We Fed Japanese Beetles to our Chickens (for $30)

[@OrganicMommaGA]

Getting rid of the adults before they lay eggs is the ideal solution, but you can also dig up the grubs and feed those to your poultry. In the spring, turf grasses will turn brown where the grubs are eating their roots. But also, consider adding bird feeders (with wild bird seed) near the traps that are farther out towards the edges of your property. All kinds of wild birds, as well as skunks and opossums will eat these beetles. Good luck!

[@owbeer]

where i live (belgium) we have the starling that goes after leatherjackets under the grass. ive seen em catch 100 in under a minute. so here football clubs hang up nests in the lightposts around the pitch and the starlings keep the leatherjacket population under control.

[@Hollyclown]

If you have crows on your property, you can try showing them how to find the grubs. They’ll love you for it.

[@wendyhenschel.]

@@Hollyclown you do not need to show them. They know. I worked for a landscape and saw them destroy 5 acres of land in 2 1/2 days. they literally rip the grass out with their beaks in clumps to get at the grubworms.

[@Taluvian]

Use Milky Spore. It's a safe bacteria that kills the grubs. Works great.

[@leeuniverse]

Ya, I was thinking the same.... There should be some "Bird Species" that can be drawn and released in the area which will THRIVE on these Beetles further help getting them under control.

[@Resolx666]

if u got fish in your pond big enough to eat the beetles you should try to set on up in the middle of the pond.

[@deandee8082]

they fish might eat these beetles too!

[@KF-qj2rn]

and then at night have a bug zapper in same location

[@martineloiselle]

at least the beetle drawn in lake! good idea!

[@Something-Somes]

THIS!!! Make some of these traps in the pond! The only issue would be replacing the tops when the scent wears off. 🪲

[@Kraykat0]

@@Something-Somes can put a wire across the pond and have a roller to pull them back in then need to replace the scent

[@thatguychris5654]

I use dead beetles to feed my chickens and they love them! Two key things: beetles have been dead for 24hrs or less, and they get a quick rinse to get the poo and funk off. Beetles are most active in 85F or higher and in sunnier weather.

[@sandrastreifel6452]

“Must be fresh!!!”

[@goldman77700]

Now that's a low-cost solution.

[@sergeantblue6115]

Do you guys also feeds the chickens with grain or other feed from time to time or can the beetles replace their diet outrught?

[@thatguychris5654]

@sergeantblue6115 the beetles are high in protein, but should not be a sole source. Chickens also need some starch/fat in seeds and grain, and also greens/plants for nutrition but also fiber. The ratio of these 3 will vary so observe what your birds eat and supplement/ adjust the rest.

[@sergeantblue6115]

@@thatguychris5654 From what you said, I’m thinking of grinding these beetles into the feed or just mixing them into the grain, which option in your opinion is the more preferable one? I’m worried the hens might overeat a certain food type or do they just know what they need?

[@juliemcgugan1244]

I live near both a zoo and a horse ranch and I've spent the last few years trying to get on top of the fly population. The only thing I can advise is get those traps out there, early in the spring and try to make a big impact on the numbers before they start to breed. It has been hard, but the problem for me has reduced each year. This year is the best it has ever been since I moved here, nearly 4 years ago.

[@tucapecity7103]

BIG IDEA!

[@aliciadupuy9228]

I saw a vid where a man with a herd of cows was battling flies. He found sticky tape to be the he surprising heavy weight champ of population control. This did take include the factor of the work one has to put in.

[@kenyonbissett3512]

@@aliciadupuy9228cutting down on feed costs for the birds using the J. Beetles 🪲 is a great way to help cover the cost of the scent modules. The piping will last for decades and putting out water is a given for any animal. Plus it keeps the chickens engaged which cuts down on boredom, which cuts down on chicken pecking each other. Joel Salatin, has a beef herd. He has his chickens follow the cow rotation by a few days to break the fly cycle. The chickens scratch through the cow manure for the developing fly maggots. Free chicken food (protein) and decreases the fly problem.

[@ChipNov1998]

I saw a guy who wrapped fly paper around a 55 gallon barrel and after a few weeks he had broken the mating cycle.

