People prefer feeding soy and fish to their chickens almost everywhere because of the easy accessibility and affordability of such supplies. However, for hens, the most natural food source is insects and bugs. Insects and bugs are a great sources of protein and fulfill all the nutritional requirements of their bodies.
Many brands manufacture food for chickens, but not many of them include insects in them. It is highly beneficial for them to consume insects not only for health but also to maintain the food chain balance and sustainability of resources.
You must find brands that include bugs in chicken feed because of all the benefits involved. According to research, certain insects and bugs are excellent sources of nutrition for chickens. These include the black soldier fly, mealworm larvae, maggot, grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, locusts, housefly pupae, etc.
There are many benefits of including bugs in chicken feed; you can refer to the following points to understand all these benefits:
It Improves Health
The insects and bugs are excellent sources of nutrition for chickens as it improves the immunity system and gut health. For example, the black soldier flies are an essential insect because of their richness in protein. If you incorporate insects and bugs into your chickens’ diet, it will prevent excessive usage of antibiotics.
Natural Behavior
When your hens are not fed properly, there is a chance that they can exhibit unnatural behavior and act aggressively. It has been proved that an insect-rich diet provides a nutritional value to the hens and promotes natural non-aggressive behavior. You can also use chicken’s favorite insects for training purposes.
Increases Productivity
When the hens are eating healthy and exhibiting natural behavior, they produce more eggs and comparatively healthy eggs. This helps in increasing the productivity of poultry.
Sustainable
When you feed your chicken with a plant-based diet such as soy meals, it promotes deforestation. Many forests are cut in Amazon to harvest soy meals, which is not suitable for the environment.
These supplies cost a huge amount of money and resources and are bad for the environment, which is why it is much more economical and sustainable to use insects and bugs for chicken food.
Enhances Feather Growth
A protein-rich diet promotes healthy organs and enhances feather growth. You must include insects in your chicken’s diet, preferably black soldier flies, for their good nutritional benefits. It will help in healthy feather growth.
Waste Management
Insects play a significant role in nature and help to break down organic matter. It helps in waste biodegradation. If the insects are produced commercially, they can convert 1.3 billion tons of waste into the biodegradable matter.
This way, it will make the nutrient matter in the soil available for plant growth and reduce the carbon footprint on the environment. An experiment proved that when black soldier flies are left on pig manure, it reduces nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus levels by 60%.
Insects can offer many environmental solutions that can solve problems like organic pollution, deforestation, carbon footprints, depletion of natural resources, etc. It can also save a lot of time and money. Hence, you must include it in your hen feed.
Many brands manufacture such chicken feed with insects and bugs and several plant-based nutritional ingredients to fulfill all dietary needs of your hens. You can find the supplier based on the types of ingredients you are looking for.