Japanese Beetles

[maroongrad]

It's that time of year again! Our grape vines and our flowering bushes out front are attracting them. For chicken fun?
Set out a spectracide bag-a-bug. As each bag fills, toss it in the freezer. We get some high-protein chicken treats from that!
Take a cup, put a piece of ice in it and a little bit of water. When cold, the beetles can't fly. Put it under a beetle, tap the flower it's on, and the beetles release and drop. Into the ice water. And stop moving. I'll collect 20 or so at a time, go call the chickens or ducks, then dump out the cold-stunned beetles and watch the feast. For areas w/out these beetles or with a lot of June Bugs? Stick a bucket of water directly under a bright light and leave it on at night. You'll find dozens in the water in the morning.
Our birds do plenty of foraging on their own, but 11 hens and chicks on a quarter acre pretty much decimate the bug population, and only the older ducks are ready and willing to head out of the yard with me to hunt in the field behind the house. They all ADORE these bugs and the bugs are so easy to catch. If you have a bag-a-bug, take a broom and thwack the plants that have beetles on them. Beetles take off and half the time, they end up in the trap!
It's a seriously easy way to add more foraging to their diet. Most of the yards around here and the huge field behind us don't spray (it's a play area), so the beetles are as safe as anything else they are going to eat and it's seriously hilarious to watch the flock having an absolute squawk of joy when I dump a pile of cold beetles in front of them!

 

[Sally PB]

Last summer, I spent about an hour a day collecting Japanese Beetles for the chickens. As soon as I see the first one, I'll be out on my rounds again this year. Free chicken food and pest eradication. What more could I ask for in a summer walk?

 

[Ducky Dad]

It's that time of year again! Our grape vines and our flowering bushes out front are attracting them. For chicken fun?
Set out a spectracide bag-a-bug. As each bag fills, toss it in the freezer. We get some high-protein chicken treats from that!
Take a cup, put a piece of ice in it and a little bit of water. When cold, the beetles can't fly. Put it under a beetle, tap the flower it's on, and the beetles release and drop. Into the ice water. And stop moving. I'll collect 20 or so at a time, go call the chickens or ducks, then dump out the cold-stunned beetles and watch the feast. For areas w/out these beetles or with a lot of June Bugs? Stick a bucket of water directly under a bright light and leave it on at night. You'll find dozens in the water in the morning.
Our birds do plenty of foraging on their own, but 11 hens and chicks on a quarter acre pretty much decimate the bug population, and only the older ducks are ready and willing to head out of the yard with me to hunt in the field behind the house. They all ADORE these bugs and the bugs are so easy to catch. If you have a bag-a-bug, take a broom and thwack the plants that have beetles on them. Beetles take off and half the time, they end up in the trap!
It's a seriously easy way to add more foraging to their diet. Most of the yards around here and the huge field behind us don't spray (it's a play area), so the beetles are as safe as anything else they are going to eat and it's seriously hilarious to watch the flock having an absolute squawk of joy when I dump a pile of cold beetles in front of them!

I go out every morning with a container of water and knock beetles into it, then dump it in the ducks' water bucket. There is a frenzy of bobbing for beetles, and in ten seconds they're all gone. But I've started wondering whether I should limit the number of beetles I give at a time. Could it be harmful for them to gulp down too many?

 

[maroongrad]

I go out every morning with a container of water and knock beetles into it, then dump it in the ducks' water bucket. There is a frenzy of bobbing for beetles, and in ten seconds they're all gone. But I've started wondering whether I should limit the number of beetles I give at a time. Could it be harmful for them to gulp down too many?

It would need to be a LOT of beetles! I doubt it, not unless they eat a huge amount all at once, and by huge I do not mean a few dozen each, I'm thinking enough to totally stuff a crop!

 

[saysfaa]

The water doesn't need to be cold, they won't fly if they are wet. They will crawl. A bit of soap in the water kills them quite fast, it is better than just water.

I don't how many it too many but they fought over them up to a dozen or so per bird over the course of a few hours. Much more than that most days for a week and they will take a few each.

I've started freezing them. They are easier to freeze than their grubs were.