Feed 10-20 crickets per hen per day as a supplement to layer feed. Live crickets released directly into the run trigger hunting behavior that delivers hours of active enrichment.
Chickens eat insects every single day when they have access to range. Crickets are part of that natural diet, and our insect protein guide puts them at the top of the treat category for a straightforward reason: no other backyard treat combines high protein, strong behavioral enrichment, and year-round availability quite as effectively.
Here we cover cricket nutrition, live versus dried forms, how to source and store them, how crickets compare to mealworms, and exactly how many to feed without disrupting your hens' layer feed intake.
Below: the full nutritional breakdown, how live crickets deliver enrichment that no other treat matches, sourcing options, home-raising basics, and the direct comparison with mealworms.
- Common feeder species: Acheta domesticus (house cricket), black field cricket
- Dried protein: ~65% protein, ~20% fat, plus calcium, iron, and B12
- Live protein: ~20% protein, ~7% fat (water content dilutes the values)
- Verdict: Safe for all chicken breeds and ages post-4-weeks
- Daily limit: 10-20 crickets per hen per day
- Best use: Enrichment for confined flocks, molt support, protein supplementation
- Availability: Live from pet stores and cricket breeders; dried and freeze-dried online
- Top alternative: Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), higher calcium per gram
Cricket Nutrition: Why Cricket Protein Is Higher Than Mealworm Protein by Weight
Dried crickets outperform dried mealworms on raw protein by a meaningful margin. Where dried mealworms land around 53% protein, dried house crickets reach approximately 65% protein per 100g.
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That difference matters during molt, winter, and any period when hens need a targeted protein boost.
The fat content of dried crickets sits at roughly 20%, compared to mealworms at 28%. A lower fat percentage means you can feed crickets at a slightly higher volume without tipping the treat balance into excess calorie territory.
| Form | Protein | Fat | Calcium | Best Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live crickets | ~20% | ~7% | ~75 mg | Enrichment, hunting behavior, taming |
| Dried crickets | ~65% | ~20% | ~110 mg | Protein supplementation, molt support, storage convenience |
| Freeze-dried crickets | ~60% | ~18% | ~100 mg | Long shelf life, easy to crush and mix into feed |
Crickets also carry meaningful levels of iron, zinc, and B12: micronutrients that layer feed often supplies in minimal quantities. For hens in heavy laying cycles or recovering from molt, those trace minerals support red blood cell production and feather keratin synthesis at the cellular level.
Cooked eggs are another protein-dense treat worth pairing with crickets in a molt rotation. Our egg feeding guide explains the cooking rule that prevents egg-eating behavior, and how scrambled eggs at 13g protein per 100g complement cricket supplementation during feather regrowth.
Live Crickets in the Run: Why This Is the Best Enrichment Treat Available for Confined Flocks
If your hens spend time in a covered run without free-range access, live crickets are the single best enrichment tool you can provide. Releasing 20-30 crickets into a run triggers immediate, sustained hunting behavior that keeps birds occupied for hours.
The behavioral sequence is predictable: hens spot the movement, vocalize excitedly, and begin actively stalking and chasing. The unpredictability of live crickets (jumping, hiding under substrate, changing direction) means the hunt cannot be exhausted by a few minutes of feeding.
Birds that would otherwise pace or peck each other redirect that energy into foraging.
- Pecking order reduction: Enrichment activities like cricket hunting redirect dominant-hen aggression away from lower-ranked birds during the hunt window.
- Physical activity: Hens in cricket-hunting mode run, scratch, and forage at a rate that exceeds their normal confined-run activity by a measurable amount.
- Vocalizations: The distinctive "food call" clucking that hens use to alert the flock fires repeatedly during a cricket release, which strengthens flock social bonding.
- Duration: A release of 20-30 crickets into a 4x8 run with substrate keeps a flock of 4 hens actively foraging for 45-90 minutes before all crickets are caught.
Easter Egger foraging instincts are particularly strong given the breed's mixed heritage from landrace stock. Easter Eggers and other breeds with active foraging genetics respond to live cricket releases with noticeably more sustained hunting behavior than sedentary breeds.
For confined flocks in small runs, we recommend live cricket releases 3-4 times per week rather than daily. Constant access to any enrichment source reduces the novelty response over time.
Spacing the releases maintains the behavioral intensity that makes them effective.
Corn on the cob offers a similar foraging enrichment experience for larger flocks without the live-insect management. Our corn feeding guide covers how hanging a cob at beak height keeps birds pecking and working for 20 minutes or more per session.
Fish is a practical high-protein supplement to rotate alongside crickets, particularly for flocks that are not getting enough variety in their protein sources. Our fish feeding guide explains which species to use, how to prepare them, and why canned sardines in water are the most efficient option per dollar spent.
A release of 20-30 crickets per 4-6 hens stays within what they will hunt down fully in one session.
Sourcing Crickets: Live, Dried, and Freeze-Dried Options
Crickets are more accessible than most keepers expect. The pet reptile market has made feeder crickets a commodity product, and the same supply chain that feeds bearded dragons and leopard geckos works equally well for for chickens.
