Bugs in feed?

[nola_chickens]

I just brought home 2 chicks, my first, and bought some starter feed at the farm supply store where I bought the chickens. When I opened the feed and poured it into feeder, I noticed that there are some little reddish-brown bugs crawling inside it.. I gave it to my chicks anyway, and they like to eat the bugs, but should I be concerned about the infestation..?

 

[Judy]

They will enjoy the bugs. Actually, I suspect most if not all feed has larvae present which will then become some sort of bug. But it does indicate the feed wasn't the freshest. Just watch for mold and don't feed that if you find any. And maybe find a feed source with more turnover, if you haven't already.

Good luck.

 

[nola_chickens]

Thank you!

 

[usschicago1]

I had bugs in my grain, i believe they were called weedles? I learned they are common in my feedstores WINTER storage. So I stock up alot towards the end of summer. ( After inspecting to make sure no weedles are present. And buy lots ! And Seal them all. This works because i have a small amount of chickens. Someone with over 20 chickens would prove a chore.

 

[Ohhhdear]

Quote:
I think they're called "weevils", and yes, bugs are in all grain products. You cannot avoid them. They're in people food too. If you dump out the feed into a big plastic container and add BAY LEAVES throughout the feed it will keep away the bugs. You can get bay leaves cheaply in bulk at any health food store that sells bulk spices, or order them online.

Don't worry about the bugs in the feed, the chickens will gobble them up. More protein in their diets and all the better since it's not easy to get fresh bugs in the wintertime when the ground's frozen here. But yeah, find a better source for chicken feed. Y'd think a feed store would have a better turnover. You might want to write the feed manufacturer and include the sell-by date or serial number on the bag so the company knows it's product isn't being sold very fast. You might even get a couple free coupons!