A core principle of animal health is ensuring you prioritise quality. Whether it is pets, working animals, or livestock, you need to be careful. The animal feed can have a massive impact on their health, wellbeing, and productivity. You need to ensure you store it correctly at all times. However, there are a few extra things to think about in summer. We want to look at them today.

Crucial factors

There are a number of things in summer than can cause big problems with feeds. Firstly is the temperature. It can cause feed to spoil quicker. A big part of this is it causes mould and micro-organisms to grow faster.

Secondly, you need to think about the humidity. Often it isn’t the heat that causes the most problems for food; it is the level of moisture in the air. It can rapidly speed up degradation. This is especially true when you look at dry feeds.

Finally, the warm, humid weather leads to more pest activity. It can make infestations more likely because they reproduce faster. That can completely ruin your feeds.

What to do?

There are a number of things you can do in summer to protect your animal feed and animals. The most crucial is to store everything properly. Use airtight containers you can seal to keep out moisture and pests. Choose a good location too, ensuring it is cool, below 60% humidity, properly ventilated, and out of direct sunlight.

Another thing you should do is monitor feeds carefully. Keep an eye on them for any signs of spoilage, particularly mould and oxidisation. Horrible smells are a bad sign.

Look for evidence of pests too; you may need control measures to keep them away. You should also be proactive in ensuring there is nothing to attract them. For example, don’t leave any feed you spill lying around. Plus, elevate the feeds so they aren’t sitting on the floor.

Managing your stocks of feed properly is also important. Make sure you use them in order of purchase, working through older ones before you move on to new. This reduces the risk of the old feeds going stale or spoiling.

Do you want to order animal feed?

JS Hubbuck Ltd is a name you can rely on all year round to offer quality products. We have a very diverse range, including different types of feeds, fertiliser, clothing and footwear, and more. We can even offer services to arrange custom housing, pens, and more. As a result, you can rely on us if you need products for different kinds of farming.

If you need animal feed in particular, we have a number of options. You can contact us to learn more or visit our shop. We store everything carefully and recommend you do the same to maximise the health and wellbeing of animals.