How to breed crickets for human consumption

Contrary to many beliefs, breeding and farming bugs are both easy and require little to no maintenance. But with these lovely insects, the only problem is the noise. Have you ever spent some time in the south? You remember fondly the song crickets make? Try to stand it all day long now. You see, very difficult to do so isn't it? So, before you launch yourself, the first thing to do is to look for a place far away from your living quarters (attic, outbuilding, ...).

If you already like bugs, we are sure you'll love crickets, especially you add some garlic. For human consumption, the method is simple: lock them alive in a box, store them two days in a freezer. Unfreeze them, wash them and last but not least, dehydrate them. You see? Simple!

After that, you just have to unleash your cooking potential by trying several exotic recipes. Have you ever tried fried crickets, donuts or cookies crickets, crickets broccoli? You see, their potential as a main ingredient for your cooking is endless.

First, where to find crickets?

Go to a garden center or a pet store. Those shops sell crickets at a very low rate but don't eat them. They are still improper for human consumption, though. You will use them as breeding stock. Wait at least three generations before eating them. On average, you just have to wait approximately two months for this bug species to come of age.

What you need

Fist, because crickets eat their eggs and their youngs, plan to buy 2 houses for them (a central box for community life and a nursery dedicated to their youngs).

1. In the central box

• Vivarium (plastic is good too) with vent holes on the top
• Sawdust (or wood chips) without added chemical 
• A small trough
• A saucer 
• Several small cardboards (for crickets to play with). 

2. In the nursery

• A small aquarium (or a plastic box with a lid) with some openings on top, 
• A net (or some tissues)
• Natural sand

Setting up your farm

After spreading sawdust on the bottom of your central box, flatten out the sand with your hand until you get it smooth. Place the saucer beside one of them. Finally put your cardboards inside the central box. You should take great pain to maintain a constant temperature inside your boxes. Your livestock needs temperatures to be between 20 to 30°C. Don't and you risk being the unfortunate witness to an entire collapse of your farm.

Put food regularly into the saucer and water the trough or you may see your crickets start eating each other. Finally, put a light bulb over your farm. Light helps crickets maintaining constant heat. Do the same with the nursery and you should be covered once it's time for the eggs to hatch.

How shall I care for them?

Food: Not really difficult, crickets will eat about anything. Offer them sliced fruit (apples, peaches, pineapple, ...), vegetables (always in small pieces), meat or bread. Feel free to feed them regularely and to give them water daily. Otherwise, they might start to devour each other.

Healthy habitat: Clean the central box at least once a week. Remove all the corpses from it. Do this preferably outdoors because you don't want crickets in your house, do you? All this is to keep strong odors to a minimum. Do it every week and it will remain quite bearable. 

After spawning: Let the hatchlings in the nursery for a while, otherwise they risk being eaten by adults. They usually come of age after 2 months. Give them something to eat and drink regularly. 

That's all. Simple, I told so. 

Now get down to it and help us change the world!