[@kalyxo_tb]

Perhaps see if you can increase/reintroduce native dung beetles? By burying the dung they can decrease fly populations by a decent amount as well. Maybe the zoo would be interested!

[@joycemonty4262]

If you have a pond with fish, Set up one of your traps a few feet into the water's edge for the fish to eat.

[@garybarnett7284]

Genius! I never thought of that. The fish would have a field day!

[@keya31gville]

That's a real great ideal​@@garybarnett7284

[@colonelblars9126]

a recipe for large large-mouths

[@l.c.3150]

I wonder if pigs would eat them.

[@CasusUniversum]

I did this on my property when they devastated my cherry trees. I essentially placed a perimeter of traps around the trees. They DO bring the beetles from all around but that's a good thing. The next year there were only a couple beetles. I still put up traps every year but I only catch a handful.

[@dangineerr6111]

Were your traps just the bags or did you make a bigger receptacle? Emptying the bags seems like a lot of work. Maybe funnel them into a larger bucket?

[@arlenevieau5284]

What an awesome way to supplement your birds feed and reducing a pest problem! Good job!

[@whitehouseonthehill]

Thanks 😊

[@Pickels-cat]

Yeah,greatest idea I’ve heard!

[@Ohad-r5q]

Watching the chickens eat the Beatles is so satisfying. You should make a separate mukbang channel for chickens eating Beatles

[@CatheyLunsford]

Red tail hawks eat them parasitic wasp lay eggs on larvae we were inundated with them I wouldn't allow dad to sprar or shoot hawks feeding on them we had about 75 hawks in treese feeding

[@nesa1126]

live stream 24h :D

[@percy9228]

@@nesa1126 I was thinking same thing.

[@SaraAson]

As is typical with invasive species a lack of natural predators make them an ever growing pest problem. Unfortunately the wild animals around you don't know that the beetles are edible and avoid them. But something seems to be figuring it out going by the broken trap, maybe try leaving some off the dead beetles near that one and see if they get eaten? If a wild animal is willing to eat the dead ones you'll have less beetles you need to deal with

[@malloryoates8580]

im wondering how to deal with the spotted lantern flies in the fall

[@darthmax-fk8qe]

​@@malloryoates8580there's a Chinese spider that has been working its way north from Georgia. Their normal diet consists of the lantern flies. They are venomous but it's not deadly to humans. They should start helping

[@CastToFall]

It could also be that predators don't think that individual beetles are worth the effort. Trapping the beetles is what's encouraging the predators to take an interest

[@blessedbeauty2293]

​@@Joe-sg9ll - Birds, Tachinid Fly, wasps.

[@ikellogg]

You could sell the dead ones to your local markets as bluegill and trout bait. I'm sure they'd sell like crazy in the summer months! I'd definitely buy some

[@ironboy3245]

Not with that stench they won't

[@WilhelminaKim]

Milky spore is a fungus that parasitizes the beetle larvae while they are still in the ground. We spread it on the ground before a rain once every several years because it lives in the soil a long time. It would just require you to wander around a large area sprinkling powder spores.

[@easternacademy]

I used it on a 2 acre property over 20 years ago. It was labeled as enough for 1/2 acre. Within a year, Japanese beetles were under control and I haven't seen more than a half-dozen beetles on the property ever since. I also used it in a 1/2 acre orchard on another property about 5 years ago. I rarely see a Japanese beetle in that orchard.

[@annechkan]

I have already spread it three times and no difference

[@WilhelminaKim]

That’s really interesting that it didn’t work for you. I wonder what environmental factors or something else causes it to work in some cases and not others?

[@ironboy3245]

​@@WilhelminaKimhumidity is likely a large factor

[@matthewsmith9769]

That's a smart trap you made. You can put a 22.5° elbow on the bottom to center them above the water as they come out.

[@ronyerke9250]

Gluing another pipe segment a few inches long in a couple of places might suffice as spacers.

[@riverfish15]

Just a little advice on controlling your JB problem. Plant some wingstem, mountain mint and brown eyed Susan’s. Attract blue tipped wasp, and they will control the grubs that grow into Japanese beetles.

