How to have an ultra-organized feed room
We're going beyond just tidying up.
Somehow the feed room in every barn is like a catch-all for random items, overwhelmed with years and years of accumulation. Before you know it doing chores turns into a real life game of Tetras, with you attempting to layout 12 feed pans on the only two feet of open counter space.
Well, not any more! Its time to get to the bottom of the mess and get your feed room back to being the efficient space it was designed to be.
I’m not going to go all Marie Kondo on you and insist you toss out everything that doesn’t “spark joy” (spare syringes don’t exactly light me up but I sure am grateful to have one handy when I’ve got a sick horse to deal with).
What I will help you do is to set up your feed room space to be more streamlined so it stays cleaner, cuts down your chore time, and saves you money. – and that’ll spark a little joy in all of us 😉 .
My Best Tips For An Ultra-Organized Feed Room
1. Choose the right storage solutions
Use feed bins that hold a full 50lb bag of feed, stack, and seal to keep out the critters. This type here is my favorite as they have allowed us to keep 8 different types of feed organized in a small space and are air tight. No free meals for the mice with these.
2. Streamline supplements
Keep everyone on the same page with supplements. Each horse gets a set space for supplements. All storage containers stack & match, and all supplements are individually dosed out into servings that are ready to go at feeding time. No more random buckets everywhere and no more scooping into four different containers to feed one horse. Bonus pro tip: these reusable baby food containers are perfect to setting up a whole months worth of supplements at one time.
3. Prevent spills and keep liquids contained
4. Create a central command center
Have one central info space including a detailed feed chart with all feed and supplement instructions and a space for notes such as medication checklist schedules.
5. Have a designated area for non-feed related extras.
Everyone’s feed room ends up with those “extra items” in it that aren’t necessarily used every day and aren’t exactly feed related but somehow they still fit in the feed room. Keeping those extra tubes of wormer, the Pepto, along with other misc in one handy bin can save you lots of money and time not buying double of things you know you have stashed somewhere.
6. Label everything
Even if you don’t have a label maker busting out the tape and a sharpie is great for making yourself put items into organized spaces such as a first aid cupboard. It’s handy to use waterproof sports tape for labels are it sticks well without leaving a mess upon removal and won’t smudge if it gets wet.
7. Arrange items by use and demand
Keep the most used items in the handiest locations. If you organize the space to looks pretty but its inconvenient people are much less likely to put things back properly. Make it easy by keeping the most used items in prime locations.
8. Rotate stock
Time for a moment of truth… when was the last time you cleaned out the entire feed bin before pouring in a new bag? Rotating the oldest feed and supplements to be used up first is not only a good practice for keeping your feed room organized but its also much healthier for your horse as they won’t end up eating food that has been sitting open for months when you get down to the bottom of the bin.
9. Re-access the room every season
Most of us are using different products to best support our horses during different seasons but somehow the feed room ends up with the same scattered mess all year long. Label and store the products that won’t be needed for the next three to six months and make room for the day-to-day items to stay handy and organized.
10. Take a few snapshots
So this tip is stolen from the orderly home playbook. Grab your phone head into the feed room and snap some pics of each area. Pull them open later when you are not in the middle of doing twenty other things. Seeing the room in pictures with a clear head will allow you to easily spot items can be consolidated or eliminated and what areas can be better arranged to function more efficiently.
Insightfully,
Becky
Like the idea, take pictures, sit back, view and re-organization ~ get help to get the job done✅
I had no idea how handy the picture idea was until I started taking so many pics for different posts and I realized all the ideas for using spaces that came to me when I was editing.
All great ideas Becky!! Very useful and the pictures were great visuals.
That’s great to hear, I always like knowing what readers find helpful, thank you. Now I just need to find time to put all these strategies to use to organize my house 😉