Freezing grubs

[saysfaa]

Are there downsides to freezing grubs to feed chickens? Besides the issues involved with making sure all people know not to open that container.

I don't know how to freeze dry them and the chicks are too young to eat this many.

I think they are Japanese beetles, if that matters... the irriddsent/gold kind, not the lady bugs.

 

[cherrynberry]

Are there downsides to freezing grubs to feed chickens? Besides the issues involved with making sure all people know not to open that container.

I don't know how to freeze dry them and the chicks are too young to eat this many.

I think they are Japanese beetles, if that matters... the irriddsent/gold kind, not the lady bugs.

I am sure its fine. I know that freezing mealworms is fine, I dont have much experience with grubs, but would guess its fine.

 

[neo71665]

You don't wanna look into freeze drying. The equipment alone is a few grand.

We freeze grubs for fishing. The only issue is they get pretty slimy when thawed.

 

[Ducky Dad]

In another thread, someone posted a link to an apparently reputable source that says Japanese beetle larvae are toxic to chickens. I can't find any other source that supports the claim, but it's worrisome.

 

[Ducky Dad]

Here's the link: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/green-june-beetle-1

It's a parenthetical comment with no elaboration.

 

[Ducky Dad]

I was concerned about the comment in the article I mentioned, so I contacted NCSU Extension and asked. Here is the full reply:

"I, like you, was confused about the parenthetical information included in the extension article. I contacted the original author to see if he could find a citation for the information and he could not. Apparently, there was some misinformation circulating when the article was originally published. He is on leave at the moment but will be updating the publication with correct information when he returns.

"White grubs are safe for chickens or ducks to consume, provided that the turfgrass has not been treated and they have not been exposed to certain products. In untreated lawns, the grubs will not be toxic."

 

[saysfaa]

Update: freezing the grubs did not work very well. At least not the way I did it. They mostly stuck together and mostly came out kind of slimey. The chicks didn't mind much but I will not do it again without modification. The japanese beetle grubs are much squishier even alive than meal worms.

Freezing adult Japanese beetles worked extremely well. The only downsides I've noticed are the eww factor to family members and it takes up my very limited freezer space. Besides the disagreeableness of collecting them but I'd be doing that anyway trying to save my garden. I did only a few to try them out and because the pullets would eat all I could collect.

I still want fewer Japanese beetles rather than a food source so will keep looking for ways to get that. My four o'clock experiment is only one year in. My sources say the difference in numbers of Japanese beetles becomes noticable the second year. The four o'clocks did a great job of attracting the beetles last summer. I found only one or two all season on the squash next to them vs tens per day the year before (after the beans next to them started attracting them - they like beans more than squash). There were also only a few on the beans this year but it was bush beans instead of pole beans so more than one factor.