Making Feed from Japanese Beetles

[glib]

So CA, to summarize this wonderful thread:

1) season in the Midwest is about 3 weeks.
2) Optimal placement of traps along property lines is one every .... ft
3) One well placed, well built trap will yield .... lbs of meat per day
4) it takes .... days in the sun to dry the things

 

[Blue Tiger]

Got results back on nutrient content. With respect to some nutrients, early season beetles are better. Significantly so?

Nutrient profile is very different from batches collected in previous years. Those differences I attribute to capture methodology and processing prior to storage. Those differences are almost certainly important.

 

[centrarchid]

So CA, to summarize this wonderful thread:

1) season in the Midwest is about 3 weeks.
2) Optimal placement of traps along property lines is one every .... ft
3) One well placed, well built trap will yield .... lbs of meat per day
4) it takes .... days in the sun to dry the things

1) Season in central Missouri was approximately 6 weeks long.
2) Optimal placement of traps greater than 100 yards apart with arrangement perpendicular to wind
3) Traps we used could produce upwards of 5 lbs in a day on good flying days if emptied once, more frequent emptying may reduce repelling action of too many beetles dying in reservoir. Beetles do not keep well in bucket so I recommend chilling / freezing ASAP. We are working on trap design to make much more effective. Location overrides just about everything.
4) Ground beetles will dry within a day with good airflow and a little stirring assuming beetles where not too deep. Depth of ground beetle biomass we used was less than 2".


For the typical backyard poultry keeper, the bio-attractor approach likely to be most practical.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...etles-using-a-low-cost-bio-attractor.1258075/

 

[David DC]

I have just started experimenting with this myself. I put some in a non-convection oven at 260 degrees for an hour or so last night but haven't had a chance to see how they did yet. I did this with an oven in my shop, and I am glad I did as my wife would have killed me if I would have stunk her kitchen up like that!
My question for you is what temperature and amount of time seems to work best for you?
Thanks!

 

[cathloveydovey]

This seems interesting my girls used to love Japanese Beetles, subscribing

 

[glib]

It is basically lean meat, similar nutritional profile to, say, earthworms. I would guess chitin is not a problem for a chicken, they have been eating chitin for millions of years. Most humans can digest it too. I assume you are saying that there are sufficient amounts of carotenoids. Non trivial info because insects are usually without vitamin A (and D, and essential fatty acids) or its precursors. All you need to complete this meal is a source of fat (at the backyard scale, what is left of tallow or lard rendering will do), and maybe some dried alfalfa.

 

[centrarchid]

It is basically lean meat, similar nutritional profile to, say, earthworms. I would guess chitin is not a problem for a chicken, they have been eating chitin for millions of years. Most humans can digest it too. I assume you are saying that there are sufficient amounts of carotenoids. Non trivial info because insects are usually without vitamin A (and D, and essential fatty acids) or its precursors. All you need to complete this meal is a source of fat (at the backyard scale, what is left of tallow or lard rendering will do), and maybe some dried alfalfa.

The samples we assayed have lots of carotenoids, we suspected they might based on some knowledge about their reproductive biology. Other insects having low carotenoid contents based on research I have done so far indicates life-stage not considered. If carotenoids as high as I think, then inclusion of alfalfa meal would be over something other than vitamin A. I would be using an whole oil seed of some sort to bring up fat levels in a mix.

 

[glib]

alfalfa would be for the usual veggie minerals, K and Mg. Very impressed about the carotenoids content. At the backyard level, BOSS would fill the fat requirement. Even for them seed oils are not that great.

 

[centrarchid]

update

 

[Molpet]

Has anyone on this thread tried freeze drying them? Just curious. I am all about natural food and saving money on feed!! I have a freeze dryer and could put them in freezer bags until I get around to freeze drying them. Just wondered if anyone had tried this and if so what your results were.

I put a bunch JB in the freezer....after the bag quit catching them I took the bag out to feed them to the chickens. The JB were still alive, just moving slowly until they warmed up.