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- #51
BabyGotQuack
Crowing
I grew up in IL and I remember them being so bad! Out here in UT I don’t know that I’ve seen any. But I like the idea of harvesting them and giving them back to the chickens.Japanese Beetles are a big pest here, from early July through August. So are their larvae, which live in the soil for 1-3 years. My chickens eat both.
JBs defense is to drop off whatever they are on. Which is usually a leaf or a flower. They like grapevine leaves a lot, and we have lots of wild grapevines, so I can catch over 100 a day when they're in their peak.
I take a plastic container with a wide opening, and put about 1" of water in the bottom. When I find beetles, I put the opening below them, tap the leaf, and they let go, falling into the water.
When I give them to the chickens, I dump them in a white enamel roaster pan (they show up against the white) that has a couple of inches of water in it. The water is so that they don't just fly away. Then I call, "bug snack!" and the chickens come running and devour the beetles.
It's personal with me. JB killed my hazelnut trees.
Oh man a hazelnut tree?? I would make it personal too!