Bugs in my chicken feed

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i keep my feed in rubbermaid containers, and tonight when i opened one of them open to fill up some feeders, i saw some bugs. i have never seen this type of bug before. It has a hard body and moves slow. They were not in the feed, but hanging around the top. Has anyone seen this before? And, perhaps a rubbermaid container is not the best thing to keep the feed in. Would love advice on the best thing to use to store feed. Thanks!

Here are the bugs:

 

[rufus]

Chickens eat bugs all the time. If it worries you, put several sticks of spearmint or double mint gum in the bin. That is what we do to keep flour and pasta weevil free. It seems to work for us; I don't see why it won't work with chicken feed.

I am not sure if it will work with an already active infestation.

Freezing will kill weevils also. Then just sift out their little frozen bodies. I keep the flour and pancake mix at our summer home in the freezer over the winter. But that is mostly so that it doesn't attract mice.

Rufus

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Quote:
WAS thinking the same thing. If you let them range they eat a lot of stuff like that. Unless you feel you have been cheated or shorted seems like feeding them the bugs is just an added bonus. I've read here that some folks grow maggots and meal worms specifically to feed their birds. Protien and I have learned a little about that lately.

If it ain't moldy then go for it. The feed company has to put the disclaimer on the bag. (Do not use feed that is moldy or has insects)

My grandmother used to throw the feed on the ground unless I asked to do it then I had a little fun with that. Those 20 or 30 chickens did not know what a feeder was.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i probably should have dumped all those bugs in the pen with the chicks. i was just a little grossed out, but i suppose i need to get over that.

My kids don't free range, we don't really have a lot of space. But tonight when i went out to tuck them in, i saw the ground was crawling with crickets. So i pulled a couple of the more alert looking chicks out and used a flashlight to show them where the bugs were. They each must of eaten 15 or so crickets. Maybe i need to devise teeny miner's headlamps for them to go cricket hunting at night.

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Yep gotta get over the gross part !

Can you imagine the light show of several chick headlamps?

Probably would have Nasa checking out your back yard

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Hey- thats a good marketing idea--- Put headlamps on the chickens in your back yard...
No selfrespecting law breaker will come anywhere near that light show! just have to work out a shift schedule where they roost during the day and range the yard on the graveyard shift.

 

[Michael Apple]

Feed is best stored in a cool dry place. Grain mites and other bugs thrive in warm environments, feed on fungi/molds and when infected with Aspergillus, can make the birds sick from toxins to the point of death if not caught early enough. I am observant of each bag I buy. I set the feed, while still in the bag, in galvanized cans with tight lids. Again, they are in a cool, dry location. The original poster made the right decision about not feeding the infested feed to his/her birds.

 

[araceli]

I have recently been struggling with the same bugs that are originally posted in this thread, the photo. They are a problem! They are eating away at the chicken feed and have been pulverizing the feed so all I have is powder!!! I so annoyed with these bugs! So if you notice your feed is all powder, it could be these bugs! It took me awhile to figure this out.

 

[JoeWen]

I use 5 gallon buckets with the lids on them to store my feed in for our chickens. I bought brand new buckets with lids but I still wash them every month with apple cider vingar and hot water then i let them air dry till they are completely dry before putting my feed in them I do this every month. I hope this idea helps everyone.

 

[digsindirt]

I use 5 gallon buckets with the lids on them to store my feed in for our chickens. I bought brand new buckets with lids but I still wash them every month with apple cider vingar and hot water then i let them air dry till they are completely dry before putting my feed in them I do this every month. I hope this idea helps everyone.

That's a great idea. I rinse mine with water but never ACV. Thanks for sharing the tip.