Is this an ok grain to use for my roaches..?

[rm90]

I posted this on a BD forum but it seems no one has the answer..!

I bought this feed called Starter chick feed. It was relatively cheap and is a crumbly grain I was wondering if its ok to feed to my roaches/worms..?

The site with info is http://www.labdiet.com/5065.htm

 

[billopelma]

Should be fine, I'd just make sure it's the non medicated type. It's mostly just corn though, good dog/cat food is probably more appropriate as a staple diet.

Bill

 

[skips]

Looks ok to me. Its enriched with a lot of vitamins that i'm sure are great for chicks, but i'm not so sure what their effect would be in high amounts on roaches. I know they don't need external sources of almost any vitamin (like this enriched chick feed has). Like, even in humans, vitamin K in high doses can be fatal because of its involvement with blood clotting I assume. Also, I definitely agree they may not have listed hormones. Maybe run an experiment with some roaches and see how just the few of them do. Protein content looks good, but maybe grind up some cat or dog food just for added cholesterol.

 

[BrianWI]

there are no hormones in the chicken feed (enough of that false myth already). And medicated feed contains amprolium, a coccidistat, not an antibiotic, and will not harm the roaches.

 

[sparular]

Hormones are rather expensive. So if it's a cheap feed, it's probably hormone-free. I would worry more about pesticides in feeds. I would feed a test batch to a small cage of young roaches and see if they molt properly and survive for a month (some pesticides prevent molting). I imagine chicks need decent levels of protein too so you may not need to supplement much with other animal chow. However corn is pretty low in protein. Does it give a nutrition breakdown?

 

[skips]

there are no hormones in the chicken feed (enough of that false myth already). And medicated feed contains amprolium, a coccidistat, not an antibiotic, and will not harm the roaches.

Because you seem to know something about chicken feed. It is my understanding that a good deal of pesticides (Ex: pyriproxyfen) are hormones, or hormone analogs. So unless they're using something like Bt toxin, a non-hormonal pesticide, who's to say the feed doesn't have something like that on it?
Amprollium is an anti-protozoan, correct? Wouldn't they probably cocktail that with a few other drugs? It's not like chickens are only ever effected by coccidians. I have read about some feeds that have a nice variety of drugs to combat all the different ailment of chickens.

 

[rm90]

Well I have had a lid full of the feed in my roach tank for a few days now. They don't seem to like it. :wall: My mealworms on the other hand love it..

The bag was pretty cheap, 4$ for a 5 pound bag

 

[skips]

Ah, if you can find someone who sells just straight up corn meal that's really cheap too. My friend works at a pizza place and ordered us a 50 lb. bag for 15 bucks. We just mix it with cat food. so cheap.