Never waste money again on crickets from a pet shop! I mentioned in the frugal chicken feed post that we also raise crickets to supplement our chooks regular feed. While crickets are not the easiest feeder insect to raise–they jump and escape all over the place–they do provide a good change of pace from mealworms. Escaping crickets are also a good source of entertainment and exercise for pampered backyard chickens. This is the way I grew my tiny starter colony of 20 crickets into thousands within a couple of months. Try to resist feeding too many of the crickets in the first two generations before they’ve bred. Your chickens will…

Materials and supplies A plastic container with smooth (unscuffed) sides so the mealworms can’t climb out. A lid is optional. A screen or large piece of mesh cloth to allow airflow and keep out pests is better. The 1 lb. salad containers from Costco are the perfect size for up to 2000 mealworms. Try not to crowd your worms too much as this can result in excess death. Cost: $0 Grain for the bedding and food source. Some people use wheat bran, cornmeal, or rolled oats. I use regular rolled oats since that’s what I have on hand. You’ll want to fill your plastic container about 1″ deep, no more. Bedding…

Before we got our chickens we did a lot of research and on internet forums everywhere it seemed like people freaked out whenever someone mentioned raising chickens with their own blend of feed or not buying layer pellets. Responses ranged from OMGZ UR CHICKS WILL DIE! to It’s too difficult to make your own mixed feed. Pellets are properly blended to contain the right mix of nutrients…blah…blah…blah…scientifically proven to maximize growth…blah…blah… But honestly, humans have raised chickens for hundreds and thousands of years without doing anything more than letting them roam freely around their homes and feeding them kitchen scraps. As for bagged pellets being the perfect mix of nutrition…