Dalhousie University Masters student Holly Fisher is working in association with Midgard Insect Farm Inc. to raise awareness of the benefits of crickets as a source of protein for humans and farm animals alike. The Dalhousie student and cricket farm are working together in a research study to see the effects of cricket feed on poultry in a variety of conditions.
The crickets are ground into meal and in this form are easily added to other types of feed. Crickets are sustainably produced and provide a substantial amount of nutritional value. Crickets reach a mature size at one month old and live up to three months. The short lifecycle of crickets mean that a colony can grow very quickly. The nutrition and growth cycle for crickets make them an ideal protein for chickens and possibly other livestock when mixed into rations.
Fisher’s Supervisor Stephanie Collins is excited about the research and its implications stating, “We are in the initial data-gathering stages, but I believe it will be possible to have this feed ingredient available for producers in the future.”
The cricket meal being created between Fisher and Midgard Insect Farm may be a thing of the future, but the future could be now for savvy sustainable cricket and poultry farmer “Want-to-be’s”.