Is there any bug chickens WON'T eat?

[Shannonwbl]

Quote:
Those (known around here as ladybugs) aren't pests, they're very beneficial since they feast on aphids. If you don't want yours you can send them all to my house!

I was thinking the same thing. You can actually buy them (by mail) for your garden. If you can figure out a way to attract and trap them bet you could sell them to gardeners or at the very least find someone who would love to dump them in their garden. In this economy every little bit helps!

 

[Wynette]

I was SOOOO happy to see that my guys all loved June Bugs this year! Those things freak me out, and BOY did they love it when they were flying around! When I'd find them dead in my barn aisleway, I'd pick them up & pitch them into the chicken run, and it was a frenzy!

 

[AllChookUp]

HenMama2 wrote:
Those (known around here as ladybugs) aren't pests, they're very beneficial since they feast on aphids. If you don't want yours you can send them all to my house!

Yes, they're great unless there are thousands and thousands of them. They find cracks in the house in the fall, get into the walls, and then you find them all over the southwest corner of the house. They are beneficial, but a pest when they are in such massive numbers.

In any event, I think ladybugs are different than Asian Lady Beetles.​

 

[farmgirlie1031]

I saw them peck a moth to death and not eat it. They LOVE ants though And ant eggs and even some flies Which is a great thing since with all the hog barns there are a ton of flies. I would get fly predator bugs but it would cost a fortune to get as many as we would need with our critters plus the 2,000 hogs the landlord has at our place. And then there are all the hog barns down the road. DARN flies!!!!!!

 

[Daisymay]

Here is a link to boxelder bugs. http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG0998.html I dont like these either and niether do my chickens. My chicken don"t eat the fire ants but eat carpenter ants like jelly beans! They love tree roaches and june bug larva. They will not touch any form of stinck bug.
We have been known to walk around and turn stuff over just to watch the hens feast on the bugs. Kinda like a private family pastime. Even the three year old starts scratching the ground. Oh and snakes! One of them catches a little snake, she gives a war cry and the others run over to join the fray!

 

[Ese_N_Gracie]

I finally got them to eat squash bugs...but they go at them now with their eyes closed. I thought Ese had started eating ants...but then I noticed he was just stealing their food! They won't eat bees either...even when they're dead. One of the funnier moments was when I tried to give ese horned tomato caterpillars (they were bigger around than my thumb...he was backing away from one and stepped on another and shot up in the air acting like the thing had snuck up on him! That boy gives me at least ten hearty laughs a day

 

[kees]

My chickens won't eat ants or flies.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Quote:
Yes, they're great unless there are thousands and thousands of them. They find cracks in the house in the fall, get into the walls, and then you find them all over the southwest corner of the house. They are beneficial, but a pest when they are in such massive numbers.

In any event, I think ladybugs are different than Asian Lady Beetles.

We've had them in large numbers here too. Some years we see lots, other years we see very few. I would never kill them though, no matter how many decided to spend the winter in my attic.

Around these parts, these

are referred to as ladybugs.

Disposal:

Remove beetles from inside the home with a broom and dust pan and/or vacuum cleaner. The beetles release a harmless but staining orange substance when stressed; killing them with insecticides, squashing them, or handling them may result in orange stains on walls, floors and fabric. Collect the beetles from indoors and deposit them outside under a bush or in some other covered area well away from any homes. It is best not to kill these ladybugs--they may return the favor by eating harmful aphids from your vegetable and ornamental plants later in the season.

Insecticides:

We do not recommend using insecticides against this beneficial insect. http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/asianladybeetle.html​

 

[AllChookUp]

Actually, I came up with a modified contraption that attracts them and traps them.

In the room where they are most prevalent (basement, southwest corner), I have a 5-gallon pail sprayed with silicone on the inner wall (slippery), then a couple of reflective plates (aluminum) with black lights mounted on them. The bugs are attracted to the black lights at night, and are trapped in the bottom of the 5-gallon pail. Works pretty well, and it keeps them from traveling fartherin to the house.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Only one of my girls will eat slugs, but that's OK with me.

Two of them love the shiny black-blue beetles we have here, though I think that the size of the beetle scares them a bit.

My cochin with the twisted beak never seems to get any bugs because the other 3 always are faster.