Mouldy Gambird Feed


The Classroom @ The Coop: Game and Wild Fowl: Mouldy Gambird Feed
By
Kevin Coppola (Aldebaran) on Monday, September 17, 2001 - 03:12 pm:

I live in a region of high year round humidity (Louisiana). I've been having trouble with crumble and pelletized gamebird food. I have peacocks and guineas in a pen under roof, but these high protein feeds quickly mold (and they are expensive). I've found the same phenomenon with other animals (sheep), but when I began feeding my sheep cracked corn or soybean meal or millet, I didnt have this problem. Can anyone reccomend a mix of standard grains (corn, soybean meal, wheat berries etc) that game birds find palatable and that provides them with the required nutrition? Any ideas what I can do?


By Dr. Bruce Smith (Brucesmith) on Thursday, November 1, 2001 - 08:37 am:

Sorry no one got back to you with your question. Our humidity is not as high as yours, but when I lived further south I had problems with moldy feed in the humid summers sometimes. I keep feed in a tightly covered barrel up off the ground. Pelleted feed should be dry when you buy it, so check to see if your retailer is letting it get damp before you buy it. Go into the warehouse where they store it and see how it is being stacked. In very humid periods, I put a container of Damp-off in the feed barrel to draw moisture out of the air around the feed bags. You could also put something you know is very dry in with the feed. A small bag of shavings that you had dried yourself over a low heat source might help. I am beginning to see the crystalized cat litter in stores, and I think this is silica jel packed in large quantities. Oil-dry, available at auto parts stores, consists of dried clay, and you might be able to use some of that, too. Store the extra in a tightly closed plastic bag or it will draw moisture, too. Hope this helps.


By Manda on Wednesday, June 12, 2002 - 09:24 pm:

have you thought of keeping the feed in a freezer? I know they do it with a crumble type dog food.


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