It is normal to worry about your chickens as the weather gets colder and to wonder what you should do to keep them warm, happy, and healthy. There are a few dos and don’ts that we will discuss in this article about how to take care of your chickens during the winter.

What you should do

(1) Use Sunlight

The sun is a natural heat source that you can take advantage of for your birds. One of the best options is to use windows with insulation that will trap the heat from the sunlight throughout the day and keep it warm in the coop.

You can also incorporate a run into your coop for those chickens that get antsy and want to get some fresh air. Maybe it is too cold for them to be fully outside in your backyard, but this way they can still feel the sun on their feathers.

(2) Collect Eggs More Often

When your hens are laying eggs in the winter the below-freezing temperatures will make the eggs start to freeze. If the eggs do freeze, then they will start to expand and eventually crack. You will need to collect your hens’ eggs more frequently throughout the winter to keep this from happening.

(3) Use a Water Heater

Your chicken’s water will freeze once it hits colder temperatures. You could either change their water often or invest in a water heater that thaws it out. If your chicken gets dehydrated, then your chicken could get sick, and it will cause a decrease in egg production.

If you do not want to make this investment, then you could incorporate a “sunroom” into the coop and keep the water in that section so that the sun will thaw it out. You can gauge if the place you live gets enough sun during the winter for this option to make sense or not.

(4) Provide Stimulus for Your Birds

Your chickens will get bored easily during the wintertime. Make sure you provide items to stimulate them to keep them busy. This could be a swing, some extra yummy treats, or a puzzle toy.

(5) Use the “Deep Litter” Method

Deep litter is a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to keep your birds warm. You will essentially create compost by layering pine shavings along with your chicken’s waste and feed. By occasionally stirring it up and adding more pine shavings, it will create microbes that will eat the bad bacteria.

(6) Feed and Water Your Birds More Frequently

Chickens are similar to us in the fact that we both exert more energy when trying to keep ourselves warm. Because of this, your chickens will be hungrier and thirstier throughout the day. Make sure the food that you add to their diet for this season is rich in nutrients and probiotics so it will give an additional boost to your bird’s immune system.

A great option is Supreme Grub’s Black Soldier Fly Larvae. This will be a yummy treat for your feathered friends and it contains 40% protein, 25% fat, and 80x more calcium than mealworms.

What you should not do

(1) Do Not Stress

Chickens are more resilient than you think. They are able to withstand cold temperatures with minimal assistance from you. These tips and tools in this article will help you feel more prepared. You already care about your chickens’ wellbeing by reading this.

(2) Do Not Use a Heater

A lot of people think that using a heater will help with warming the coop in the winter. However, this is a huge fire hazard considering the flammable material lining the bottom of your coop. It could also get too warm and cause your birds to overheat during the night.

Chickens’ body temperatures are naturally about 106 degrees Fahrenheit, and they have plenty of feathers to keep themselves warm. You may also see your chickens huddling together and this is their natural way of getting warmth from one another.

(3) Do Not Seal the Coop Completely

Your first instinct may be to close your chickens in at night and keep as much cold air out as possible. However, this traps the humidity inside and increases the chances of the coop developing mold that could make your chickens sick.

You should have some sort of ventilation for your birds. The best way to vent the cold air is through the top of the coop so that your birds will not have cold air blowing directly on them throughout the night.

(4) Do Not Forget a Roost

If you do not already have a roost in your chicken coop, then you will need to get one for winter. Chickens naturally roost together and as previously mentioned, they will do this at night to keep warm and because it is comfortable.

Insects can be an important source of food for many living animals, and humans as well. If this sounds too crazy of an idea it is likely because you don’t see yourself craving for a dinner of roasted grubs with blueberry balsamic glaze. 

This is likely because we as humans start by trying to imagine things from our own perspective. Grubs have always been and are still considered to be an important dietary source of protein and calories for many species. Not all grubs are the same however - just like a cow, a horse and a cat don't have too much in common, we shouldn't equate all grubs - whether it be black soldier fly grubs, beetle grubs - also known as mealworms, house fly grubs or others.

Supreme Grubs black soldier fly larvae can be fed to various species, including birds, chickens, ducks but also dogs, cats and other farmed animals such as fish and pigs. 

Chickens

Not only are Supreme Grubs (Black Soldier Fly) considered to be good for your chickens, but they are also one of the most nutrient-rich bugs around. The main benefits are the high amount of protein, very high calcium and richness in methionine and leucine amino acids, all of which are great for laying, molting hens or hens in need of an immune boosting treat.  

Ducks 

Ducks are omnivores who naturally love to consume insects. Many of the benefits of feeding black soldier flies to your ducks are similar to the benefits of feeding the larvae to your chickens. A fun fact is that the usually shy ducks will come running for black soldier flies once they realize they are being “served”.

Birds

Birds are known to have a very fast metabolism. As such they are in constant need of energy, and along with the carbohydrates in the form of fruits, grains and berries, they are known to enjoy insect larvae. While protein is an essential, the good amount of fats also provide the birds with the energy they need.

Dogs

Yup, your pet dog can also consume Supreme Grubs! The main benefit of black soldier flies in your dog’s diet is their richness in protein and the fact that they contain beneficial omega 6 & 9 fatty acids. Include grubs in the diet gradually and mix with other feed until you get to about 20% of dried larvae to 80% of regular feed by weight.

Cats

Interestingly, unlike dogs, cats do naturally eat insects, though they are not a main source of nutrition. The benefit of introducing black soldier fly in cat’s nutrition lies mainly in the high protein content of black soldier fly larvae. The percentage inclusion of grubs in your cat’s feed will be slightly lower than that suggested for dogs, which is less than 20% compared to the rest of the feed.

