Raising feeder insects

[Kassaundra]

Does anyone grow their own insects for their chickens? If so which ones? Anyone have experience raising roaches for their chicks?

 

[Lollipop]

Just my 2 cents. Feed companies spend small fortunes formulating balanced diets for animals. It might be fun to raise bugs to supplement feed, but 2 things will happen, no matter how much you are into it. First, you will find that your chickens health will not improve, no matter how much you read and breed. Second, the infatuation with formulating supplements in any form, but especially ones that require time and work, will soon fade, leaving you with a lot of wasted money and time, pluss a huge population of pests that need to be disposed of. Don`t ask me how I know this. You are far better off, as are your fowl, to feed strictly a quality commercial feed with only an occasional treat. You and your fowl will be better off for it..........Pop

 

[Kassaundra]

Do you think this is how they make the carvings inside the carvings???

 

[WildflowerJLH]

I just started keeping mealworms. There is at least one person raising roaches. Scroll down inthis thread , until you see a pic of them.

 

[MakNugget]

Yep, ^^^^^^^^^^^


I have mealworms, but I kind of lost track of them and now I have mostly larvae and beetles. I suppose eventually I'll have mealworms again.

I'm "raising" wheat grass at the moment which I harvest and cut into 1" pieces with sharp scissors. They love it!

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Yep, I raise the roaches. I had black soldier flies but because of the cool weather they've stopped visiting their bucket. So I've ordered some more mealworms that came in the mail today to cover most of the winter protein. The roaches are a treat every 1-2 weeks, now that the colony has thinned out. I breed them mainly for my reptiles which are 2 bearded dragons, and 3 leopard geckos. Together they can easily go through 100 a week. I reccomend Blaptica dubia for feeder roaches, since they are a hefty 2 inches and breed good. Blatta lateralis, or turkistan roaches, are cheap and easy to get. They are just as fast of a breeder as german roaches. They do not climb, and top out around the same sise as the german roachs, or crickets. Lobster roaches are another common feeder breed like bacteria, and are a little over an inch. These climb though, but are very cheap and readily available. Note these roaches won't survive in enviorments with a temperature lower than 70 degrees and under 60% humidity. As a rule, dubia need it warmer, but less humidity. Turkistans and lobsters do well at 78-80 degrees, but need high humidity at 70-90%. Because I haven't kept the others, I'll still reccomend dubias. Get them at www.theroachguy.com. His shipping is great, prices VERY good for dubias, and the roaches are top notch. Dubia take a little longer to breed than the other two because they give live birth, intead of laying oothecas or "roach eggs". Keep them in a minimum of a 20 gallon rubbermaid, fit with at least 3-4 egg flats, and a lid with a generous hole cut and screened. You can feed them high protein flock raiser or the roach chow the dealer sells. (Watch for too much calcium in chicken feed, this causing molting problems in the roaches) For water, stick with water cystals for simplicity. (The hard crystals you soak in water until they turn to gel) You can get these from theroachguy too. Or for a cheaper method go to a plant nursery, or some where that deals with plants, and you can get water crystals there. Dubia do best at 85-95 degrees, supply this with a quality heatpad, humidity can be on the lower side for these. (40-50%)

*Note: Get as many roaches as you can if you want a constant suppy quickly, this applies especially for Blaptica dubia. The roach guy also has a steal of a sale for extra adult pairs so catch that quick if you can.

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
That is the breed I was concidering getting. Can they be the main protien in the chickens diet? If so how many would they need? I can't find a straight answer on any site, most deal w/ reptiles, or bog you down in alot of science and numbers that don't mean much to me anyway.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Quote:
That is the breed I was concidering getting. Can they be the main protien in the chickens diet? If so how many would they need? I can't find a straight answer on any site, most deal w/ reptiles, or bog you down in alot of science and numbers that don't mean much to me anyway.

They sure can be the main source of protein, they are packed with it. The average is around 35%-36%. I would say maybe 3 adult roaches per chicken a day would work great. (For say, chickens on 16% layer) If say, your going the cheap route and will feed and all grain diet with little protein, maybe 10 per chicken would work. Go with the largest amount of roaches and adult pairs you can afford, since it sounds like you'll need a good supply fast. (It would take about 6-8 months at optimum conditions for a starter colony of 250 mixed nymphs, and 5 adult pairs to produce a main and constant supply of protein for maybe 5 standard hens. This is going with my experience from breeding them)

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
That is the breed I was concidering getting. Can they be the main protien in the chickens diet? If so how many would they need? I can't find a straight answer on any site, most deal w/ reptiles, or bog you down in alot of science and numbers that don't mean much to me anyway.

They sure can be the main source of protein, they are packed with it. The average is around 35%-36%. I would say maybe 3 adult roaches per chicken a day would work great. (For say, chickens on 16% layer) If say, your going the cheap route and will feed and all grain diet with little protein, maybe 10 per chicken would work. Go with the largest amount of roaches and adult pairs you can afford, since it sounds like you'll need a good supply fast. (It would take about 6-8 months at optimum conditions for a starter colony of 250 mixed nymphs, and 5 adult pairs to produce a main and constant supply of protein for maybe 5 standard hens. This is going with my experience from breeding them)

Thanks, I'm ordering them Monday when I get off work, and the roach guy was one of the two sites I was trying to chose from.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

You will also want to add new blood to your colony(s) every year, doing this will prevent inbreeding. (Signs of inbreeding are small, weak roaches, slow growth, trouble molting, etc.) It doesn't have to be much, just a small order from another supplier. Or you can order another set from the roach guy, since he does add new blood to his colonies.