Best insect eating chickens

[LadiesAndJane]

My best bug eater is my leghorn cross. She even eats the huge cockroaches we have here!

 

[3KillerBs]

Yes--I am certified organic. I know and can follow the regulations--it's an orchard so they are different.

Probably any lightweight, agile breed that is listed as "good foragers" would eagerly eat your bugs.

But possibly also some of the fruit.

 

[SulkyBantam]

I myself do suggest guinea-fowl as absolute bug-eaters. They might try and roost in your trees though. But they are perfect if you live on a farm, don't mind noise or care about egg production or friendliness.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Interesting question and thanks for all the info. That helps me. I'm not sure how much help chickens will give you with those pests but you can certainly try.

I don't know your climate or the quality of your forage. For thousands of years small farmers have kept flocks of chickens that could feed themselves in the good weather months. I was raised on one of those farms so I know it can be done. A lot depends on the quality of your forage though and how big that area is so they don't turn it into a wasteland. Your feed costs in good weather months could be minimal. By quality of forage I'm talking about different kinds of green stuff, weeds and grasses. It helps if the grass can go to seed. Grass seed is called grain. Various creepy crawlies can help a lot, access to a compost bin or even where dead leaves pile up where they can scratch. They can get good stuff by scratching through big animal poop, horse or cow for example. They will peck at apples that fall on the ground. Not eating them whole but just enough pecks to ruin them.

What kind of chickens? My first thought is any that are living and breathing should eat bugs. But you don't care for eggs or meat. That makes it harder. I'd certainly stay away from any of the meat birds, they aren't very mobile and tend to grow so fast they may not live that long. I'd also try to stay away from the ones known for egg laying though they may not be as much of a health risk. I'd also avoid the decorative like Silkies that can't fly or Polish that have headdresses that can interfere with vision.

I'd think Game birds would be your best bet. The biggest downside is that they can go broody a lot. That keeps the hens on the nests instead of out foraging. If you have a rooster with them they can hatch and raise a lot of chicks on their own. They are excellent foragers and fliers. While predators are always a risk and Game birds are not totally safe, I'd think it is about as well as you can do.

Good luck!

 

[appleacres]

Probably any lightweight, agile breed that is listed as "good foragers" would eagerly eat your bugs.

But possibly also some of the fruit.

Haha, well we hand thin our fruitlets and I would love to be able to drop any that I know are already infested with a larval insect and have the chickens peck at it, though I would not want them to fly onto the lower branches of the trees and eat good fruit! I am thinking of trying to mix guinea hens and chickens in the long run. Thanks for the suggestions everyone! It's interesting to see everyone's opinions!

 

[Tre3hugger]

I second @SulkyBantam vote for guineas. They basically eradicated the tick and grasshopper issues on my property. They are known for eating bugs not plants, and are just an all around hoot to have around. Seems like an orchard setting would be heaven for them. Here is a pic of mine for motivation.

 

[Tre3hugger]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/raising-guineas-in-orchard.1444130/

 

[appleacres]

I second @SulkyBantam vote for guineas. They basically eradicated the tick and grasshopper issues on my property. They are known for eating bugs not plants, and are just an all around hoot to have around. Seems like an orchard setting would be heaven for them. Here is a pic of mine for motivation.
View attachment 2581081
View attachment 2581084

Yes! I have been trying to/planning to get guineas. It was my original plan, but I struggled to find a place to get them this early---I think I finally found a source and I am getting some this Friday if they survive! I am shipping express with a heat pack, even though the hatchery said it wouldn't make a difference...but I like chickens and am hoping to incorporate chickens as well.

 

[appleacres]

Interesting question and thanks for all the info. That helps me. I'm not sure how much help chickens will give you with those pests but you can certainly try.

I don't know your climate or the quality of your forage. For thousands of years small farmers have kept flocks of chickens that could feed themselves in the good weather months. I was raised on one of those farms so I know it can be done. A lot depends on the quality of your forage though and how big that area is so they don't turn it into a wasteland. Your feed costs in good weather months could be minimal. By quality of forage I'm talking about different kinds of green stuff, weeds and grasses. It helps if the grass can go to seed. Grass seed is called grain. Various creepy crawlies can help a lot, access to a compost bin or even where dead leaves pile up where they can scratch. They can get good stuff by scratching through big animal poop, horse or cow for example. They will peck at apples that fall on the ground. Not eating them whole but just enough pecks to ruin them.

What kind of chickens? My first thought is any that are living and breathing should eat bugs. But you don't care for eggs or meat. That makes it harder. I'd certainly stay away from any of the meat birds, they aren't very mobile and tend to grow so fast they may not live that long. I'd also try to stay away from the ones known for egg laying though they may not be as much of a health risk. I'd also avoid the decorative like Silkies that can't fly or Polish that have headdresses that can interfere with vision.

I'd think Game birds would be your best bet. The biggest downside is that they can go broody a lot. That keeps the hens on the nests instead of out foraging. If you have a rooster with them they can hatch and raise a lot of chicks on their own. They are excellent foragers and fliers. While predators are always a risk and Game birds are not totally safe, I'd think it is about as well as you can do.

Good luck!

Sorry to clarify--I am more than happy to eat the eggs/meat--but it's just not the priority, just a nice plus. I am hopefully getting some guineas this Friday, but would like to incorporate chickens as well, especially seeing as I am worried that the guineas will not make it in shipment with the post office being so messed up this year, and the chicks I can walk into many stores around here and get. We are an organic farm and we practice minimal mowing and have a very diverse understory of plants underneath the trees, I think about 16-20 species of plants. We like it this way, but have found that this also creates habitat for the apple pests, so we are hoping that the guineas/chickens will eat a lot of what is happening in the grass, and then we won't have to go nuts mowing everything down all the time. We don't have other animals, but we truck in horse manure from a family member's farm to use for our compost along with woodchips, so maybe we could run them through it. We have a 2.5 acre plot that is fenced with 8' deer fence, so we are hoping we can let the animals free range all day without getting one area overly run down, we are planning to get an electric fence that is moveable to take them to other areas of the farm during the summer as needed. I will keep everyone updated on whether this system ends up working for us or not! It's my first time, so I feel like I am pretty idealistic right now and am going to get knocked off my post pretty soon by these living beings! : )

 

[Ridgerunner]

I will keep everyone updated on whether this system ends up working for us or not! It's my first time, so I feel like I am pretty idealistic right now and am going to get knocked off my post pretty soon by these living beings! : )

For sure. Nothing ever goes as planned, but you have to start somewhere. Then be flexible.

From what you describe I think it will work pretty well, with predators probably your biggest issue.