When you think of farms you probably think cows,chickens,pigs,sheep or even less known frog,alligator, and fish farming.
Would you believe there are Insect farms! Insects in parts of the World (even the U.S.) are eaten by people, sold for laboratory research, and sold as feeders for animals like reptiles and amphibians.

Rooms can be filled with thousands or millions of insects in plastic storage tubs, glass tanks, aswell as jars and other things. Most common farmed insects are crickets,mealworms, and cockroaches as these all breed well in captivity, live well together, and grow fast and offer the best protein.

Some people do it from home, other places are like factories with rows and rows of containers and shelves filled with insects and the temperature and humidity has to be just right, but boy does it stink inside!!!

Here is a links to read on it. http://www.latimes.com/world/l...
http://www.newscientist.com/ar...

Video inside insect farms- http://youtu.be/MDJd41nAANk
http://youtu.be/eDxAdX3Q4cI

Very interesting Keith, I have eaten a lot of different meats, but not sure I could get those bugs down though.

Are you suggesting bug farming as one more alternative for Kathleen? Hmmm...

porkpal said:Are you suggesting bug farming as one more alternative for Kathleen? Hmmm...

I've eaten fried crickets and they taste like chicken with bitter aftertaste but if they had flavoring it wouldn't be bad.

I don't know Keith, everything different they say it tastes like chicken.

My chickens love to eat crickets. Perhaps chicken actually tastes like crickets.

porkpal said:My chickens love to eat crickets. Perhaps chicken actually tastes like crickets.

I'll donate all my cockroaches to anyone who wants to eat them!

I thought about the possibility of raising predatory insects to sell to greenhouses that aren't allowed to use insecticide sprays.

Apparently you first have to raise the insects that the predators eat, and then keep their numbers in balance so the prey insects are never too depleted.

That prerequisite, of course, makes sense, but is quite unappealing.

RickCorey said:I thought about the possibility of raising predatory insects to sell to greenhouses that aren't allowed to use insecticide sprays.

Apparently you first have to raise the insects that the predators eat, and then keep their numbers in balance so the prey insects are never too depleted.

That have this for places that sell praying mantis egg cases sold at garden centers. It's quite easy raising them just buy prey insects at the pet store.

As for the other insects like mealworms and crickets they are mostly vegetarian with the exception of some protein needed which you feed cat or dog kibble. I've raised many insects they are super easy to breed.

Porkpal, I think we'll stick to heifers and hay!

I used to raise garter snakes and redbelly racers and mice. I sold the mice to the highschool lab. My mother says she still finds mice with one blind eye in her traps. That must be one strong genetic trait as it's been 45 years, give or take!