If you are a chicken-keeper, then surely you have gone through more bags of feed than you care to recall. I always have empty feed bags on hand and have no shortage of uses for them!
Framed feed bag art for my chicken coop
COOP ART. There are many uses for feed bags, from garden weed blocker to tote bags. I even created ‘art’ for my chicken coop by placing the front half of a feed bag in a plastic 16″ X 20″ frame.
DROPPINGS BOARDS LINERS. Staple empty feed bags onto droppings boards underneath roosts to facilitate the removal of droppings from the coop daily to ensure a dry, clean, healthy environment for chickens.
Staple empty feed bags onto the walls behind the roosts. It’s much easier to replace soiled feed bags than it is to scrape chicken poop off the walls!
FEED BAG FLOWER POUCH. View the video tutorial for these adorable feed bag flower pouches on my Facebook page at this link!
TOTE BAG: Here is my best attempt to date at sewing a tote bag from feed bags. It’s sturdy and spacious, but as I am barely competent to drive a sewing machine, I have no tutorial to share. I totally punted.
SUBSTITUTE TYVEK MAILING ENVELOPE: I forgot to pick up shipping envelopes for mailing merchandise to Italy one day when it occurred to me that feed bags are at least as sturdy as Tyvek®, so out came the sewing machine again!
“TATER TOTES” POTATO GROW BAGS: Learn how to grow potatoes in a feed bag HERE!
“CHRISTMAS FEED BAG STOCKINGS: Get my Christmas stocking tutorial with template HERE!
Some other great uses for feed bags are: a tablecloth, garden weed-blocker, place-mats, coop water-proofing, tarp, coop insulation, sick bay crate liner, beehive winter shelter windbreak.
Stapled to my winter beehive shed, empty feed bags act as a windbreak, providing protection from harsh, winter winds and precipitation.
Kathy Shea Mormino
Affectionately known internationally as The Chicken Chick®, Kathy Shea Mormino shares a fun-loving, informative style to raising backyard chickens. …Read on
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If you are a chicken-keeper, then surely you have gone through more bags of feed than you care to recall. I always have empty feed bags on hand and have no shortage of uses for them!
Framed feed bag art for my chicken coop
COOP ART. There are many uses for feed bags, from garden weed blocker to tote bags. I even created ‘art’ for my chicken coop by placing the front half of a feed bag in a plastic 16″ X 20″ frame.
DROPPINGS BOARDS LINERS. Staple empty feed bags onto droppings boards underneath roosts to facilitate the removal of droppings from the coop daily to ensure a dry, clean, healthy environment for chickens.
Staple empty feed bags onto the walls behind the roosts. It’s much easier to replace soiled feed bags than it is to scrape chicken poop off the walls!
FEED BAG FLOWER POUCH. View the video tutorial for these adorable feed bag flower pouches on my Facebook page at this link!
TOTE BAG: Here is my best attempt to date at sewing a tote bag from feed bags. It’s sturdy and spacious, but as I am barely competent to drive a sewing machine, I have no tutorial to share. I totally punted.
SUBSTITUTE TYVEK MAILING ENVELOPE: I forgot to pick up shipping envelopes for mailing merchandise to Italy one day when it occurred to me that feed bags are at least as sturdy as Tyvek®, so out came the sewing machine again!
“TATER TOTES” POTATO GROW BAGS: Learn how to grow potatoes in a feed bag HERE!
“CHRISTMAS FEED BAG STOCKINGS: Get my Christmas stocking tutorial with template HERE!
Some other great uses for feed bags are: a tablecloth, garden weed-blocker, place-mats, coop water-proofing, tarp, coop insulation, sick bay crate liner, beehive winter shelter windbreak.
Stapled to my winter beehive shed, empty feed bags act as a windbreak, providing protection from harsh, winter winds and precipitation.
I would love some step by step picture instructions. For those of us that are a big a slow.. :)
I have been making feed sack shopping bags for years! I love them, they are so strong and sturdy!
I have envelope templates called kreate-a-lopes. They come in different sizes. I've made chicken cards & have used the first layer of the paper feed bags for the envelopes. I don't know what the mailman thinks but people seem to like getting them. More feed bags seem to be made of plastic now though, so you need to be envelope worthy to get one from my stash…lol
When I was a little girl, chicken feed came in fabric bags. My mother would take me to the feed store and let me pick the bag out. Next thing I knew I had a new dress! I just thought it was a funny thing after reading all the comments on what to do with the feed bags. I sew all the time so if you have any questions, I will be glad to help. If your stitching is bunching up on the other side, it's either your tension or your bobbin. You might also change the needle as sewing… Read more »
Debbie: what a wonderful story! Any chance you have a photo of yourself wearing one of them? That would be priceless!
I'm so glad to know I have someone to turn to with these types of sewing questions now! Thanks for the offer. :) I actually had to read the manual that came with the machine to learn that the tension was the problem. I should've paid more attention in seventh grade home economics class when they covered this stuff!
We have recyclables pickup with the trash, but you are not supposed to let the papers get wet, as they pay by the pound to get rid of them. Feed bags keep everything dry, and keep the beasties out, too.
Not as creative as your ideas, which I will keep in mind.
Umbrellas for your recycling, brilliant! Thanks for sharing, Mariellen!