Food Storage Ideas

[Aquila]

So I keep all my bird food in food containers, most like in the ones made for cereal. My big bag of pellets got dumped into a giant dog food container.

I also use a multitude of ziplock bags for portions of chop, as well as various ingredients for things and mixes.

On my lazy days (or days I forgot to defrost some food) I have a cabinet shelf dedicated to quick meals which includes small containers of baby food. I had the idea to save the containers for future meals since it's a decent one-bird sized portion, and I feed different meals to different birds, as well as some different mix-ins throughout the week.

Now since my SO isn't quite adept at preparing food, he does know how to clean bowls, and how to measure out food for the birds, though he's finally started to clean up poop! I always try to think ahead for times I might need to be gone overnight or the weekend when I go see family, how can I make it easier for him to give my birds meals?

I'm slowly gathering the baby food containers together (though they DO make tupperware type containers for homemade baby food, I like that the plastic ones can just be tossed after) so should I need to go away I can prep food for each bird and sharpie the names on each and he can just warm and serve!

I'm thinking about investing in these as well which wouldn't need to be tossed, I just like not having to come back to wash anything extra.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Food-Containers-Sprout-Cups/dp/B007TJVYSM"]Amazon.com : Baby Food Containers- Sprout Cups - Reusable Stackable Storage Cups (12 Pack) with Tray and Dry-erase Marker - 100% BPA Free (2 Oz) : Baby[/ame]

What do you all use to store your chop or other mixes?

 

[SailBoat]

We do much the same, just not as small (day servings not single servings).

Anything that is not damage by being frozen is held in the freezer for 45 days before being broken-down into smaller packages. Once broken-down they are dated and back into the freezer until ready for use.

We target only 'human grade' across the board.

 

[JerseyWendy]

FANTASTIC topic!! :emoticonc

My 'cooked' food gets frozen in portions big/small enough to feed my 'crew' for a day. (Individual small freezer bags into a big freezer bags, and yes, I use too much freezer space according to my family. :54

I freeze my birdy bread as well in portions. :21:

Chop: I make fresh chop 2-3 times a week and keep it refrigerated in a Tupperware container. (So I use some fridge space, too. :09

Dry kibble: I HATE having to freeze any of it, but since I buy rather large amounts (enough to last a month), I do freeze it for 24 hours to eliminate pantry moths, which I've battled with a few times. Anyway, dry kibble is stored in BIG Tupperware containers, labeled with dates, so I always pick the oldest ones first before refilling my 'daily fill' container. I combine all dry foods and mix pellets under it (and no, pellets are never frozen).

 

[denaw]

JerseyWendy, that looks Yummy!

 

[Aquila]

JerseyWendy does that mix include some stuff from Bird Paradise? It looks familiar

I've started ordering stuff from nuts.com (good variety of stuff that you can't always find in stores) and they're also based out of NJ, so I usually get stuff next day!

It seems with almost every bird I'm cooking something different for each one, so I'm ending up with so many different ingredients and types of bird food! My mom also says she never really sees me eat, I've told her I end up eating while I'm cooking for the birds.

Was also reading over your birdie bread recipe and might adapt it into some pumpkin birdie bread since I accidentally bought too many pumpkin seeds! Looking forward to when canned pumpkin and squash goes on sale too!

 

[Flboy]

Hate to say it, but those cups aren't much different than these, except price wise!
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...search-alias=aps&field-keywords=Specimen+cups

 

[SilverSage]

I won't go into the actual way I store my food because it is boring, complicated, and ever changing all at once But as for going out of town, any time I leave ANYONE to feed my birds, I make cage tags for every cage for both feeding and emergency vet purposes. A sample would be


Number of birds in cage:1
Name: Flick
Species: Green Cheeked Conure
Sex:Female
Color: Normal green
Hatch date: spring 2013
Tame: Yes
Band Number: (Not listing it here, but you get the idea)
Clear dishellets
Crock: 1/4 cup chop from fridge, 1/4 guava fruit
Other:Hang a new leaf of collard greens
Notes: Always wash all the food and water dishes with SOAP and water and rinse well, even if they look clean. Remove any food she may have flung around her cage, and change the papers. Don't let her out around Cache, and don't let her roam the bird room; she bites toes.

It varies from bird to bird, and season to season, but I find even my "parrot head" friends benefit from having the exact instructions on each cage, as well vital info for the vet, as well as communications with me in case something terrible happens. I obviously leave many contact numbers separately, and call the vet to leave payment instructions and authorize the caretaker to charge my account.

 

[JerseyWendy]

JerseyWendy does that mix include some stuff from Bird Paradise? It looks familiar

I've started ordering stuff from nuts.com (good variety of stuff that you can't always find in stores) and they're also based out of NJ, so I usually get stuff next day!

It seems with almost every bird I'm cooking something different for each one, so I'm ending up with so many different ingredients and types of bird food! My mom also says she never really sees me eat, I've told her I end up eating while I'm cooking for the birds.

Was also reading over your birdie bread recipe and might adapt it into some pumpkin birdie bread since I accidentally bought too many pumpkin seeds! Looking forward to when canned pumpkin and squash goes on sale too!

Yup, that was probably a mix from BP. I either order my dry mixes from them or from MSBS.

Thanks for the heads up on nuts.com. I have to check them out ASAP.

 

[Aquila]

JerseyWendy does that mix include some stuff from Bird Paradise? It looks familiar

I've started ordering stuff from nuts.com (good variety of stuff that you can't always find in stores) and they're also based out of NJ, so I usually get stuff next day!

It seems with almost every bird I'm cooking something different for each one, so I'm ending up with so many different ingredients and types of bird food! My mom also says she never really sees me eat, I've told her I end up eating while I'm cooking for the birds.

Was also reading over your birdie bread recipe and might adapt it into some pumpkin birdie bread since I accidentally bought too many pumpkin seeds! Looking forward to when canned pumpkin and squash goes on sale too!

Yup, that was probably a mix from BP. I either order my dry mixes from them or from MSBS.

Thanks for the heads up on nuts.com. I have to check them out ASAP.

I like to get my dried fruit there too, since it's unsulphered, as well as having freeze dried veggies. I get some specialty coffee from there as a treat to myself, the toasted almond is divine!