Stop me if this is too chicken crazy

[redinator]

I live in southern Louisiana and we get all sorts of bugs, but most are out at night when the chicken are asleep. I'm trying to think of ways to attract and trap bugs to give to the chickens. Any suggestions? And are there any I want to avoid? The most plentiful are mosquitoes (practically all year) and termites (for a few weeks in early spring) moths, and flies. Should I feed them live or drown them to avoid infestations . .?

 

[McChooky]

I live in southern Louisiana and we get all sorts of bugs, but most are out at night when the chicken are asleep. I'm trying to think of ways to attract and trap bugs to give to the chickens. Any suggestions? And are there any I want to avoid? The most plentiful are mosquitoes (practically all year) and termites (for a few weeks in early spring) moths, and flies. Should I feed them live or drown them to avoid infestations . .?

I boxed in my patio for our cats last summer and they'll chase anything that flies near the light .Some of the moths have made them sick so I've never tried to trap them but I imagine they wouldn't be hard to trap if you used a light at night.Mosquitoes cause heart worm .You don't want to attract them if you have pets

 

[ChaosMom]

I've read that people put up bug zappers. I don't know how well they work.

Good thought about mosquitoes/heartworm!

 

[redinator]

I've read that people put up bug zappers. I don't know how well they work.

Good thought about mosquitoes/heartworm!

Well my dogs are on heartworm prevention, can chickens get heartworms?

Googled it: No, chickens cannot get heartworms, as heartworm disease is a parasitic infection that primarily affects mammals like dogs, cats, and ferrets, and is transmitted by mosquitoes.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Fill a mason jar 1/2 full with water and put 1tbsp of honey, maple syrup or sugar then leave it out in the sun. The heat from the sun will help spread the sweet smell to attract bugs then they try to get the sugary goodness and drown in the water. I catch a lot of flies, Japanese beetles and wasps this way. Usually in the summer I set a couple jars on my back deck railing.

 

[redinator]

Fill a mason jar 1/2 full with water and put 1tbsp of honey, maple syrup or sugar then leave it out in the sun. The heat from the sun will help spread the sweet smell to attract bugs then they try to get the sugary goodness and drown in the water. I catch a lot of flies, Japanese beetles and wasps this way. Usually in the summer I set a couple jars on my back deck railing.

Is the honey, syrup or sugar safe for the 6 week old chicks? I'd be using the trapped bugs as treats for them.

 

[TOMTE]

Well my dogs are on heartworm prevention, can chickens get heartworms?

No, chickens can't get heartworms.

When free ranging, chickens will eat any bug they think looks tasty. Some bugs have natural defenses (bad smell and/or taste, bright colors to signify they taste bad/are poisonous, etc) so predators leave them alone. In a free range setting chickens pick and choose what to eat. If you catch bugs and give them to the chickens, and the chickens trust that whatever you give them is edible, they might eat something toxic (or they might turn their nose up at it).

Honestly my biggest concern when it comes to chickens eating bugs isn't parasites but pesticides, weed killer, and other poisons that might be on them. Do you use any of those? Do your neighbors? If that's the case then I wouldn't go out of my way to feed wild bugs to the chooks.

Infestation really isn't something you have to worry about normally. Not outside, in any case, because that's where the bugs belong. Don't go out of your way to try to eliminate them— bugs are an incredibly important part of any ecosystem. You don't have to like creepy crawlies but you should recognize their importance and let them be out in their natural environment. Bugs keep things working at ground level, birds, mice, frogs, bats etc eat the bugs, bigger predators eat the smaller ones, so the cycle goes

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Is the honey, syrup or sugar safe for the 6 week old chicks? I'd be using the trapped bugs as treats for them.

Yes they are safe and much safer that store bought bug bait options. I feed the dead bugs from my mason jar traps to all of my chickens both big and small every year.

 

[TOMTE]

As a side: if you're planning on feeding your chicks anything other than their feed, make sure you have grit available for them!

 

[TOMTE]

Yes they are safe and much safer that store bought bug bait options. I feed the dead bugs from my mason jar traps to all of my chickens both big and small every year.

Do you just dump the jars out and let the chooks pick through the bugs? I might have to try that this year