[@samuelbockle9440]

Thats literally the best way to take at least some advantage of a problem

[@Rias96TTV]

This would be so annoying to have every year. But such a smart way to get rid of em aswell. I was actually thinking about them water dishes aswell, as they didn't look all the deep and over time them getting emptied

[@8Jory]

Since you're already experimenting with traps, you could try a "direct to compost" setup where the traps empty directly into a compost heap of sorts

[@dyanthomas2674]

Have you looked into using milky spore powder? Takes a few years to spread after application but we haven’t had a problem with Japanese beetles for over 30 years here in northern Virginia

[@Freedom_Half_Off]

That spread part is key . I would pick out multiple spots in his pasture ... no reason to treat it like a chemical pesticide and cover every last inch . Milky spore also doesn't know about property lines so it would eventually move into surroundind land 👍

[@tucapecity7103]

UAU

[@kenyonbissett3512]

A 10oz box covers 2,500 sqft for $45. Sounds expensive on a farm. One acre is 43,560. 43,560/2,500= 17.42 boxes of milky spore. 17.5X$45=$788 per acre. Even in bulk, the application process would be costly and the NH agriculture has concerns over large scale use on habitat and those living in it.

[@Freedom_Half_Off]

@@kenyonbissett3512 Look one post above yours ... milky spore is a biological agent . It does NOT have to be spread at that rate to an acre unless you are like so many people and have McDonald's disease . If you expect instantaneous results you could drop a ton per acre but that doesn't mean that is what it really cost to treat your land with it 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@Freedom_Half_Off]

@@dyanthomas2674 Obviously this needs repeating ... milky spore is a biological agent that does not have to be applied like a chemical pesticide .

[@cristinabaskar8331]

ROSE MARY /LAVENDER /MINT / OREGANO / THYME BASIL / FENNEL PLANT & PARSLEY. Growing lots of these plants around help’s reduce their numbers. Usually insects don’t like them. But not sure if it’ll help eradicate Japanese beetles. Should help prevent being in large numbers though.

[@pamspray5254]

Don't be afraid to plant other flowers in the garden too! Marigolds can help deter deer and rabbits, for one. And things like bee balm help attract pollinators to the garden, which might mean more fruit for you. Companion plants are a great way to help keep your garden healthy and strong.

[@pettread]

They seem to love mint and coriander.

[@cristinabaskar8331]

@@pettread 🤔🤔😳😳 looks like they’re more health conscious & want to reap benefits of herbs😎😎

[@rdizzy1]

@@cristinabaskar8331 Japanese beetles will eat any plant that is supposed to keep insects away. I have gotten marigolds eaten up to a nub by them, for instance. I've never seen a plant they won't eat.

[@cristinabaskar8331]

@@rdizzy1 😳😳😳 🧐 hmm, well then just putting nets to protect the most valuable plants is only way.

[@ErinFisherMusic]

Wow!! I’m so impressed by your ingenuity!! I was reading through the comments and I thought the wild bird feeders is also a good idea, but that feels like it takes more engineering 😅 Amazing start!! Those beetles are so invasive! Keep at it! All gardeners in North America are grateful for your service! 🙏

[@meganjaime7728]

That is a LOT of beetles oh my word! I’ve never seen that many!😳

[@amospenda9364]

Me toooooooooo 😂😂😂

[@Freedom_Half_Off]

It depends on where you live . I have seen that and worse in more urban areas with a lot of neighborhoods with grass lawns that doesn't spefically treat to kill the grubs . The beatles congragate aroung lights during the night hours so even hall lights in open apartment buildings bring in hoards . They will also swarm parking lot lights at businesses to the point the paved ground under them gets covered . You can get a harmless bacteriam that will drastically cut their numbers and reproduce in the soil as long as they are in that area ...

[@ericlawrence9060]

I have. Buckets of them.

[@jeb3415]

Have you looked at beetle grub control? I have used milky spore on my lawn and it worked. When I was still in the country, my chickens free ranged and did the grub work, lol. It is not a quick term solution but if you were able to apply it around garden and fruit trees and then work outward from there each year it might give you a good start. In some cases the application can last 10 years.

