Hello again. The chicken feed that I buy comes in these bags
They're some kind of woven plastic, and they're sturdy and waterproof
but they can't be recycled at our local recycling centre, and I hate to just send them to the land fill.
so I look for ways to reuse them or upcycle them for all kinds of things for my chickens
and my garden. So I thought I'd share a few of those ideas with you today.
Of course you can simply reuse them as bags, and I do.
I use one as a rubbish bag in the shed.
I use them to store the poop-laden shavings from the chicken house floor, if I have more
than I want to put directly into the compost.
And I use them to store the compost, ready to go onto the garden.
I use a lot of bird netting to keep the birds from eating the fruit and pecking up my seedlings,
and when the nets are not in use, I use the feed bags to store the nets.
If I have a small amount of straw, which I use to line the nest box, then that fits nicely
into a feed bag too.
But as well as using them as a bag, you can cut the bag open and use them for all kinds
of other purposes.
I could snip open the stitching along the bottom, but unless I need the full length
of the material, I don’t usually bother. I just cut the bottom off the bag.
Once I have converted the bag into a large flat sheet, it's useful for all kinds of things.
I found a couple of opened bags were just ideal when I wanted to provide a bit of extra
protection from the wind around this cage – it cut down the wind and rain.
And it also obscured the view of the neighbouring chooks, which made it a more secluded area
for a broody hen.
A big flat sheet is useful for lining the car boot (or trunk as you say in the US) if
I’m carrying plants home from the store. Or any kind of slightly messy task.
And if I’m digging a hole to plant a tree or shrub, then it’s a great idea to shovel
the dirt onto an opened-out feed bag.
Then it’s easy to get all the dirt back into the hole around the plant.
Because it’s mostly waterproof, I use a sheet of it on the bottom of a cardboard box
that I use as a brooder box for growing chicks.
Check out my video if you want more details about this large-size brooder box.
Or a piece of it can be used to line a shelf that has containers that might be drippy.
If you’re going to use it this way, then when you’re cutting the bag open, cut along
the double layer where the join is, and then cut the shelf shaped piece so the double edge
is along the front edge of the shelf – that will help the liner stay flat on the shelf.
And as long as you have a couple of spare feed bags, you always have some sturdy, damp-proof
wrapping for a parcel.
Again, use the doubled-edge from the original bag as the most exposed edge of the wrapping.
Now you can get fancy, and make beautiful tote bags out of feed bags, but that usually
requires sewing and I haven’t bothered to go to that much trouble.
But If I just want a small bag, perhaps to just harvest some apples, then it’s very quick
to just cut it down to size and shape the top into a couple of handles.
And I did make a gardening apron with a tool pocket - no sewing required.
I cut it so the pictures of chickens were showing, and just stuck it together with duct
tape.
I had so much fun with that I made a whole video about it.
So, I hope that’s given you a few ideas.
about how to reuse the bags that you buy chicken feed in. I'd love to hear about them,I bet you have lots different ideas.
Please post them in the comments - I bet everyone else would like to hear about them too.
Thanks for watching. See you next time.
Thanks for watching
See you next time