Cicadas are coming, will you let your chickens out?

[Bresseman]

I think they will keep as long as any other frozen food. A year would be the max for me.

 

[bascom]

We just decided that our chicken run isn't needed as our girls come right home each night and the local woods don't seem to have as many daytime predators as we thought they might.
Cicadas just emerged today for the first time (we have only seen some brave souls prior to today). The Girls went crazy harvesting this wonderful protein source.
The first day cicadas are so docile that they are like picking beans and 3 of my kids are filling up quart sized mason jars to freeze for this comming winter.
This was the best year (economically speaking) to start our flock. Between our grasses and the cicadas filling their bellies I suspect I will have to practically force the girls to eat at least some medicated feed.

 

[lwiese58]

Thank you for notifying us about the emergence! If we're blessed enough of have them in our area, I'll be keeping a close eye out for them now!

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Good Grief, the cicada's are here in quantities I've not seen before nor has my husband! We just sent two gallon sized freezer bags of bugs to "freezer camp" after feeding the girls all we dared. DH was actually picking them off my back and I had one climbing up my leg. My "creep factor" has been maxed out for the day, I believe.

Daughter is a vet tech and they're seeing people bringing in their dogs with diarrhea and one dog that quit eating entirely. Stool samples indicated the dogs were feasting on cicada's! My own dog has just supplemented her breakfast while we were collecting for freezer camp.

Our hens love them and they're very entertaining to give to our 9 week old chicks as they play "keep away". Gotta' love free protein!

 

[lwiese58]

mtnlaur, where are located?,

 

[Mtn Laurel]

mtnlaur, where are located?,

Northern Virginia, about 45 minutes from DC.

 

[Weasleymum]

Northern Virginia, about 45 minutes from DC.

Ha, you must not be very far from me. Is there any way you could post a picture of the cicadas, so I know what I'm looking for? I moved here from Texas, where I don't think we have them.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Ha, you must not be very far from me. Is there any way you could post a picture of the cicadas, so I know what I'm looking for? I moved here from Texas, where I don't think we have them.

I'm guessing you don't have them as you'd know it if you did. The noise is unbelievable - a sound engineer measured it as 70 dB, which is the same as a vacuum cleaner. Plus you'd be seeing these things all over the place! Oddly enough, friends in neighboring towns don't have them so guessing my area has them all! Oh, they're rather large - about 2.5 inches long.

 

[cybrchick]

Texas has cicadas but they emerge yearly mostly so not the swarms you guys get.

 

[DEBlues]

I was hoping to let my bunch eat cicadas, but I haven't seen ANY yet! I saw one casing on my porch the other day and that's it.

The weather here has been wacky lately, I wonder if that has something to do with it.

I never thought of freezing them before. Hmmm..