[@silverbackag9790]

I sprayed a big area with three types of nematodes eight or so years ago. No Japanese beetles. I was actually targeting fleas as the primary, but went ahead and sprayed all three main predatory nematodes.

[@BallBusta]

I'd forgo doing this on a pond like a lot of people suggested. You're dealing with these bugs on an industrial level and having them on a pond isn't going to turn out like you'd think. The fish might eat a couple, but most will not get eaten and they'll just pollute the pond leading to diseases in the fish and, worst case, you'll lose all your fish.

[@Gitn2it]

About 50 years ago, hundreds of Japanese beetles invaded the basement of our house. Apparently, they were attracted to the light and got in through a crack. What's so strange about this is that we live in a big city. It only happened that one time and I have never seen one again.

[@angelofamillionyears4599]

Mother nature is strange.

[@blessedbeauty2293]

- That is super *strange* !

[@angelofamillionyears4599]

@@blessedbeauty2293 We know very little about nature. Read the best book of the century. THE FINAL PANDEMIC> Dr Sam Bailey.

[@Kixia97]

Great idea really; the only thing that you might want to consider is using slightly deeper bowls and setting them into the ground so that they aren’t easily knocked/moved or emptied. But really thought out overall, and impressive

[@pinschrunner]

FREE PROTEIN!!! Did it change the taste of the eggs?

[@angelofamillionyears4599]

The best tasting eggs are when you feed the birds greens. Most store will give you expires greens twice a week if you ask, This makes the yolks orange like they are suppose to be.

[@pinschrunner]

@@angelofamillionyears4599 we feed the greens from our gardens. I was asking about the egg taste with the beetles but they didn't answer

[@abdelakarumb6156]

@@angelofamillionyears4599 insects , greens , chilis should chicken eat , just greens isnt healthy for long term , chicken gets faster sick

[@bloxburgsisters3172]

I love your videos. I have been watching this channel for years and years, and it has inspired me to get my own farm animals. I aspire to one day have a farm like yours! This is my favorite KZbin channel, I learn so much from each video. Keep up the great work!

[@AustinThomasPhD]

Milky Spore. Milky Spore. Milky Spore. Did I mention Milky Spore? It will take about three years of applications, but by the start of the third year, you will notice a difference. In Year 4, you will have almost no beetles. It is expensive, and it is a slow (but long-term) solution. It is worth it, though, if they are significantly impacting your fruit tree. It is a bacteria that specifically kills the grub. It is quite species-specific and very safe for anything else.

[@wcouch8]

While the milky spore is expensive, the beetle traps are also expensive. Plus the cost of time to maintain the beetle traps. The milky spore is a great long term solution. I am at a new place with beetle problems. I already have a reminder on my 2025 calendar to spread some this fall

[@mlc7896]

THIS IS GREAT!!!! There is no perfect solution to anything but this is definitely permaculture at its finest, you are making a dent in the beetle population for sure and making some chickens very happy! I am so sorry that people feel the need to make rude comments, obviously they have never tried to do anything like this. I love what you guys do on your farm, keep doing it!!!!

[@artsyapple6509]

Bugs metabolisms slow down as the temperatures get cooler, it turns them super sluggish, and they wont fly until it gets to a certain high temperature!

[@idiotically-everything]

Yeah, that's how my fly catching trick works. I'm not actually that fast or accurate that I can snatch a fly mid air, the fly is sluggish from the cold xD

[@notbarbie582]

If the chickens won’t eat them, dig them into your garden. I bet they’re very high nutrients for your soil.

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

I don't know if that would be a problem if these beetles already have fertilized eggs inside of them (I don't know if they have), so you might have grubs in your garden.

[@Something-Somes]

@@MyRegardsToTheDodo Yes, they can possibly just make more of a problem if used as fertilizer. There is no telling if any of the beetles buried are still alive. Nobody has that much time to make sure thousands of beetles are dead. 1 female beetle can lay 60 eggs. Using them for a garden is the worst idea because they are trying to prevent them from getting to the garden. Defeats the purpose.

