What hemipteron do chickens rust ? Beasties , specks , creepy crawlies — whatever you call them , bugs can be find in any railyard or garden , especially if you keep chickens . Not a trouble , you say ? What could be more natural than a well-chosen biddy scampering after a hopping cricket or scratching up a tasty beetle ? You may have even started your flock with the express purpose of worm mastery . Not all dirt ball make for tasty bite , however , and some can be downright dangerous to your birds . As a poultry custodian , you ’ll involve to differentiate between the goodness , the bad and the worthless .
The Birds & The Bugs
farm chickens has long been known as an first-class means to curtail the local dirt ball population—“insect ” being a colloquial catch - all term that covers noninsect arthropods such as spiders , worms and centipede . If it creeps , crawls or flies , your birds will obligingly hunt it down and use up it .
Chickens ’ omnivorous dieting , starved appetite and born peculiarity will keep them cheerfully foraging in their run and , if you allow it , on your lawn or in your garden . When asking yourself the question “ what bugs do chickens eat , ” consider that loose - tramp your chickens will not only keep your stack content but will also significantly diminish the number of insects on your property .
chicken will fain bolt up grasshopper , hookworms , white potato vine beetles , white ant , ticks , slugs , centipedes , spiders and scorpions . They ’ll happily go through the larvae of emmet , moth and termites , with a distinct partiality to beetle larvae — lawn grub and mealworms , aka darkling beetle larvae . ( The latter are sold by various companies , if you ’d like to bribe a dainty for your birds . )
There are , of class , instances where you ’ll find yourself upset at asking yourself “ what bug do chickens eat ? ” as you ’ll see your fowl ’ propensity for inspire all insect , such as when they chase after butterflies and fireflies , or greedily gulping down your garden ’s earthworms . Likewise , there will be times you ’ll scratch your head and wonder why your flock is completely disregard sure worm you want gone , such as boxwood - elder bugs and multicolored Asiatic ladybird . ( Both emit a noxious odor and therefore have few natural marauder . )
Chickens will also avoid take bees — and who can pick them?—but they will chow down on hive beetle , which has encourage many beekeepers tokeep honeybee hives alongside their flocks .
With these raw terminator at body of work in your yard and veggie patch , there is no need for the use of pesticides . Using chemicals can in fact be harmful or even fateful to your poultry raft and to your deary and even wild animals , too , particularly if they take impact insects or plants that have been sprayed with these poisons .
In situation where relying on chicken for worm elimination is visionary — a backyard barbeque or a late - night soiree , for example — practice a bug zapper , then offer the electrocute cuss to your poultry as crunchy treat .
What Bugs Do Chickens Eat? Flies, For One.
When it come to chickens , flies are a double - edged sword . On the positive side , chicken roll in the hay to eat fly and absolutely adore fly larvae . A rise number of chicken keepers are even get to raiseblack soldier fly larvaeto prey their flocks and meliorate the decomposition process in their compost binful .
On the negative side , houseflies are known to transmit the chicken tapewormChoanotaenia infundibulum , a parasite which deprives its avian legion of the nutrient it needs to thrive and survive , while greenish bottlefly larvae have been known to cause botulism , aka limberneck disease , in chickens .
Even bad , house flies , green bottleflies and black blow fly — known as nastiness fly sheet , which are fly that typically breed on animal dejection — can also cause a ugly condition name myiasis , aka flystrike . While flystrike is far more common on such livestock as sheep , horses , cattle and even rabbits , it occasionally does affect chickens with devastating effects .
In flystrike , adult female flies lie their eggs in a moist , odiferous area of a chicken ’s torso , often an open lesion or a dirty vent . Within 24 hours , maggots hatch and begin to feast on dead cells , secretions and other somatic rubble .
These maggots do n’t wipe out live tissue , but they do burrow through it , causing irritation and trauma to the wimp . The pungent smell of the infestation then draw in more flies , repeating and exacerbate the infestation .
Afflicted chickens may recover if bring to veterinary attention during the condition ’s other stages ; unfortunately , the jolt , hurting and decline triggered by flystrike often results in chick deathrate .
Fly Combat Operations
To keep your flock levelheaded , the best course of natural action is to repulse and keep rainfly out of the coop . Some methods , including hang vanilla - scented air fresheners or clean baggies of water with pennies in them , seem like old wife ’ tales yet have avid pro - ponents who rely to their strength . More practical antifly tactics let in :
When it comes to flies , you might flip from ask yourself “ what bugs do chickens eat ” to “ what bugs should chickensnoteat . ” If fly plague uphold to be a trouble , look at a proactive approach : fly predators . These gnat - sized , nonstinging wasps lie their eggs inside fly pupa ; the newly hatched parasites consume the pupa , preventing them from reaching adulthood . fly front predatory animal are harmless to humans , plants and other animals ; the one drawback to their use is that chickens regain them delightful , so several releases throughout the tent flap time of year may be necessary .
As with your lawn and garden , you ’ll need to stay away from chemic method of eliminating pest from your chicken coop . Using insecticides in such a small , enclosed area can badly harm your birds , introducing toxin into their bodies no matter how well - ventilated your coop may be .
Keep your hens healthy and they ’ll requite you in kind by eagerly partaking of your yard ’s bountiful bug buffet — and hold you with their antic while they do so .
