Why is it harmful to serve feed with bugs in it?

[elf]

OK - it 's great for chickens to freerange and eat bugs. Right? We are warned to toss feed with bugs in it. So why?

 

[dchickenman]

Bugs get into the feed & ruin it by breaking down all the nutrients, so you're left with what amounts to a bag of filler. Imagine feeding your chickens nothing but bread? The bugs themselves aren't bad for the birds to eat.

Am I right, everyone?

 

[saddina]

Along with that is the possiability that other things have breached the bag. A large concern is water damage, the bottom of a bag gets wet, the feed spoils, and the birds becomed poisioned off the mold spores that form. So I you have bugs/rat droppings you may have other less visable issues.

Always toss feed that has clumped together (think kitty litter) that's a clear sign it got moist.

 

[tammyd57]

If the feed has sat around long enough to be full of bugs, it isn't as fresh and nutritious as it should be. Even if the bugs haven't eaten all the good parts, the nutrients break down over time. Just like our own food.

 

[elf]

OK. Great answers. Haven't had it happen yet. Just know I sometimes have weevils/moths infiltrate my rice and flour in the house. I'll know not to buy too much feed ahead then. Not a problem, as the rascals eat more than me, it seems.

 

[digitS']

The free range bugs and feed bag bugs makes for a good question, elf.

Our backyard isn't a bag of feed. There is all sorts of life out there and, hopefully, our chickens can fit into it.

Things are different in the feed bag. There may only be one type of insect in there and the microbes may be those that the bug can live with but may not be healthy for a chicken to eat.

This is really OT but -- I was recently reading about nematodes that attack insects - they are considered beneficial for protecting plants from bug damage. But, it isn't the nematode that kills the insect, if I understand right. The bacteria that live with/in the nematode kills the insect after the nematode has burrowed into it!

Kind of a horrible thing . . . the nematode eats the insect after its "friendly" bacteria have killed it

.

And, if you think that all is well and good for the nematode . . . ha! After eating the remains of the bug, it develops eggs. Reproduction results in the rupturing of the nematode! The babies then eat the mother

.
I tell you -- it's a dog-eat-dog world out there

!! Best to error on the side of caution with our backyard, feathered friends. They are doing the best they can for us . . .

Steve

 

[A.T. Hagan]

If it were just a few bugs it would be no problem.

A LOT of bugs would be indicative of advanced spoilage. In other words rotten. Rotten feed is no better for our birds than rotten food is good for us. Just because it does not make them immediately ill and/or kill them is not proof that it was good to feed it to them.

.....Alan.

 

[fiberart57]

Also, I think that the waste products from the bugs can be somewhat nasty. A bag of buggy feed also has waste and byproducts from that and that might be what's bad.

Mary