[@dennisbentson823]

I admire how you are turning a big problem into feed!

[@ankiking]

I think he mentioned adding the dead ones to their compost.

[@melikecomedy]

​@@Something-Somes well if you boil them i doubt any eggs would live

[@marionlesage4794]

That is lots of beetles! I have some on my green bean bushes in my garden about 2 hours west of you, but not anywhere near that many. Thank you for helping to deplete their numbers!

[@christophermcnaughton8076]

Absolutely brilliant! We have the same problem on my farm in Maine. I am off of work tomorrow going to Lowes.

[@keithsimon6241]

The auto door opener for the chicken coop is super dope

[@noneyabeeswax3200]

We’ve had the same one for around ten years really surprised how long it has lasted and I’ve only changed the batteries once. It’s still best to go down there in the evening as one gets locked out now and then.

[@jabreck1934]

Japanese bark beetles are devastating US forests in the northeast. No one talks about it

[@shyyxyooj169]

With that makeshift idea, I would just use a 55 gallon drum and let the beetles fall into 55 gallon drums. That way you wouldn’t have to check em so often. Just wheel the 55 drum full of beetles to the compost

[@Trust_but_Verify]

That would stick so bad if not emptied frequently.

[@BadlydrawnBen]

Any chance of a pond update?

[@bikingmomma524]

You always come up with inventive ways to overcome problems. Your problem-solving skills are stellar. 🙂

[@Katryoshka]

This is insane... My Grandpa talked about how horrible these beetles were and seeing this video made me realize how serious he was with the stories he told about em. Thank you.

[@michaelnaak]

I love it. You should build traps like you have for your chickens that emply into 50 gallon drums that you empty once a season to reduce your labor. You could them compost them there at the edge of your property by just digging a hole, dumping it in, and covering it up. You appear to live in a very rural area, but I imaging you are helping your neighbors with their beetle challenges. I wonder if having the sent 6 feet in the air helps draw more battles. I love the effort.

[@rjv2395]

for fish ponds you could also make floating versions of these that would anchor to the bottom in different locations. pretty easy way to feed fish

[@Sheildmaidenintexas]

Wonderful prototype!! Maybe try drilling two small holes at the top of the water dish and zip tying it to the t-post? Love seeing y’all’s videos, always the highlight of my day 😊 hope yall are doing great ❤ from Austin, TX!!

[@tensaiproductionz4107]

I did start pondering about you setting up just a general trap area that could be around the open acre you got, allowing any of the wild life to try and munch on them. Of course, it would have to be away from yalls property, but as one suggested, you could add bird feed around the trap to lure in birds, or any other animals that like to ear insects, along with doing something about the grubs that are probably set up shop in the soil.

[@BadlydrawnBen]

Could you grind them down and mix them with feed or maybe freeze or dehydrate them ?

[@Emundas455]

I was kind of thinking of a treat using ground up bugs, but honestly who wants to do that? Unless they work well enough to sell and you could make money off them

[@lovespring59]

Remember, he says that the dead ones stink something awful

[@L3monsta]

​@@lovespring59yes, but when grounded up do they still stink? I have no idea my country doesn't have this pest.

[@Trust_but_Verify]

@@L3monsta You'd have to dehydrate them first before grounding up...

[@simoneconsciousobserver3105]

Genius trap and bird feeder

[@sandrastreifel6452]

They are trying to colonize here in Vancouver, Canada. Beetle traps are catching them in 2 local quarantine areas, as well as randomly placed elsewhere, to find any that are travelling. They look just like the top of your traps. Backyard chicken keepers in the quarantine area need to see this video!

[@firsttpt]

There will be opinions but we had them, emphasis on had, not "have", and what made it worse was the lures/traps. My backyard is just a yard, and what worked for me may not scale up but getting rid of the traps was the first step. Step two was removing the beetles by hand, every day, primarily from my grape vine that they were destroying (and drowning them). Step three was adding a bird feeder and a bird house. I went from thousands to hundreds to three (a total of 3 so far this year) in four years time. My method may not work for you, but definitely ditch the traps. Maybe just fence off the area where the beetles are the worst and try free ranging some of the chickens you are just going to butcher anyway. (And move the fencing around from area to area as if you were rotating for cattle grazing or something).

