Can I feed my chicks frozen bugs?

[Snow mom]

My bantam chicks are a month old. They have had random bugs that I (or they) have caught around the garden. My husband just reminded me that we have frozen june bugs in the freezer. They were collected from our plants and placed in a bag in the freezer to kill them. Would these be safe as treats for my babies?

 

[dainerra]

hmmm I don't see why there would be any problem with them except maybe size lol June bugs are pretty big and bantam chicks are pretty small

 

[Reurra]

I was wondering this same thing. Would frozen things in the crop hurt them?

 

[Snow mom]

hmmm I don't see why there would be any problem with them except maybe size lol June bugs are pretty big and bantam chicks are pretty small

I gave them a live field cricket figuring they'd be terrified of it but they ripped it apart. That has to be similar in mass to a june bug (although a bit longer and narrower.) I just tried the june bugs and it took them a while to recognize it as a bug--maybe because it wasn't moving. They ran around screaming and battering it into things and eventually got it into small enough pieces that everyone had a bit. Yeah, I can't imagine they'll ever be able to down a june bug whole.

 

[dainerra]

I was mostly thinking of the hard shell on a june bug. Crickets are kind of delicate in comparison. It's amazing the size of creature they can shred into food, especially when you have a bunch of them fighting over it. I think that half of my yard is now completely lizard-less.

 

[Malibu99]

My Light Brahma will eat anything, except fruit. She's a bantam around 2 months old, and has eaten a june bug. Not whole, but she shredded it. It took her awhile though XD The others won't even touch a bug, but love fruit. They're completely opposite. I think a frozen one would be fine. If nothing else, you can thaw it out. :3

 

[off-grid hen]

My leghorn ate a nice fat juicy June bug (brown chunky beetle that raps against the windows or by the outside lights in the summer)

She was able to break it up with her beak very well. Kind of like... "crunch, crunch, gulp" If it's frozen, it might pose a choking hazard. So I would let them thaw a bit, then toss them in the run. That's IF you haven't sprayed any pesticides or anything that the bugs could have eaten. That would hurt the chickens.

 

[LazerClaire]

I say thaw them first. My chicks have eaten them I found a dead one & threw it in, the two that got it loved it.

 

[Snow mom]

My leghorn ate a nice fat juicy June bug (brown chunky beetle that raps against the windows or by the outside lights in the summer)

She was able to break it up with her beak very well. Kind of like... "crunch, crunch, gulp" If it's frozen, it might pose a choking hazard. So I would let them thaw a bit, then toss them in the run. That's IF you haven't sprayed any pesticides or anything that the bugs could have eaten. That would hurt the chickens.

I was just thinking about pesticide this morning. We don't spray anything in or around our house but do I need to worry about pesticide residuals from neighbors? This morning the chicks found a roach (we are in the SE and they are EVERYWHERE) and we don't use any chemicals but certainly other people in our neighborhood must, mainly against these nasty buggers. I've never seen our neighbors spray for bugs and they aren't super into their gardens so I imagine the neighborhood chemical load is pretty low.