Your feed room is a mess, but that’s understandable. This area can quickly become a catchall for all sorts of items. But you can start reclaiming the space by throwing away these four things right now:

1. Expired medications. Drugs have an expiration date for a reason—they may become ineffective or even harmful with the passage of time. Check the dates on all medications and toss any that have passed. (But don’t flush them down the toilet. Instead, put them in the trash or dispose of them as directed by your municipality.)

2. Old supplements. Like medications, supplements have a shelf life. Not all of them, however, will have a printed expiration date. If you can’t determine when a supplement expires, but you also can’t remember the last time you used it, play it safe and pitch it.

3. Empty feedbags. You might think that stack of folded feedbags will come in handy someday, but right now it’s just nesting material for rodents. Take the empty sacks to the recycling bin, keeping only one or two for immediate use if you must.

4. Random hardware items. For some reason, old snaps, latches and screws always find their way into a coffee can in the feed room. As a general rule, if you don’t know what something goes to, throw it out. If you’re nervous about taking that final step, at least move it to a workshop outside of the barn where it’s less likely to find its way into a feed bucket or under a hoof.