[@sirmileshendon]

That's such a great idea! Have thought about drying the beetles and baking some high-protien chicken biscuits for winter feed?

[@thenesthomestead]

We don't have a farm yet, but we can't wait to try this when we have chickens. Really enjoy the wholesome and educational content - Dakota & Angela

[@ΓιωργοςΜαρινελλης]

this is the healthiest thing for the children to grow in a home like that with beautiful animals around in nature

[@quintrapnell3605]

Bruh I’ve fought them before. They’re infinite. It truly makes me question my humanity and ability to cause extinction.

[@PNNYRFACE]

The Beetles are just a Band on the Run

[@Reggie2000]

​@@PNNYRFACE Wings sings Band on the Run

[@Mr.Derogatory316]

LMFAO It's BEETLEMANIA!!!

[@JonFTC]

japanese beatles here in colorado now too. They leave my lavender, key lime, calamondin/calamansi and improved meyer lemon tree's alone but sometimes get onto my moro blood orange tree. the beetles are active between like 9 am and 3 pm when it's warm and humid.

[@mengkhang1037]

Set up a small pond, us the bettles as feed, tilapia are good eating and really an eating machine. Grubs are like crack for fish too.

[@juanitadafler7233]

This was so interesting! Thanks for sharing the ways you are trying to deal with them plus help feed the chickens.

[@anga9495]

10:34 am West Coast USA. I never really noticed you guys have a really wide and enthusiastic audience!! Jeez it's crazy.

[@BadlydrawnBen]

Im watching from my boat in the English lake district, Hi 👍

[@BadlydrawnBen]

It's 18, 38 here

[@anga9495]

@@BadlydrawnBen That's fun! Great to see so many people from all over clocking their local time and saying hi. Two of the first responses from Nepal? KZbin bringing the world together over how to feed your chickens affordably with invasive species? Lol Love it! How's the weather there today? We finally got rain yesterday in Portland after a blistering week or two at 90-100°+ I had to put water out for the local wildlife it was so hot for so many days. At the end of those two weeks of extreme heat we had a new baby bunny living in the front yard! No beetles required. Lol

[@BadlydrawnBen]

@@anga9495 yeah it's the English lake district so it's raining, we have as many names for rain as Eskimos have for snow , on the bright side it's warm so I'm going to go trout fishing fir an hour or so before dark

[@Lex-rc2xj]

It’s 3:09 pm here in Wisconsin

[@sgtrickards5683]

I have a food forest and the beetles love it. I bought a My 4 Sons battery backpack sprayer. I mix dawn dishsoap, surround kaolin clay, neem oil, and BT. They leave everything alone. They hate it. The backpack sprayer makes easy work of spraying.

[@Cristelle_in_ze_forest]

This is really ingenious!! Well done!

[@VernonBoone-s5m]

I just love your channel and number one I love about it it's because you have your family with you all and you are showing them family values 👍🏾

[@pauldiesel4582]

These traps would be great for feeding fish in ponds.

[@lame0fame065]

I think a mesh bag on the traps would keep many more of them alive so that they could be fed to your chickens

[@RandomsFandom]

Opossum will eat dead bugs, that is probably what rips down the trap

[@SuperVlerik]

skunks too

[@Godsavethecrumpets]

I always thought this was clever, but I never thought that the chickens don't eat the dead beetles. I saw the spout and water dish idea, I guess it really was ingenious.

[@Something-Somes]

@White House on the Hill You could plant a ton of garlic in the weed fields but that could be expensive. I would suggest to get yourself an expendable flock of guinea fowl to let them free roam in the weed fields. Otherwise mowing them fields down is probably the best option but time is just as expensive.

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

And the fields also feed the bees, so mowing them down would probably reduce the amount of honey they get.

[@Something-Somes]

Weeds grow fast. If it is maintained during the proper times of the beetles cycles...it could help a bit to reduce the population. Bees will go a mile away from home to collect,drink and feed. Reducing the weeds is not a problem. They can also plant bee friendly plants near the hives to resolve some of that.

