# Bugs in Grain



## chelsboers (Mar 25, 2010)

My husband got some new grain today and when he got home I noticed some tiny bugs on the outside. When I opened it up and took a cup of grain out hundreds of tiny red bugs came crawling out. I've removed the grain from my barn and away from the rest of my grain. I plan on taking it back Monday, but would like to know what kind of bugs these are.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

I think they may be some sort of weevil. I have had that happen 2 times. Once was with Agway dairy goat feed and the other Purinna show goat. 
Good you removed them far away they can cause quite a infestation if allowed to remain.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Don't know the type but I've had to take grain back a few months ago because of them....I've also had little moths fly out of newly opened bags in the past...those went back for a refund too.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

We get those sometimes....

In the summer time ....we put the plastic container in the hot sun and they pour out...... but this time of year ...not sure if it will work ...

I'd ask for a refund...or a different clean bag....I would have them open the bag at the store.... to see if it is infested...if all their bags have them then... I'd wait for the next delivery or go elsewhere.... :wink:


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## chelsboers (Mar 25, 2010)

Thanks for the advice. The grain is Purina so I'm afraid that wherever it is mixed might have a bug problem. I gotten grain from this same feed store and never gotten any bugs, but I think I'm going to switch to ADM feed instead of the Purina anyways.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

:thumbup:


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## Dreamchaser (Oct 30, 2008)

I get those all the time. I don't worry too much about it, because I know the goats eat bugs in the wild on the grasses. In the winter the bugs seem to die off.


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

I got a bag of oats that was infested with them about 5 months ago. I used the feed for a while but they continued to breed and I'm still trying to get rid of them. Normally I keep the feed in a closet in my house but after seeing these bugs crawling out of the oats I put it in my garage before the house stated moving with them. Well then we got infested with crickets they are in our attic and all over the garage. Its an absolute hassle.


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## potentialfarm (Apr 11, 2011)

Reading this thread reminded me of when I used to have caged birds. One of the ways you could be sure their food was too old (and therefore not as nutritious) was if there were any bugs/worms in it. The adult insects wouldn't survive the processing of the food, but the eggs would, and would then hatch after the food had been sitting for a long period of time.

This makes me wonder how long some of our goat's food sits before we purchase it. These grain companies should be required to date-stamp every bag. Old feed has potentially lost a lot of it's nutritional value.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

potentialfarm said:


> Reading this thread reminded me of when I used to have caged birds. One of the ways you could be sure their food was too old (and therefore not as nutritious) was if there were any bugs/worms in it. The adult insects wouldn't survive the processing of the food, but the eggs would, and would then hatch after the food had been sitting for a long period of time.
> 
> This makes me wonder how long some of our goat's food sits before we purchase it. These grain companies should be required to date-stamp every bag. Old feed has potentially lost a lot of it's nutritional value.


I do know from my experience with the bugs that both the Agway and Purinna feeds do date stamp the feed and have a recommended shelf life dependent on the kind of feed and the weather. Then the store is supposed to pull it but the bags I had bought were past the shelf life. The store had to replace or refund per their contract. 
The problem is some manufactures put them in a hard to read format so we don't realize it. It is something like day in the year so Feb 10 would be 41.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

why 41? just curious how you would know 41 is feb 10?


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

That is why I couldn't figure out the dates so I called the manufacturer. 
They go on a yearly calendar so Jan 1 is 1, Jan 21 is 21, Feb 10 is the 41st day of the year or 31 days in Jan plus the 10 in Feb. 
March 3rd would be 63. 
I have no clue why they do it that way.


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## Dreamchaser (Oct 30, 2008)

Yeah. I got infested with them. Therefore I cannot get rid of them now. This winter I am going to leave the barn door open and hopefully freeze those guys out.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Well, my first bit of advise was going to be to take it back. But since you plan to do that anyway, good luck. Not a problem I have had with livestock grain. But.......
Just today I went to refill my empty rice jar and it was full of little moths. So even though that rice had not shown visible bugs; there were obviously eggs that hatched after the rice had been used and only a bit of dust remained. Weird, but I washed my jar in the dishwasher before filling again.
We got some weavels in some chick scratch but that was our own fault for keeping it over the winter. Now I empty everything that will not be used in a few months.


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## Dreamchaser (Oct 30, 2008)

I worked for a feed store for about 3 years. The problem with these bugs is the eggs are always present in the feed. They hatch when the conditions are right. For us, they hatch when the humidity is up. So, as soon as the summer monsoon starts (It doesn't matter if we recieved the feed from the mill just the day before) the eggs hatch and in a few days we will see bugs. I used to hate taking the feed back, only because there was nothing that could be done to prevent them. We tried spraying, dusting, everything short of setting off a nuclear bomb on the bugs.


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## SandStoneStable Farm (Dec 8, 2010)

Has anyone tried mixing in DE? I heard that works...


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## Showgoatcz (Sep 25, 2013)

We have the same problem with bugs in our feed. We have show goats. Will the bugs harm the goats in any way?


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

luvmyherd said:


> Just today I went to refill my empty rice jar and it was full of little moths. So even though that rice had not shown visible bugs; there were obviously eggs that hatched after the rice had been used and only a bit of dust remained. Weird, but I washed my jar in the dishwasher before filling again.


You are exactly right. Haven't you ever found weevil larvae in a bag of flour, oatmeal, corn meal, or cream of wheat? The eggs are processed with the grain and some remain in the product. The process of cooking kills and renders them harmless, but they are still there. I was so much happier before I realized what the deal was with the bugs. I was never a fan of oatmeal, but I can no longer even look at a box of cream of wheat without gagging. :laugh:


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## GroundGoats (Sep 17, 2013)

SandStoneStable Farm said:


> Has anyone tried mixing in DE? I heard that works...


We always mix Diatomaceous Earth in with our feed and never have bugs. The goats get used to it pretty quick.
I make sure to mix it in outside and use just enough to coat the grain evenly. I mix it in when I mix grain.
Since I mix grain in 5 gallon buckets, I make sure to pour the grain and DE from high enough that excess particles and left over chaff blow out from the breeze. Sometimes I use a fan.
This takes care of the mix being too dusty and the goats getting DE in their lungs. When I give them the grain I pour from a decent height then too and let the breeze blow the excess DE off.
You can use Diatomaceous Earth on any feed, except feed for small animals. I wouldn't use it on feed for small birds either, though pigeons would be fine, don't use it for quail.
The problem with DE and small animals is that it's easy for them to get too much and become excessively dehydrated, it can also possibly coat their digestive tract. Pigeons drink large quantities of water, so as long as they have enough water, they should be fine. 
You can even use DE on dog food.
A lot of people think it can kill internal parasites, but I don't really believe that myself. It works great for dusting any animal though, I've used DE to dust my chicken, dog and goats. Make sure your shield their faces from the dust though, it can dry out and irritate mucous membranes. 
I used DE in conjunction with Permethrin-10 to quickly combat lice and mites. I didn't want to spray the Permethrin-10 everywhere, so I just dusted with DE everywhere daily for 2 weeks. It only rained once and I just went out and dusted once it was dry enough.
I use it in pens and on compost piles to keep the flys off and it works wonders. You can put it around the base of plants to keep insects with burrowing larvae from surviving. The adults lay eggs on the plants, the eggs hatch, the larvae crawls into the DE and then they die. Fungus Gnats are an example of such pests.

You can get it at just about any feed store.


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