Pigs

Supreme Grubs are a great feed for your pigs. Being ferocious eaters, they grow very fast. The typical carbohydrate heavy feed can be supplemented with our grubs and can help the pigs put on more muscle and stay healthier. If you are moving from a soya based feed, the benefits will be in the better and complete amino acid profile of black soldier fly protein. 

Fish

One of the greatest mysteries of this world is why we as humans thought that raising fish to be fed fish which is then fed to humans is a good idea. It is a waste of our resources, damaging to the environment and ecosystems. Instead, opting for, if not full replacement, then at least an inclusion of black soldier flies in the diet of both tropical and farmed fish, can prove to be beneficial for the environment. It can also help to ensure your grandchildren are able to enjoy fish on the plate just like you did (because if we continue killing fish to feed the fish, we may eradicate life from our oceans very soon).

Reptiles

Various reptiles, from bearded dragons, to geckos and chameleons are all known for their appetite for grubs, which they can eat live or dried. The benefits of grubs for reptiles are that they promote growth and can be a nutritional staple due to protein and much needed calcium content.

Amphibians

Black soldier flies are loved by many different amphibians. While live grubs would be preferred, dried grubs may be used as well. Keep in mind however that grubs are not a feed replacement for your pet but a supplement to the regular feed. 

For any of the pets or farmed animals, if you want to introduce grubs to their feed, start off by adding a small portion of grubs to their diet. You can then eventually substitute their feed or supplement their diet with Supreme Grubs, depending on the species. 

Conclusion

Grubs, and in particular Supreme Grubs dried Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) are a perfect treat or feed for many pets and farmed animals. And while it will take some time for grubs to become a mainstream food in human diets, we are already witnessing their inclusion in the diets of other species such as chickens, ducks, birds, pigs, fish, dogs, cats and many more!

More and more of us are trying to lead a healthy life while at the same time minimizing the negative impact our practices may have on the environment. Black soldier fly has the potential to help us address many of the current issues humanity and the environment is faced with.

It starts with replacing, whether fully or partially, the feed given to chickens, ducks, pigs and fish, and other pets and switching it to black soldier fly based feed. This is helpful because grubs can be grown on organic waste which would otherwise end up on landfills. The next application is in using insect produced frass as a natural fertilizer. The last application is probably something we are a bit far off from, but will come in future, which is the introduction of the insect in human foods. 

Black Soldier Fly Larvae in Animal and Pet Feed

Black soldier fly larvae is an environmentally friendly source of protein. Soybeans and fishmeal, which are currently used in feeds for various animals and pets are far from being environmentally friendly. 

Soybeans require vast amounts of land and water, and soybean fields have led to the destruction of unimaginable amounts of trees and the disappearance of wildlife. 

Fishmeal on the other hand is produced in a paradoxical and extremely wasteful way because more than 80% of fish caught for fishmeal processing are actually fish that could be fed directly to us, without being fed to yet another fish. 

The harvesting of black soldier flies does not have any negative impact on the environment, quite the opposite. Black soldier flies help us by decomposing organic matter, which would otherwise be sitting on a landfill emitting all sorts of toxic gasses, hurting us directly as well as polluting the environment. BSF larvae are one of the most efficient creatures when it comes to the conversion ratio of biomass into feed, but that also means we need more BSF farms to help us process the waste we are currently generating.

However, it’s not just the environmental aspects which put black soldier fly at the forefront of the battle of the feeds. Its nutritional properties are far better than those of soybeans and may be a good full or partial replacement for fishmeal. 

Black Soldier Fly Larvae in Human Food

Consuming black soldier flies in future may be a part of a healthy and sustainable diet. All of us at Supreme Grubs have tried these grubs and some continue to use them in their diet. But we are aware that this step, the introduction to the human food chain, may take some time. This is both due to the regulative framework as well as the attitude most of us still have when it comes to the topic of consuming insects as food. It is likely that the introduction will start slow by introducing the powdered version of the insect as opposed to the whole insect to avoid the “yuck” factor. 

The benefits of a switch from standard meats to insects, in order to obtain sufficient protein and micronutrients are vast. If the amount of resources needed to grow the food we typically eat now could be liberated, we would likely see the reversal of the many negative environmental changes we are witnessing now. Wildlife and life in the oceans would flourish, if only we are fast enough to act now.

Black Soldier Fly Larvae to Tackle Organic Waste

Black soldier flies are essential decomposers in breaking down organic substrates and returning nutrients to the soil. The effects of accumulating organic waste on our landfills are detrimental to human health directly because the inhalation of particles has a negative impact on health. At the same time, these landfills emit tons of methane gas into our atmosphere every day, further aggravating the climate conditions as methane is a greenhouse gas 80 times more powerful than CO2. 

They also have the ability to break down the bacteria in their food. This is why they are considered to be sanitary. Once they’ve completed their digestion, there are no bacteria found in their waste. This is likely due to the lauric fatty acid they are rich in, a fatty acid with powerful antimicrobial effects. Some of these antimicrobial characteristics may be passed on to the animals or pets feeding on grubs, which brings us back to the topic of how great black soldier flies are as a traditional feed substitute.

After processing the black soldier flies, their leftover food, their poop, any remaining eggs, and even some remaining flies are excellent sources of protein for your plants and a great natural fertilizer. In short, there’s absolutely no waste from BSFL production.  

Conclusion 

Black soldier flies, through their inclusion in feeds, future introduction to human foods and in processing of waste have an extremely positive impact on the environment. You can play a role in supporting the black soldier fly economy by purchasing these incredible creatures and starting to use them.