tears easily. Hardware cloth (the term 'cloth' is misleading, I know) is heavy metal wire fence material, typically with welded joints and openings of around 1/2 inch (varies). It's like the stuff you see that covers the vents around the base of your house, only bigger and tougher. If you Google 'hardware cloth' you'll see what it looks like, and most hardware stores carry it. Hardware cloth is great for fencing out rodents since they can neither chew through it, crawl through it or force a hole through it.

I haven't used steel wool in mouse holes...you'd have to brace it somehow so they couldn't simply nose it aside and slip around it or push it out though. Rodents are determined little chewers, dang 'em!

Velvet ~:>

an old freezer works well for us. We also have a plywood box lined with some thin sheet metal with a tight lid. Hardware cloth works well, just make sure that any openings are less than 1/4" in size. Mice can collapse their bodies and squeeze through anything larger. Hardware cloth typically comes in 1/8" and 1/4" sizes.

I use trash cans with locking tops (both plastic and metal). I like the locking tops because they stay closed even if the can is knocked over. The horse got into the feed area once but didn't get any grain, because the lids stayed on even though she was bouncing the cans around.

I had a bin made out of 3/8 plywood, and lined the botton with the metal sheeting you use to put under seams on roofs, etc. It works well. Nothing has eaten through the wood yet, and I've had it 8 years. The metal liner comes up about a foot from the bottom. Its about 4ft wide, 2 ft deep and 4 ft tall. It holds 18 - 50lb bags of horse feed.

M

Keep cats?

Of course, I've never kept grain in bags...we just keep it in...what's that building called where you store grain...a grainery? or silo? or grain bins?

gree trash cans thats what we use for all swan,dog ,horse.

I only buy feed 50lbs at a time so storage is not much of a problem. I use an old camping cooler, to keep it dry and moth proof as well as to keep the goats from raiding it,....AND two barn cats. No problems.

We keep ours in a back room of the shop... where our three cats sleep ;)

Never had a problem

Dan