Is there any bug chickens WON'T eat?

[gogoalie]

I know this is an old thread, but I don't wanna start a new one & run up the server bill

...

I live in Alaska, & we've green bot flies GALORE! & they're BULL bot flies at that, HUGE! My chickens LOVE 'EM! So much so, that I take special time outta my day & catch all the ones baskin' in the sun on the side of my house.

They LOVE mosquitos as well...I've seen them jumpin' up at them when they're flyin' near the hen house!

Just last night, I found some black beetle crawlin' on my bed & captured it & put it in a jar, & then this mornin' gave it to my son to feed the birds...

(can you tell I LOVE feedin' my birds bugs???)

Just today, a new smaller bumblebee landed on my desk & I grabbed with gloves on, & brought it out to feed the Chickens...THEY WOULDN'T TOUCH IT! :O I tried everything to entice them...& they even RAN AWAY from it

Can't wait to see if they eat centapedes...as I've plenty of them as well...

 

[egzactly]

This year we are overrun with Salt Marsh Caterpillars. They are a large wooley-bear looking caterpillar. My chickens won't eat them, which is a crying shame, because we've got tons. They will eat cut worms, inch worms and other non-hairy types, so I guess that's something, and they absolutely loooove grasshoppers and crickets. I recently bought those dried mealy worm hen treats for $12.99 a bag. In case you ever thought of buying them, my chickens won't eat them. I'm going to try mixing some in with their oatmeal to get rid of them. They'll eat almost anything mixed in with oatmeal. These pampered hens are so picky.

 

[darkmatter]

Mine won't eat fuzzy Caterpillars.

 

[Buckguy20]

I think it depends on the chicken.
I have some hens that look at bugs and turn away and I have others that would try and tear down the fence to get to them.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Mine won't touch ladybugs, and they didn't seem to want to eat the flies last summer when they were so horrible.

To the person wanting to get rid of the gnats, and to the person overrun with flies by the hog farms, what we did last summer was inside the house we set up jars filled about halfway with water, we added in some vinegar, and then some sugar. My mom saw it on tv, but the recipe was only for water and vinegar, and she made up a jar and set it on the kitchen table. I watched it for a week, and it didn't catch anything. So I grabbed it, put some sugar in, mixed it up, and by that afternoon I had a handful of flies floating in it. For outside, we got those fly traps they advertise on tv. My only recommendation is, don't hang it too close to your house cause the bait inside smells like rotten meat.

My mother got the idea to hang one by the patio, and it was right in front of one of the living room windows. It stunk so bad! We hung one in the coop and it drastically cut down on the number of flies in there. I need to set them back out again cause the flies are already back, and they are LOVING the brand new coop. I really, really hate flies.

 

[Godsgrl]

Chickens don't seem to like caterpillars or millipedes.

 

[Noble Rooster]

Millipedes, bees, flies, fireflies. Ants seem to be an acquired taste; last year they wouldn't touch them but now they're starting to show interest (though not as much interest as I would like!). I'm hoping that slugs become a big hit this year.

The firefly thing is pretty funny. Last summer (my girls were still pretty little) they would follow them around, very interested in the blinking light, but wouldn't try to snatch them out of the air the way they would with mosquitoes, etc. It was cute to see them wandering behind the little glowing bugs.

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

It definitely seems to be a subjective taste, but the two insects they ALL agree on is wasps and those giant black stinkbugs. Other than that, at least one of them will try any insect presented. They LOVE worms, carpenter ants, termites, spiders and spider eggs, millipedes, centipedes, mosquitoes, flies (they clean up the coop windows before they go to sleep at night), etc.

 

[fanniefarkle]

oh, I hope that my chickens (they are so young that I haven't gotten them yet. in transit) will eat ticks and mosquitos when they are older!

are fleas a problem with chickens?

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
My hens don't care for the dried mealworms, either.. They love the live ones, though. I was really disappointed they didn't like the dried ones; guess I shouldn't believe advertisements all that much!