Bugs in my chicken feed

[Blackjack1392]

Well I am new to the forums, and realize this may be a little late but I can tell you all that these beetles are harmless. I have been raising mealworms for years now. Not for my chickens, but for my bearded dragon and other reptile pets. And although these may look like mealworm beetles they are not. The are a smaller beetle known commonly as a cleaner beetle. They lay thier eggs inside grains in fields before they are harvested which is why you find them hatching in your feed. They eat poop from other animals, among other things, which is why they are called cleaner beetles. The are perfectly harmless to feed to any animal that eats insects.

And as far as the feed being old, or anything like that, its not. The beetles hatching so soon after you bought it just means the egg cycle was already farther along when the grains and such were harvested.

hope this helps

 

[stefan333]

We had a small chick starter bag from TSC with them in it last week. Kinda grossed me out, so I had hubby throw it away. I'm sure they're harmless, but I got a thing with crawly bugs.

 

[NYREDS]

I have a bag of chick starter/grower from TSC and I swear I heard it crinkling and stuff so I looked in it and I see these microscopic bugs that look just like what is in the picture. But the bag has been in my room since I boug

You can see microscopic bugs w/o a microscope?

 

[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.

 

[jgcalifornia]

I have the EXACT same bugs in my feed!

 

[Folly's place]

I would also return that feed, and complain to the feed store and the manufacturer. Spoiled feed is too old and/or has been mishandled, and not worth the purchase price. The vitamins will have degraded, so are deficient. Get rid of it, back to the store. The manufacturer can tell it's age from codes on the bag. Mary

 

[jgcalifornia]

Oh I contacted Kruz immediately. This is what they said: "On 8/5/14 9:40 AM, "Clint Cummings" wrote: Good morning, we apologize for the bugs in your chicken feed however with the summer heat cones bugs and being organic theirs nothing we can really do to stop the bugs fortunately for your chickens they love bugs, sorry for the inconvenience thanks for your investment in our program , Clint" my reply: "Hi, thanks for getting back. Yes, of course they love bugs & normally I wouldn’t really mind...but recently they had a reaction & worms from eating a bug or a worm & I have since been really trying to be careful as to what they are ingesting. So should I be expecting to see bugs as a regular ingredient ?" their reply: "From: Tom Skog Date: August 5, 2014 at 5:15:00 PM PDT To: Clint Cummings Subject: Re: Bugs in organic chicken feed Worms occur whether they eat bugs or not as long as they are on the ground. I have even seen cage birds get worms. They should be wormed every six months or so. As far as a reaction from eating bugs, I haven't seen it but it is probably possible. All I can say is that if the bugs were in the coop I guarantee the chickens would eat them or if they are on pasture they would eat them. I have really not ever in close to 40 yrs seen that happen. " What I got from what he was saying, was basically, s**t happens. I wasn't to thrilled to hear that.

 

[Folly's place]

Great information; guess this manufacturer is one I will avoid! Mary

 

[jgcalifornia]

Well I am new to the forums, and realize this may be a little late but I can tell you all that these beetles are harmless. I have been raising mealworms for years now. Not for my chickens, but for my bearded dragon and other reptile pets. And although these may look like mealworm beetles they are not.
The are a smaller beetle known commonly as a cleaner beetle. They lay thier eggs inside grains in fields before they are harvested which is why you find them hatching in your feed.
They eat poop from other animals, among other things, which is why they are called cleaner beetles. The are perfectly harmless to feed to any animal that eats insects.

Do you happen to have the scientific name of what you call the "cleaner beetle"?
Googling that seems to pull up stuff for the VW car.

Thanks!

 

[Folly's place]

So these 'cleaner beetles' have eaten fecal material from critters off my own property, at the feed mill and where ever? It's all natural, all right! Salmonella, anyone?! Mary