Another gross post, just in time for Halloween:

One disgusting by-product of composting is the beetle grubs.  I wrote about the other gross insect in the compost, black soldier fly previously.  As a novice, when I first started composting, I really hated these bugs.  Now, for me, they have become such a common part of composting and gardening, I will pick them up with my bare hands.  What has become of me?  Yuck!  Ewwwgh!

However, to the delight of the chickens, we have tons of them, and this is why I take the time to pick them out. This is a chicken delicacy and their version of peel and eat shrimp.  My chickens look like a bunch of Black Friday Christmas shoppers rushing into a store for a door buster sale at 5AM.  It is a total mob scene if I make the mistake of offering only one or two of these gruesome bugs.  The reason I don’t wear my gloves when offering these to the chickens is they are used to treats coming in bare hands.  With a glove on, it is a little scarey to them and they avoid my hand.  With “no glove on” it must be something good!

Most of the grubs are larvae stage of the green fruit beetle.  Yesterday afternoon, I emptied my compost bin.  As a result, I managed to pick out enough grubs to fill half of a quart size mason jar.  It was an all you can eat buffet for the chickens.  I then used the compost to fertilize the lawns.