Facing the single strand of string, cut the string just where it runs past the bag.

My wife and I get chicken feed from several places in town that carry different brands, and the format for opening the bags with string can be a little different on each one. If you’re lucky — and perhaps have paid a tad more for this convenience — there’s a strip of paper on one side of the bag that, when pulled, separates the woven string from the bag. It’s easy-peasy. I recall a few occasions where only a little bit of string hung off the side, and I could see plainly how to pull the strings apart to open the bag. Another very easy option.

Then there’s the not-so-easy bag. Of course, this is probably the most common feedbag. It has about a 5-inch bit of woven string hanging off each side of the bag like Pippi Longstocking’s braids.

I have always failed at opening these bags with my fingers. You can find videos online of people carefully unweaving those braids, but it takes a … really…ong … time. Even then, it doesn’t always come out right.

The best way I’ve found to open these bags — and what the guy at my feed-and-seed place recommends — is to open these bags with a knife. But you can’t stab the bag and gut it like a catfish in frustration. Instead, stand the bag on the ground and notice that one side of the bag has a single strand of string and the other side has knotted strands. Facing the side with the single strand, reach for the edge of the bag on your right. Cut that braided string off just where it meets the bag and toss it.