Frozen Insects

[Gerry Marantelli]

hi all

It seems many of you use frozen insects and the birds are quite happy with them.

Many years ago we tried selling frozen insects locally at cheaper rates but they didn't sell very well as we couldn't gain a very wide customer base due to the problems of shipping frozen products and we just got stuck with freezers full of frozen insects that we couldn't use. (frogs won't eat it if it doesn't move.)

We have recently been investigating shipping again and may soon have the capacity to ship frozen foods. Due to the easier packing and smaller more compact size etc as well as a few other factors, frozen ones could be quite a bit cheaper than live ones in most cases.

My question is - if we began doing frozen insects at cheap rates would people be interested? I would probably do maggots, crickets and fly pupae to begin with. Any takers?

[jusdeb]

Sounds great however living in the sticks might mean its not a viable option for me .... would they be in individual portions or a solid block ?

[natamambo]

Gerry, I froze the roaches out of necessity given the ants. In general, my birds will take the pupae frozen but thus far don't seem enamoured by the frozen roaches. If that pattern continues with the maggots I'm about to freeze then I doubt I'd bother. Ask me again in a week when I find out if the birds get hungry enough to take the frozen ones anyway (which I'll try without stressing out the birds).

I don't have many insectivore birds and while they are dearer to keep than the seed eaters, I'd rather spend that little more if it keeps the birds happier. Once a fortnight a mix of small packets seems to suit me best at this stage, but that may change when the chats and wrens start breeding.

[mattymeischke]

I will be ordering the liveys for preference (ordered some the other day, in fact).
I would be wary of ordering frozen ones to similar reasons for jusdeb: country PO, irregular pickups etc...

[gomer]

I was away for a while so froze some maggots for when I got back. On return I have noticed most of the maggots have gone brown in the freezer. Is this normal ? Here are two things that may have happened while gone. 1 My son has left the freezer open for sometime then closed it causing them to thaw out and refreeze, This I will never know if it happened. 2 they were put in a cricket container and have got freezer burn from the air holes. 3 they should be brown after frozen ?

[SamDavis]

I froze some of Gerry's maggots some time ago and all turned brown. I've tried feeding them out a few times and my birds are not keen although some were eaten.
My finches have a definite preference for live termites, followed by frozen termites, closely followed by live maggots, with frozen maggots a very distant fourth. Personally, I wouldn't buy frozen maggots.

[Diane]

I got my maggots and fly pupae on 3rd Aug, and they spent the next 8 days in the fridge. On the 11th August I decided to freeze the ones left.
The fly pupea is doing well no visual change.
The maggots were frozen using ice trays and using the medium they arrived in. This is a pic taken this morning 24th September. As you can see some had already started to pupae which prompted me to freeze them.
The colour of the maggots has changed a bit, but not what I would call brown.

P1010011 (640x427).jpg

[SamDavis]

BB, they do look better than the ones I froze. I wonder what's the difference? I froze mine in a takeway food container. And BB, are your finches eating them OK?

[Diane]

They seem to be, mind you the BFPF are just plain greedy.
The mix is very loose, no ice cube shape at all.