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Raising feeder insects - Page 16

post #151 of 247
6/15/11 at 10:21am

yuckyuck

1 Hubby, 4 kids, 5 dogs, 3 cats, several pet rats and birds, and now chickens! Life is good!
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1 Hubby, 4 kids, 5 dogs, 3 cats, several pet rats and birds, and now chickens! Life is good!
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post #152 of 247
6/15/11 at 11:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bryan99705 

I can't believe someone in Flordia raises roaches.   hu      Seems all you need is a net and a open manhole cover


They're not very common where I live. In fact, my yard is pretty devoid of bugs. Some have asked me why not raise you regular run of the mill roaches, but of course, that's a stupid idea. If one escaped I'd be infested. If one of these escaped, it would be dead in a week.

Ducks rule, but so do chickens. Proud owner of one female pekin named Sunny.
3 RIR/PRs and 2 EEs. 5 hens 28+ weeks old and almost full size! Please visit my dragons http://dragcave.net/user/Pet_Duck_Boy114
I'm the Cocky Cockeral of BYC!
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Ducks rule, but so do chickens. Proud owner of one female pekin named Sunny.
3 RIR/PRs and 2 EEs. 5 hens 28+ weeks old and almost full size! Please visit my dragons http://dragcave.net/user/Pet_Duck_Boy114
I'm the Cocky Cockeral of BYC!
Reply
post #153 of 247
6/15/11 at 11:20am

Crickets here.

My Guess Has No Warranty "Best Methods"
You Eat What Your Chickens Eat
Maintaining U.S. Heritage Breeds
1 Ameraucana, 10 Barred Plymouth Rock, 2 Black Australorp, 1 Buff Orpington, 2 Iowa Blue, 1 Leghorn, 2 Mottled Java, 1 Rhode Island Red
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My Guess Has No Warranty "Best Methods"
You Eat What Your Chickens Eat
Maintaining U.S. Heritage Breeds
1 Ameraucana, 10 Barred Plymouth Rock, 2 Black Australorp, 1 Buff Orpington, 2 Iowa Blue, 1 Leghorn, 2 Mottled Java, 1 Rhode Island Red
Reply
post #154 of 247
6/15/11 at 1:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roo on Harley 

Crickets here.


Blech. Worst insect on the world! Smelly, noisy, jumpy, and a low protein percent. tongue

Ducks rule, but so do chickens. Proud owner of one female pekin named Sunny.
3 RIR/PRs and 2 EEs. 5 hens 28+ weeks old and almost full size! Please visit my dragons http://dragcave.net/user/Pet_Duck_Boy114
I'm the Cocky Cockeral of BYC!
Reply
Ducks rule, but so do chickens. Proud owner of one female pekin named Sunny.
3 RIR/PRs and 2 EEs. 5 hens 28+ weeks old and almost full size! Please visit my dragons http://dragcave.net/user/Pet_Duck_Boy114
I'm the Cocky Cockeral of BYC!
Reply
post #155 of 247
6/15/11 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pet Duck Boy 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roo on Harley 

Crickets here.


Blech. Worst insect on the world! Smelly, noisy, jumpy, and a low protein percent. tongue


I agree there are better and for me,grasshoppers and junebugs are in abundance.
I also use these to fish with lol.
Here are a few factoids about crickets from Manataka American Indian Council.
100 grams of cricket contains: 121 calories, 12.9 grams of protein, 5.5 g. of fat, 5.1 g. of
carbohydrates, 75.8 mg. calcium, 185.3 mg. of phosphorous, 9.5 mg. of iron, 0.36 mg. of
thiamin, 1.09 mg. of riboflavin, and 3.10 mg. of niacin.
http://www.manataka.org/page160.html

My Guess Has No Warranty "Best Methods"
You Eat What Your Chickens Eat
Maintaining U.S. Heritage Breeds
1 Ameraucana, 10 Barred Plymouth Rock, 2 Black Australorp, 1 Buff Orpington, 2 Iowa Blue, 1 Leghorn, 2 Mottled Java, 1 Rhode Island Red
Reply
My Guess Has No Warranty "Best Methods"
You Eat What Your Chickens Eat
Maintaining U.S. Heritage Breeds
1 Ameraucana, 10 Barred Plymouth Rock, 2 Black Australorp, 1 Buff Orpington, 2 Iowa Blue, 1 Leghorn, 2 Mottled Java, 1 Rhode Island Red
Reply
post #156 of 247
6/15/11 at 4:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roo on Harley 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pet Duck Boy 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roo on Harley 

Crickets here.


