Hello all, i was just curious as to whether cockroaches carried any major diseases that are hazardous to chicken. Is it healthy for chicken to eat cockroaches? What about grain on the floor that roaches have probably taste tested the night before? Im just worried that the roaches may cause my chicken to get sick. I hate those bugs.

thanks

-- D (muhawi@aol.com), August 03, 2001

Answers

you dont say where you are. Fl has some BIG roaches,, but I odnt think any roach will hurt chickens,, they are supposed to eat bugs.

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), August 03, 2001.

D, as long as those cockroaches were sprayed with any chemmicals to kill them, I would be very happy to see my chickens eat them. They are wonderful protein for your chickens, which translates into growth and/or eggs!

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), August 03, 2001.

I don't believe it hurts them--I live by some woods that are several hundred acres big and those big waterbugs (wood roaches, palmettos, whatever) come out of the woods and hang around the chicken pens. My hens love to chase them and eat them, and have been doing so for years with no apparent ill effects.

-- HannahMariaHolly (hannahholly@hotmail.com), August 03, 2001.

if you want to worry about something – worry about the racoons and mosquitoes. Not the roaches. Roaches are more a human problem. If you live in Florida, get a bunch of lizards to "eat" the problem away. But I will tell you this, chickens love cockroaches! Good luck – michele, orlando, fl, the roach capitol of the wo

-- Michele Bryant (micheleb@aol.com), August 03, 2001.

Orlando Fla Native here. Currently living in Maryland.

Michele, don't ya just hate how those things stink when ya smoosh em?

Cockroaches are bad. Palmetto bugs would drive me up the wall.

My henny pennies eat anything they can catch. And, when we work in the garden, they crowd around nearby on their side of the fence waiting for grubs to be thrown to them.

-- LBD (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), August 03, 2001.

And slimy old snails--my hens will run all over eachother to get a snail!

-- HannahMariaHolly (hannahholly@hotmail.com), August 03, 2001.