The Walden Effect: Farming, simple living, permaculture, and invention.

Metal chicken feed container

metal trash can


This metal trash can was about 4 dollars more than the same size in plastic.

I estimate we've lost the equivilent of around 2 bags of feed on and off the last year while I kept trying to seal up the lid with silicone.

I'm guessing a plastic trash can that gets sun exposure all day will only last 5 or 6 years before the lid starts to crack and break.



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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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My parents keep their horse feed in a larger metal can. No problems. :-)
Comment by Brandy Thu Nov 25 07:14:55 2010
We probably should have started out with metal from the beginning, but that extra $5 seemed like too much four years ago...
Comment by anna Thu Nov 25 08:21:31 2010
A small retired chest freezer is by far the best storage for feed. We have a large one for the horse and cattle feed and a smaller one for the chicken and dog food. I would highly recommend and you can probably find a appliance repair person who has many in the back yard that they have already removed the coolant from and would be happy to part with cheaper than your can.
Comment by Erich Thu Nov 25 14:08:36 2010
That's a great idea! As long as the gasket is good, they shouldn't leak. Not really portable enough for use with chicken tractors, but definitely good for any more permanent situation.
Comment by anna Thu Nov 25 18:57:02 2010





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