Blech. Worst insect on the world! Smelly, noisy, jumpy, and a low protein percent. tongue


I agree there are better and for me,grasshoppers and junebugs are in abundance.
I also use these to fish with lol.
Here are a few factoids about crickets from Manataka American Indian Council.
100 grams of cricket contains: 121 calories, 12.9 grams of protein, 5.5 g. of fat, 5.1 g. of
carbohydrates, 75.8 mg. calcium, 185.3 mg. of phosphorous, 9.5 mg. of iron, 0.36 mg. of
thiamin, 1.09 mg. of riboflavin, and 3.10 mg. of niacin.
http://www.manataka.org/page160.html


don't they also have lots of calcium because of the chitin?  I used to feed those and Ghost shrimp to my baby Red Eared Sliders.

deb always learning

 

I don't have help at my place except the goats....  Well um they are just company you cant turn your back on.... more like hyper active neighbor kids coming to see what your doing..... Well they aren't much help at all.... Oh well.

 

(1)Percheron(1)Dog (3)Cats(3)Goats(10)Guineas (17)Welsumers (2)Silkys(2)Auracanas

 

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deb always learning

 

I don't have help at my place except the goats....  Well um they are just company you cant turn your back on.... more like hyper active neighbor kids coming to see what your doing..... Well they aren't much help at all.... Oh well.

 

(1)Percheron(1)Dog (3)Cats(3)Goats(10)Guineas (17)Welsumers (2)Silkys(2)Auracanas

 

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post #157 of 247
6/16/11 at 5:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roo on Harley 

Crickets here.


Roo, I love the line in your sig in the context of this fascinating insect thread. I had almost talked myself into the roaches when I saw "You Eat What Your Chickens Eat."
lau

Okay, how long does it take for the ick factor to wear off? I guess I need to bone up on some Andrew Zimmern...

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post #158 of 247
6/16/11 at 6:19am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by einhard 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roo on Harley 

Crickets here.


Roo, I love the line in your sig in the context of this fascinating insect thread. I had almost talked myself into the roaches when I saw "You Eat What Your Chickens Eat."
lau

Okay, how long does it take for the ick factor to wear off? I guess I need to bone up on some Andrew Zimmern...


The ick factor of raising them goes away pretty quickly, the ick factor of feeding them too, the ick factor of handling them takes a little longer.  I still wear gloves (the thin ones you get in the first aid section of the store) when I harvest them to feed to the chickens.  I raise roaches, they are very easy w/ minimal care.

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post #159 of 247
6/16/11 at 6:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pet Duck Boy 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kassaundra 

Okay any of you experienced roach people, How do I know when my roach house is over crowded?  How do I estimate an approximate amount of insects in the colony?  I have 8 egg flat type cartons in my tank and when I move them to look they are all covered w/ dubia's?  Is there some formula or idea of how many you can feed out per day w/o comprimising your colony?


This reply is a bit late, but I have the answer to your question. Generally, you can keep as much roaches you can in a single enclosure until you see signs of cannibilism/stress. Sings of this are - eaten/clipped antennae, chewed wings, eating the recently molted, eaten/dropped egg cases, and aggressiveness. (Males will fight if you have too many) Also the smell can indicate overcrowding. As far as feeding goes, I ONLY feed off adult males and male nymphs. The females are too valuable to feed off, one female equals 200 babies. One male can fertilize 10 females in it's lifetime, so start with the ratio 1:10 and feed off the males (I do 2 dozen a week or so) until you have roughly one male per 10 females. You can do 1:5 though. I don't like too many males since they simply compete with food, and sometimes eat newborn babies.


So how big a colony, or how many would I need to feed off a couple of dozen a day?
I need to go back and look at your pics of the diff in the male and female nymphs.  The adults are no brainers, but I need to be able to spot the young males for feeding better / quicker.

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post #160 of 247
6/19/11 at 5:16pm
Thread Starter 

The girls just got their sunday dinner, I've been feeding off  my extra males to them on Sunday's.  I wear a bright blue medical type glove to pick up the roaches, and to hand them out, I put them in a 2 ltr bottle w/ the top cut off for transport from the colony to the girls run, and I swear they know what they are about to get when they see the blue glove.  They are always interested in what I might be bringing them when I go anywhere near the runs, but if I am wearing the blue glove they actually dance!  love

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