raising crickets for chicks (and cubscouts)

[den10hens]

Last night my cubscout den got to meet my chickies. We had low attendance, only 4 kids, which was probably best for the babies.

We talked about what all living things need to live, and we used that info to build a cricket habitat. We used a small "critter habitat" (plastic with a vented lid and a hinged door) for shelter. Water is supplied by a soaked cotton ball in a bottle cap, and food is fresh greens.

I picked up the crickets at a pet store, and this is kind of sad. The cricket container read, "40+ small crickets, contains enough food and moisture to sustain crickets for 10 days" About 10 of the crickets were already dead, and their food was some green block stuff that resembled rat poison. We released the crickets into their new habitat and within 10 second they had swarmed the lettuce and were visibly eating it, like they had never seen a green thing in their lives.

Of course, after we pampered the crickets we fed half of them to the chicks (who had spent the whole time so far in the girl scout room down the hall)

Today the chicks and the crickets are all safely home with me, in roomy warm habitats with good food!

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Oooh, sounds like a fun project. I'd like to hear how the crickets do...if they survive very long, multiply, etc.
My kids are home schooled, and I think it sounds like a really diverse lesson.

Glad to hear the chickies are doing fine..what did you get?

 

[den10hens]

three Rhode Island Reds, their names are Annie, Clarabel and Beatrice. There is a picture posted on another topic line "hi, I am new mama to 3 chicks)

 

[2mnypets]

I used to work at a pet store that mainly had items that you would get in a catalog like Dr.'s Foster & Smith etc. We carried large and small crickets (basically adult and young). They arrive with potatoes in egg crates (to get the most amount of space in a box). The green gel mold you are refering to is solely for water consumption along with some vitamins. They love fresh veggies. We would go to the farmers market to get fresh fruits and veggies since we had humane society pets (iguana's, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters and small brids like canaries, cockatiels & parakeets) that we would let people see so they would get adopted. Even the crickets would get yummies.

It's wonderful that you are teaching the scouts about them. I myself am a Unit Commissioner for the Cub Scout level. My son is 16 years old now and I'm still doing it. It's so good to see adults involved with the youth. Sometimes a young child only has us (the volunteers) to guide and direct them. Kudos to you Den.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Those Reptile Lunch boxes are more for convenience. Once they hit the store and get put out that's sort of it, until they're sold. The bagged ones are fresher. blech...That's one of my jobs at work...You can buy cricket food, but they're scavengers so anything will do for them. Make sure they can't drown in the water bowl. The cotton ball is a great idea. even a bit of sponge in the water bowl is a good thing. I've seen the crickets walking away with a piece of the tortoise chow, so they will eat almost anything.
2mnypets, it's redskin potatoes too. My favourite!

 

[den10hens]

I use egg carton cups in the cricket habitat, too. It gives them somewhere to hide.

I don't know that I'll have much luck with them multiplying....The chicks like them so much I think they will eat them faster than that. Lucky me, I've got a friend who raises crickets (wants to start his own business supplying them) so I'll talk to him at work today about getting some from him on a regular basis.

Thanks, 2mnypets, for the scout talk. I love it and it is so important. I just received my 3 year service star, my cub scout den leader knot, and my assistant cubmaster sleeve patch. I'll be taking over as cubmaster next year. My older son is a first year Webelos and my younger will be a Tiger next year.

 

[foxtrapper]

Don't forget to roast or fry some up for snacks! Crickets are yummy, and something that should appeal to boys.

Serving tip. Freeze the crickets in a baggie, then shake the baggie briskly to pop all the legs off. Makes for neater looking snacks.

 

[2mnypets]

Quote:
My hubby and I started with the scouts when our son was a Tiger. I was a committee member for years while our son was in scouts. Always volunteering to help with Lock In's, Fright Night, PineWood Derby, Klondike, parades and then day camp. I'm a nurse so it was SUCH a far stretch for me to be the camp nurse...lol. To this day I can't go to Walmart without a boy recognizing me as "Nurse Julie". I'm celebrating 10 years now with BSA. It was 5 years ago that I was asked to step into the Unit Commissioner role. I now have all the den's here in Galesburg under me. A week ago the scouts lost a very important person and I lost a very good friend. She was diagnosed with cancer last year. May we all honor Vickie Dennis.

Sorry, off my lil podeum now. If you want to discuss this further, you can email me at [email protected]. Sorry for taking up so much space on this thread. Spottedcrow, I love red potatoes too and Foxtrapper, I know peeps eat them but I just don't see myself attempting to do that any time soon.