- Live from pet stores: Most large pet retailers (PetSmart, Petco, independent reptile shops) stock live house crickets in bulk bags of 25-500. Expect to pay $0.10-0.25 per cricket at retail. Ask staff for the freshest stock. Crickets die within a week if not fed and watered properly after purchase.
- Live from online breeders: Cricket farms ship live crickets overnight in ventilated containers. Online pricing runs $15-30 per 500-1,000 crickets with overnight shipping. BBQCrickets, Timberline, and Fluker Farms are established suppliers with consistent sizing.
- Dried crickets: Widely available on Amazon, Chewy, and specialty poultry sites. Bags of 1-5 lbs range from $15-40. Brands sold for reptile feeding (Fluker's, ZooMed, Komodo) work identically for poultry. You are buying the same product.
- Freeze-dried crickets: Longest shelf life of the three forms (12-18 months sealed). Slightly lower protein than dehydrated dried. Can be crushed into a powder and mixed into layer feed as a protein supplement.
For protein alternatives that store well alongside dried crickets, black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) provide 15-17% protein with a beneficial fatty acid profile. Rotating BOSS days with cricket days gives a broader amino acid spread than either alone.
Storing Live Crickets: Keeping Them Alive Between Feedings
Live crickets shipped from a breeder or purchased in bulk need brief maintenance to stay alive until your flock eats them. The setup takes five minutes and requires nothing specialized.
- Container: A ventilated plastic storage bin or the supplier's shipping container. Egg carton pieces inside give crickets surfaces to cling to and reduce cannibalism.
- Temperature: 70-80°F. Cooler temperatures slow crickets significantly and extend life; warmer temperatures accelerate their lifecycle and increase die-off. A shelf at room temperature in summer is adequate.
- Food: A handful of oat bran, dry cornmeal, or commercial cricket food. Replenish every 2-3 days.
- Water: Never a water dish. Crickets drown readily. Use a piece of orange, carrot, or potato on a paper towel. Replace daily to prevent mold.
- Duration: Well-maintained live crickets survive 1-2 weeks in a home container without major die-off.
How to Raise Crickets at Home: Cheaper and Faster Than Mealworms
Cricket farming at home is simpler than most people expect, and the lifecycle is faster than mealworms. Where a mealworm colony takes 3-4 months to reach self-sustaining output, a cricket colony can produce harvestable insects within 5-6 weeks of setup.
The setup mirrors the live-storage setup above, with one addition: a small container of moist substrate (coconut coir or vermiculite) for egg-laying. Female house crickets lay eggs in soil or substrate.
Remove the egg container after 2-3 days and incubate it separately at 85-90°F. Eggs hatch in 7-10 days and produce pinhead crickets ready for grow-out.
A starter colony of 250-500 adult crickets costs $15-25 online. At room temperature (75°F), a colony cycles egg-to-adult in approximately 5-6 weeks and produces several hundred crickets per generation.
One plastic storage tote (18-gallon) is sufficient for a colony that can supply a flock of 4-6 hens indefinitely.
For a mealworm comparison on home-raising logistics, mealworms require less active management (no egg incubation steps) but have a longer generation cycle. Cricket colonies are more active and require cricket-proofing your setup carefully: they jump and are better escape artists than mealworm larvae.
For beginner flock feeding where simplicity matters, dried crickets from a bulk bag are the lowest-effort entry point. Reserve home-raising for when your flock size and treat budget both justify the setup investment.
Crickets vs. Mealworms: Which Protein Treat Is Better for Chickens
Both insects are safe, both are effective, and both belong in a well-stocked treat rotation. The real question is which form does more work in each specific context.
- Raw protein per gram (dried): Crickets win at ~65% vs. mealworms at ~53%. For molt supplementation, dried crickets deliver more protein per teaspoon of feed.
- Fat content (dried): Crickets at ~20% vs. mealworms at ~28%. Lower fat in crickets means less risk of excess calorie intake when feeding at volume.
- Behavioral enrichment (live): Crickets win. The jumping, erratic movement, and ability to hide make live crickets a more sustained hunting challenge than live mealworms, which move slowly and are caught quickly.
- Home-raising speed: Crickets win. Five to six weeks egg-to-adult vs. 8-10 weeks for mealworm larvae.
- Home-raising ease: Mealworms win. No egg incubation required, slower lifecycle is easier to manage, and darkling beetles do not escape containers the way adult crickets do.
- Retail availability: Roughly equal. Both are stocked in pet stores nationwide.
Our recommendation: use dried crickets as the primary protein supplement during molt and winter, and use live crickets as the primary enrichment tool for confined flocks. Mealworms work well as a secondary supplement and for hand-taming young pullets, where their slower movement makes them easier to hold and offer by hand.
Cooked beans are a plant-based protein alternative worth adding to the rotation on days when insect treats are not available. Our bean feeding guide explains why fully cooked black beans deliver nearly 9g of protein per 100g and how to prepare them safely from dried or canned varieties.
Choosing an active foraging breed makes live cricket enrichment especially effective. Our Rhode Island Red breed guide covers the foraging instincts and protein requirements of one of the most popular dual-purpose heritage breeds in backyard flocks.