Cicadas are coming, will you let your chickens out?

[Kaitie09]

I just read and article saying that the cicadas should be emerging in the next few weeks in the East. I'm planning on letting the chickens free range as much as possible, hoping they will catch them as they come out of the ground. We let ours out periodically, but will definitely be doing it everyday for a while.

Is any one else planning on letting their birds out from their run to catch them?

 

[Bruin1107]

I actually didnt even think about doing this. But its probably a great idea to help cut back on the numbers of Cicadas, but are they ok for the chickens to eat?
Thanks for the tip!

 

[leenie]

The cicadas are high in protein. We harvest them as the newly emerge (still white and soft as they crawl up and set), blanch them and dip in chocolate. Taste like a wonderful dark chocolate truffle.

Our boys are so excited!

 

[Kaitie09]

They are fine for them to eat, they are just like any other bug that is found around. I also figure it will cut back on my feed bill for a month too.

 

[leenie]

FYI

Everyone in Brood II areas should be aware that the cicadas are so plentiful expect ALL kinds wildlife who feast on them to multiply greatly over the summer.
http://www.cicadamania.com/where.html
Last time we had the 17 year brood was BC (before

) so we never had to keep mice and rats at bay.

It was the very first time in my memory that our area ended up with heavy mice and rat invasions. The rodents died off by late Fall as they had exhausted all their food sources and so followed the rest of the food chain behind them. Every creature who feasted on those cicadas was impacted first positively then negatively. It took 2-3 years to work itself out with animals getting back to sustainable numbers over time.

 

[hungry4eggs]

The giant wasps that eat cicadas are not human agressive and the males do not have stingers. They may freak you out the first time you see one but all they want are cicadas.

 

[Bresseman]

I'm planning on collecting and freezing these cicadas for future feeding. We do it with soldier fly larvae and the chickens love it and it's a great free source of protein for the birds during the winter. You can also dry them like the dried meal worms. If you can stomach gathering up the live bugs and freezing them it can save you in feed cost.

 

[lwiese58]

Please forgive my ignorance but since we're brand new to this I need to ask. Do you just take them and freeze them? I'm assuming you put them in an enclosed container? I'm just not picturing this but am very interested. We live in northeast GA.
Thanks!

 

[Bresseman]

What we do is collect the insects fresh, preferrably alive and then Freeze them in Zip Lock bags and keep them frozen until you want to feed them to the chickens, preferrably during the cold season as there are fewer insects out. If you have a Dessicator you can dry them out once they are frozen. To feed them during the winter just thaw them and include them in the chickens diet as described above.

I use a Black Soldier fly composter during the spring and summer months to cultivate Black Soldier Fly Larvae, information about that is found here: http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/

I find the whole process very interesting and the birds love the larvae!

 

[ll]

How long can they keep in the freezer?