FEED STORAGE 179 



season, and in many cases this loss may go on for months before 

 it is noticed. 



Construction. — Masonry or metal is the best construction to 

 obstruct vermin. Hollow tile or concrete makes splendid walls 

 and floors for granaries. If this is too expensive, and frame con- 

 struction is used, then some provision must be made to keep the 

 rodents from gnawing through the partitions and floors. If the 

 building is raised from the ground and supported on piers, it 

 is feasible to baffle the rats and mice by means of tin so arranged 

 that they cannot climb up the piers because of the slippery sur- 

 face of the tin. Where this is impracticable small mesh wire 

 netting should be laid over the floor joists and wall studs, through 

 which the rodents cannot pass. 



Storage bins are not necessary unless feed is purchased in 

 bulk, or unless the original sacks must be returned as soon as the 

 feed is received. The use of bins for storing unmixed feed in- 

 volves two unnecessary handlings — the emptying of the feed into 

 the bin, and its removal when required for mixing. Then, too, 

 feed keeps better in sacks, and it may be piled up almost as com- 

 pactly as in bins. When feed is stored in bulk provision must be 

 made to ventilate it, otherwise it will heat and spoil. If stored 

 in sacks, and piled up so that air can circulate freely around the 

 bags, there is little or no danger from heating. 



In the majority of times a charge of about ten cents is made for 

 the bags, which charge is redeemable when the bags are returned 

 in good condition. This is another reason why the feed room 

 should be free from vermin: rats and mice gnaw through the 

 sacks and play havoc with them. 



Since most poultry feeds consist of a mixture of grains or meals, 

 it is advisable to have a few bins (barrels will answer the purpose 

 on small farms) wherein these mixtures are stored for every-day 

 use. It is more convenient to remove a bucketful of feed from 

 a barrel, or bin than from a sack. And the most convenient bin 

 is one from which the feed may be scooped out with a bucket, 

 preferably the actual feeding bucket. To fill the feed buckets 

 with a shovel or other implement involves needless operations. 