[@betterlivingonabudget]

Its crazy how many Japanese beetles are in your farm! Are there any left in Japan?!? Great job figuring out how to maximize the traps and provide 'free' food for your chickens!

[@MegaGeorge1948]

My father in law's farm, in Ohio, had the same problem in the 1980's. He used a pheromone trap and caught hundreds of these bugs and feed them to his chickens. The chickens loved them (dead or alive)!

[@jayemm7942]

the grey and black chickens are so beautiful, and who is HE!!! @ 9:04 …much respect for your clever resistance to the japanese beetles, last two summers we had far fewer than previous years in north western missouri

[@gloopgloopglorp]

You could try putting up bat boxes on your property. They should help keep the insect population down.

[@SuperVlerik]

Bats are active at night. Beetles during the day. Nit sure it's a match.

[@blazingpedals]

They infested a couple of my rose-of-sharons for years. They were so thick they'd eat all of the flowers down to nothing. Traps barely slowed them down. Even spraying the bushes with insecticide only killed the ones that were on the flowers. Finally, one year i applied grub killer to the ground around the bushes. The next year, there were NONE. I haven't seen a japanese beetle in over a decade.

[@skutovr]

You guys are doing a great job!

[@whitehouseonthehill]

Thank you!

[@pinschrunner]

The key to having live beetles with those traps is to empty them daily or twoce daily. No stench.

[@Zergling.]

Cant you put the polls inside the plates? maybe if you dont want to make a hole on the plate have some way that you can "open" the plate then put it around the poll and close it, that way they always stay there.

[@littleweeper8849]

I've seen so many Japanese Beetle homemade traps and I really like yours. Next year we are thinking to have chickens in the yard and we also have a problem with those pesky bugs. I will definitly be making theses when we get our chicks.

[@robertdobbs4156]

What about taking this idea much larger scale and moving the million beetles straight into a compost rotator that's minimum the size of a 55 gallon drum. The rotation will probably crush them down to some degree and you can just leave it running during the daytime and mulch a huge amount of them all day every day

[@luigicavallin431]

Just for information, I’m studing at university in Italy and the we use a 5 gallon bottle modified instead of the bag that send with pheromone trap. If you use pherormone traps you attract japanease beetle in your land and nearby, if nobody in the area fight with you it’s almost impossible to get rid of it.

[@RustyCaveArt]

Very clever. Well done.

[@LexEllisOG]

I am struggling with the same exact thing, in Southwest Iowa. I wish there was some advice I could give you, or advice you could give me. They have absolutely devastated my garden the last three years. 😢

[@IdiosyncH]

As cute as they are, they demolished all my flowers. Nothing but the veins left. They’re a nuisance.

[@lesliegrayson1722]

I'm in Australia, I intend to feed my chickens, my fish and my pigs on - free flys, free fly larvae, worms, free saw fly larvae. Nothing is ever free it all takes time, but time on my farm rather than me spending money and time collecting bulk feed. I was thinking maybe a mulch or beetles and feed made into pellets..??

[@karenpaxton]

A creative idea, but these beetles seem to be relentless,! Have the local authorities got any support for farmers struggling with them? 😊✌️🇬🇧

[@pamspray5254]

The MO Department of Conservation has some recommendations to control their populations and some good information on their life cycles and habits. Sadly though, they don't have any direct support as of yet. But, information is power and they are doing their best to provide info on these things along with several local universities.

[@karenfrankland7763]

We spread Milky Spore on all grassy areas. The milky spore lasts a good ten or more years and totally reduces/ eliminates the Japanese Beetles. The lures just keep attracting them to your property which is no good for your fruit trees and gardens.

[@sillywilly722]

I have done lawncare for 37 years them traps attract so many more Japanese Beatles to you properly . it's been tested the ones you don't catch dive into your lawn and go through there cycle and come back full force the next year.

[@silverbackag9790]

Does this dude look like he’s on a 1/3 of an acre in a residential setting?

