Finding bugs in the chicken feed

Today we need to talk about chickens and bugs....and me being an idiot. lol Once again I let bugs crawl on me just to get you a picture. Yuck! First it was mites in the coop bedding, then an Instagram tick video.....this time it was weevils. Ewwww! Let me start at the beginning....

Every morning I throw a treat to the chickens of each coop as I let  them out for the day. It was getting cold so I grabbed a handful of scratch before going outside to let the Millies out. Normally I head straight to the coop to open the door, but this morning I stopped to fill a water bucket. As I'm kneeling there with the hose in one hand and scratch in the other I start to feel something tickling my fingers. A crawling feeling. I look down and ewwww bugs! Of course I threw the scratch immediately. 

Then I decided I needed a picture, so I grabbed the phone and more chicken scratch and waited for it to start crawling again. Yuck! Now the weird parts: nothing appeared to be crawling when I looked into the container of scratch and it was a closed watertight plastic jar. So how did the bugs get in there, and why did I not notice them before? (I filled this container back in winter) Read on for answers...

Bugs in the chicken feed

Most likely the bugs came in the scratch feed when I got it. They were probably eggs at the time. It takes awhile for eggs to hatch and the bugs to mature. Normally in this amount of time I would have went through the whole bag. Actually I had, but this one jar always sat on the back porch and since we don't feed much scratch in the summer it sat there for several months. So the bugs hatched.

Common types of feed bugs

The bugs used the chicken feed as a food source and multiplied. If you look closely at the grains you can see holes through them. The Granary weevil burrows into the kernel and lays its eggs inside where it then hatches. 


Another common feed bug is the Indian Meal moth. Many people call them pantry moths. Basically they look like tiny gray moths. Sometimes you'll see the larvae instead or a little bit of webbing hanging on the sides of the feed container. Their larvae kinda look like grubs...little ones. Like crawling grains of rice.

Should I throw the feed away?

Ok, so we found bugs in the chickens food now what do we do? First smell the feed. A bad or foul smell could indicate mold or bacteria. Throw the feed away if it smells funky at all. If it's not spoiled you can choose to feed it to your chickens or not, it's up to you. 

Neither of the feed bugs I mentioned are bugs that will hurt the chickens. Chickens eat lots of bugs anyway, in fact chickens will eat just about any kind of bug they find. In my case I threw the scratch out into the yard and the chickens came running. They probably ate very few bugs since it was all over the ground. It would be more likely for them to eat the bugs in a feeder but again, it's up to you.

Return brand new bags of livestock feed to the feed store. If you just bought the bag and there are bugs take it back! Do not risk it sitting around and maybe spreading to any other feed you have. Take it back and request a new bag. It's a good idea to put the whole bag inside a garbage bag and tie it shut before you return it. This keeps the bugs from spreading at your place or the feed store.

Check remaining feed for bugs. In my instance the bugs were limited to 1 jar of scratch. Had the bugs been inside the feed tub, I would have needed to bag it up securely so the bugs couldn't get out and spread to other feed. 

If you choose to keep using feed after you find bugs in it, put it in a garbage bag and close tightly. Keep stored away from other feed to prevent infestation of other bags of feed.

How to prevent bug infestations in feed

To prevent bugs: Use feed in a timely manner or don't buy more then you will need in a few months. The older the feed is, the more chance that any bug eggs inside will have time to hatch and multiply. 

Store feed in a closed container. I use a big rubber garbage can for layer pellets. I also have airtight bins for each different type of feed that I use. The tighter the seal on the feed container, the less chance of bugs spreading if they do manage to get into the feed.

You can dust a little Diatomaceous Earth inside the feed bin the help kill off any weevils that may be present. Use the food grade DE.

If you buy small amounts of feed, you can pop the bag in the freezer overnight to kill any eggs that may be inside. This should be less of a problem in winter, but leaving feed bags in your car overnight while temperatures are below freezing should also kill any bug eggs that may be present. Be careful leaving feed outside overnight as it could attract wildlife. We have a problem with bears so our feed needs locked up.

While finding bugs in your chickens feed can be quite unpleasant, it's definitely not the end of the world. It happens occasionally. Where there is food, vermin will find a way to help themselves. Keeping things stored the right way will help keep any infestations to a minimum.

~L 

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