Hen ate black beetle

[Rhodeislandsilkie]

Hello everyone, I am a little concerned for my hen. She ate a black beetle that was about an inch and a half. I’m afraid this might be poisonous to her. I took about half of it away from her mouth before she could eat it. So, please help me. I need to know if she’s safe. Have you had any of these experiences? Thanks in advance.

 

[cavemanrich]

Beetles are not poisonous. None that I am aware of. Hen will be just fine..... probably mad at you for stealing half of her meal.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Rhodeislandsilkie]

Thanks! I was worried it would be poisonous or something like that.

 

[cavemanrich]

I'm not sure Scorpions and Black Widows would be poisonous when eaten. Of course the problem arises when they sting, and the venom goes into bloodstream.
Need to research those two further for myself.

 

[Rhodeislandsilkie]

Thank goodness that we don’t don’t have to deal with scorpions here where we live in California and we rarely ever see black widows oddly enough this was only the second time I ever had seen one of those beetles!

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Hmm, odd. I live in SoCal as well but we have to deal with scorpions, tarantulas, black widows all the time! I'm happy for you.

I've seen those black beetles before I think, we call them stink bugs, but I'm not sure that's the official name for them. Totally harmless.

 

[Rhodeislandsilkie]

Really? There are a lot of insects here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scorpion. But, I have seen a lot of spiders! Thanks for the reply!

 

[Aunt Angus]

Omigoodness. I'm in NorCal, and I have black widows everywhere! Ugh. Seriously. Everywhere. I squished 2 in my coop yesterday, and it's getting on summer - i.e. widow season.

My boys liked playing with those big ol' black beetles when they were kids. I'm sure your hen is fine.

 

[Rhodeislandsilkie]

Thanks for the reply! We don’t usually see black widows but when we do it’s mostly in late winter but what we do have a lot atound here are brown widows but the chickens gobble them up like popcorn.

 

[Celticdragonfly]

Given what I've heard about chickens eating bugs, I suspect the answer is "yes, yes, that happens". If it's not I'd like to know.