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How to Raise Insects for Chicken Feed
How to Raise Insects for Chicken Feed. Proper care is essential to healthy chickens, and insects can add needed protein and nutrients to the diet. Raising your own insects is a good way to ensure your chickens are getting high-quality insect food from a safe source. One of the easiest insects to grow at home is mealworms, the larvae of the darkling...
Proper care is essential to healthy chickens, and insects can add needed protein and nutrients to the diet. Raising your own insects is a good way to ensure your chickens are getting high-quality insect food from a safe source. One of the easiest insects to grow at home is mealworms, the larvae of the darkling beetle. Your chickens will enjoy eating the worms themselves as well as the adults.
Things You'll Need
Mealworms
Plastic sweater box and lid
Duct tape
Screening
Razor knife
Dried milk
Wheat bran
Potato
Paper towel
Sieve
Purchase large mealworms as breeding stock from a local pet shop.
Cut a large hole in the top of a plastic sweater box and tape a section of screening on the lid to allow for ventilation.
Combine 3 parts wheat bran to 1 part dried milk. Place the mixture in the bottom of the box about 2 to 3 inches deep. Place a half a potato in the box on a paper towel to provide moisture. Replace the potato weekly.
Place the mealworms in the box and seal the box with the lid. Keep the box in a warm, dry place. Wait one week.
Open the box and pour the contents into a sieve to sift through the bedding. Remove any beetles and large larvae from the bedding. Return the eggs and small larvae to the box. Seal it and return it to a warm, dry place. Repeat this step each week.
Feed the adult beetles and larvae to your chickens.
Tips & Warnings
Keep the lid tightly closed at all times when not working with the mealworms to prevent adults from escaping and infesting foodstuffs within your home.