[@sillywilly722]

@silverbackag9790 that just mean it will attack even more

[@silverbackag9790]

@@sillywilly722 Sure thing Einstein. Say this guy has a plot of ten acres. And he puts these traps down roughly in the middle. Do you really think these pheromone traps are going to pull in beetles from 1000 feet away? Hell no, almost all of them will be from his own acerage.

[@sillywilly722]

@silverbackag9790 your clueless haha we will have to agree we disagree rotflmfao

[@mikewilhelmson8413]

Nice work man. It’s so easy to get angry at something you feel like you can’t control, but you made a solution

[@lucielove7411]

My friend in Missouri says they're a super cheap form of protein snacks for her family and the workers on their homestead. They are covered in spices and either freezedried or roasted in the oven.

[@whitehouseonthehill]

Maybe freeze drying would help with the smell of dead beetles. I don't have one, but that sounds interesting.

[@sugaroverload9811]

Would fall instantly asleep to chickens eating beetles asmr

[@Nakamura65]

How about getting chicken feed machine (that makes pellets out of grain) and mixing the beetles with the normal feed mix, for extra protein, maybe they will eat it in a pellet form.

[@suziet6176]

He stated that once the beetles are dead they stink. I imagine in pellet form, they’ll stink even more as they continue decomposing.

[@Nakamura65]

@@suziet6176 its only matter of the right ratio

[@mutoneon]

What a lovely video. Your editing and production skills make this content really shine.

[@whitehouseonthehill]

Thank you 😊

[@AngieS_91]

@@whitehouseonthehillcan u tell me the name of the piano music that starts at 8:43 please? I looked but didn’t see it listed. It’s so beautiful & I know it but cannot remember the name! Tanks and keep up the great work! My family & I made the transition to living like you guys just under 2 yrs ago & wow it’s been a lot of learning, trial & error! It’s a lot of hard work but totally worth it. We love watching your channel! God bless you guys❤

[@ravenrock541]

How about building a portable chicken coop with a beetle trap on top? The living beetles drop right into the chickens waiting below. If the coop can rest on the ground, the chickens can scrounge in the grass, as well.

[@Ben-rq7gv]

Why not set up bat houses? The beetles may not be active at night, but that may help cut their numbers down.

[@bigdye1976]

Thanks guys for doing amazing work. I wish you guys the best.

[@Krebzonide]

This is the kinda Minecraft passive chicken breeder I want. They need to set these up at those massive chicken factories.

[@CaptK-py8rq]

Great trap improvements, thank you!

[@thecapedgremlin0001]

11:18 mow or bulldoze the land flat or fire brigade control-burning? Beetles deposit their young in the Earth, In Aussie we have Black beetles that if over-populate eat all the vegie roots?

[@lovebugsss]

you should also make a section they can be dropped off and you can switch it “on” to have the beetles drop down to prevent a bunch of dead beetles ending up in the water dish when the chickens wake up

[@sarahshallcross-willis9008]

SUPER SUGGESTION: soapy water KILLS on contact. Load a hose spray-bottle thing with soapy water and set up the sprinklers in your orchards. It’ll kill the bugs no matter their stage of development

[@phatpride1]

As an engineer I would use the same idea you have for your chickens as the outside traps and use 5gal pals to catch them for each trap. Might be able to increase the amount of yield and use the dead bugs for a fertilizer/ compose. Good luck!

[@beckyzolotor4078]

Wooooooow, What a great idea guys.... I can't stand them darn things. The killed a tree of mine had for 20yrs..... Way to go 👍👍least you will find a way to get rid of them.....❤❤

[@jennjohnson-richards5829]

We used milky spore for the first time this year. We still had some but must less. My chickens will eat the dead bugs. I fermented their food a do put bugs in too❤

[@theseaweedsalad3188]

Your invention is a genius solution to your problem! Kudos to you sir!👍💖

[@LoWsDominios]

Wow, that is a very clever way to implement the traps into the chicken feeding cycle. And I bet you save a lot of chicken feed on this. Congrats pal. Good Idea, pretty good result.

[@janinesimon6076]

Brilliant idea!! Love this solution