Bugs are insects with piercing mouth parts.
They damage crops by chewing the leaves and stems and sucking out the juice. They can bore within roots, stems and leaves of plants weakening them.
They also bite humans.
It is important you control these insects and others like this on your farm as they can spread diseases and harmful viruses to your plants.
There are farm animals that can help you with that.
Some farm animals while on your farm will control bugs for you by eating them.
Some even go as far as searching them out to eat. Let’s take a look at 10 of these farm animals.
1. Chickens
Most poultry birds love and enjoy eating insects. Adding them to your livestock will help reduce bugs.
Chickens can be used to control bugs on your farm as they always search for them while foraging and even dig into the soil to look for more insects and larvae to eat.
To do a proper job of controlling bugs on your farm, you would need to allow the chickens free range, especially where the bugs are many.
Chickens look for their beds between plantings and eat them all.
This is also very good for them as insects provide them with protein.
Leghorn chickens are best for this but all chickens eat bugs.
2. Turkeys
Turkeys are poultry birds and they love to eat plants and also small animals.
If you want to control bugs on your farm, turkeys are as good choice because they basically eat anything edible including bugs.
They eat stink bugs, ground beetles, grasshoppers amidst other insects, even worms.
Wild female turkeys even prefer to lay eggs where they will get abundance of insects to eat.
Turkeys are also efficient in controlling bugs because they have a large appetite.
They are bigger than chickens so they tend to eat more which means they won’t spare any bug that comes their way.
The more turkeys you have, the better for your farm and pasture.
Related: Here is a list of farm animals that do not need any space
3. Ducks
Ducks are also very efficient in controlling bugs.
They are omnivores so they eat both plants and animals.
Ducks love to eat insects, grass, seeds, worms and even dangerous insects.
You can use them to control bugs on your farm and property by herding them through your crop fields, pasture and yard.
They will eat the bugs and other insects they find as they pass through.
Indian runner ducks are the best for this job because they are capable of gobbling hordes of annoying bugs everyday.
You will often see them on your farm jumping and chasing after June bugs in the field.
You can also make use of Muscovy ducks if Indian runner ducks are hard to find in your area.
4. Guinea fowls
Guinea fowls are wonderful farm animals that are very useful in controlling bugs.
In fact, wild guinea fowls mainly eat insects and survive on it. Grasshoppers, ticks, worms, beetles, fireants, earwigs, stink bugs etc. are all a major part of their diet.
Domestic guinea fowls when put on the farm will search out bugs on pastures, yards and in corners and eat them.
They are quite efficient in keeping bugs and ticks away from the farm.
Because of their size, they eat more bugs than other fowls. They are also quite easy to house and take care of.
5. Quails
Quails are not really big poultry birds but they can be used to control bugs on farms, fields, pasture and property.
During the breeding season, adult quails eat more insects because they need the nutrients gotten from the insects to lay better eggs.
Quails need the protein they can get from insects like bugs so they take advantage of bugs when they see them.
Quails especially depend on eating bugs during spring and early summer when they are many.
Eating insects gives them more energy to hatch their eggs and quail chicks depend on insects for nutrients, for the first few weeks of their lives.
6. Pheasants
Pheasants are also poultry birds that are quite becoming popular among livestock farmers.
This is because they are not only profitable, they are also excellent in controlling bugs and other harmful insects on the farm.
Pheasants eat just about anything, whether insects or worms or plants.
They scratch with their feet and probe with their bills looking for insects to eat.
Three weeks after hatching, pheasants are already able to control insects like bugs on your farms, pasture and yard.
They have short pointed beaks they use to catch insects like potato beetles and other kinds of bugs to eat them.
7. Emus
Emus are poultry birds raised on farms across the world for their skin, meat, feathers, oil and eggs.
They are also raised because they are beneficial to the farm.
They help in controlling bugs and other harmful insects on the farm and do a good job of it.
Emus love to eat parts of plants with the most nutrients and eat insects because it is a good source of protein for them.
Emus consume insects in large numbers when they are many. They search out for their beds and habitats where they can get many at once and eat them.
Adding them to the livestock on your farm ensures that bugs are drastically reduced or eradicated.
8. Geese
Geese are poultry birds and like most poultry birds they eat bugs and are efficient in keeping them away and controlling them on the farm.
Geese eat all kinds of things including plants and insects. They eat roots, leaves, grasshoppers, earthworms, bugs etc.
Geese do not just eat bugs when they come across them while foraging, they search them out.
They will search for bugs in corners, between leaf litters, roots of plants, leaves etc.
You can have as many of them as you can cater for on your farm and herd them through the crop fields and pasture to take care of bugs for you.
9. Pigs
Not only poultry birds eat insects, some mammals like pigs too are dedicated eaters of insects.
It has also been proven that insects are quite beneficial to their health. Insects are part of the natural feeds of pigs.
It means while foraging, you will often see pigs eating insects like bugs in addition to grasses.
Chitin found in the exoskeleton of insects have an anti microbial effect I’m their body which is important for them to stay healthy.
So not only can you get meat and skin from pigs and not only will them control bugs for you, the bugs also help you to keep them healthy. It is a good arrangement.
10. Cows
Contrary to popular belief, cows also eat insects.
It is also a source of protein and fat to their body and scientists are clamoring that insects should be added when producing their feed, as it provides them with great benefits.
Cows will not search bugs out so they cannot be used to control bugs on the farm.
They may not even eat them when they see them just going about their business.
Cows however eat bugs when they see them on grasses and plants as they graze.
They eat bugs together with the grasses so this can minimize bugs on your farm but not enough since the cows won’t eat them if they aren’t on grasses.
References.
https://animals.mom.com/types-insects-can-chickens-eat-11427.html
