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com

Practical guidelines to rear crickets for small holder farmers

with the Flying Food 30 crates system
[email protected] [email protected]

Based on experiences in Kenya and Uganda the Flying Food consortium developed a detailed manual for
rearing and processing crickets for food. This manual is a tool for trainers to transfer knowledge on
technical know-how to farmers. We also developed practical guidelines, direct applicable for farmers how
to rear crickets, which you can find below.

Please note: with these guidelines you can start-up the cricket business yourself, but it is strongly
recommended to organize guidance and support by experienced farmers or Flying Food trainers. There are
two options to organize support:
1. Become member of a WhatsApp group with other cricket farmers, which provides you the possibility to
ask questions and share information and experiences. Indicate at your registration form whether you
are interested in this type of support and we will add you to the most suitable WhatsApp group;
2. Form a group of at least 15 farmers that are interested to start up with cricket farming in one region (in
area smaller than 10 km2) and we will try to organize an on-the-spot training by a Flying Food trainer
(which can include costs).

Preparations to start up your cricket farm

For a successful cricket business you need:
 A farm: an insulated building of 2 x 3,5 meters, to protect crickets for predators and keep them warm;
 30 plastic crates to rear the crickets in;
 Small equipment: like water and feed boxes;
 An assistant: organise somebody who is willing to help you and willing to learn;
 Use one type of crickets: and not a variety of species
 Good skills:
 discipline: the work must be done daily 60-90 minutes;
 hygiene: good hygiene keeps the crickets healthy;
 caring and sensing: proper daily observations of the crickets and understanding of their behaviour;
 making notes: use a logbook and gather daily information on temperature, feed, dates of hatching
eggs and dates of adult egg laying crickets.

Rearing crickets is very suitable for women, because we experienced in Kenya and Uganda that women
took better care of the crickets, checking the health of the crickets and the work is physically not
strengthening.
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Building a farm
Crickets grow best in a constant temperature between 28-32°C during day and night
time. A constant temperature will make the cycle time, from egg to adult,
shorter, and the yield higher. Therefore, indoor rearing of crickets is
recommended, to keep the temperature stable and to protect the crickets
from predators. A small cricket farm is a building of 6 m2 consisting of 1 space
for 30 plastic crates (6 stacks of 5 crates), with constant indoor temperature of
30°C and indoor humidity of 45-60%. Position your farm in a safe position
from flooding.
We recommend the following design of a farm:
1. Construct a building of 3,5 x 2 x 2,2 meters (l x b x h; 7 m2);
2. The floor should be flat and levelled. It can be made from sand, soil, concrete or tiles;
3. The walls are 20-30 cm thick, made with bricks or blocks;
4. The roof is made of corrugated metal sheets;
5. The walls and roof are insulated with 15 cm rockwool or a layer of 20 cm
straw/ crumpled newspapers. Cover the insulation inside the building
with panels, to protect them for predators like nesting mice, rats and
snakes. By placing the crates on a small frame 20 cm above the ground, no
floor insulation is required;
6. The building has a door and two fixed small windows of 30 x 100 cm (h x
w) in both the east and west façade;
7. Natural ventilation is organised with openings of 7,5 cm x 7,5 cm in every façade
and a bigger opening in the roof with a size of 15 x 15 cm. When the wind is
more than 4m/s the openings should be covered for 40% and when the wind is
more than 6m/s the openings should be covered for 60%. Place gauze/ nets at
the ventilation holes to prevent predators to enter;
8. The small cricket farm does not need active measures to heat or cool the
building. Proper insulation and ventilation holes will be sufficient;
9. Estimated total cost of a small farm is € 300.

Predators
If the cricket building has small or bigger holes predators will find them by smelling the insects and food.
Ant’s and lizards are hard to see, they and all kind of predators will destroy the rearing.
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The crates
You need 30 firm plastic crates with size of 40 x 60 x 22 cm. Plastic crates
have the advantage that they are stackable, are easy to handle while feeding
and harvesting the crickets, can be cleaned easily after each cycle, are
durable with low depreciation cost and it makes harvesting easy because you
have one cricket age per crate. Disadvantage is that they are quite expensive
with low availability. A full set of 30 crates and 7 lids has a cost of € 340. We
purchased them at Kenpoly in Kenya and MIXA adjusted them with
ventilation holes. Each crate needs two ventilation holes of 8 x 13 cm in each
short end sides (front and back) covered with stainless gauze with small
mesh. You also need 7 lids to cover top crates and the harvest crate.

Place card board egg trays in the crates, as hiding material for the crickets.
Use them 2 cycles and then replace the eggtrays, because of hygiene.

Organisation of the crates

The crates are positioned as following:
 In 6 stacks of 5 crates;
 On a rack to keep the crates from the floor
– 3 meter wide;
 Place the legs of the rack in a plastic cover
and position the plastic cover in a bowl
with water. The covers prevent the legs to
rot. The water on the plates prevent that
predators enter the crates.

Of the 30 crates 1 crate is used for the

hatchery, 8 crates for the parent stock, 20
crates for upbreeding and 1 crates for
harvesting.
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The cricket
In cricket rearing we make use of the small brown ‘house crickets’ that lives in the field and chirps at night
time (and not the bigger ground cricket). Catch them in the wild of receive/ buy eggs from existing cricket
farmers. The life circle of most cricket’s species is generally the same. Female adult crickets are laying eggs.
In a good surrounding the eggs hatch and a tiny little cricket starts his live and will molt several times until
he/she is adult.

Feeding the crickets

 Crickets need feed and water every day. The first weeks the crickets are so small they will drink water
from cotton, like you see below. Don’t put too much water, otherwise they get drawn;
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 When the crickets are around size 5, they need more wate. Use a water bowl with small stones.

 The feed is a base of chicken meal, grain and leaves. For the small crickets is must be dried and grinded
like powder, so that the tiny crickets get all the nutrients they need. It is very important to give so
much feed it will be enough for one day and night. Pinheads ( a few day’s old crickets) for example
need less of a very small spoon. It is important the feed keeps fresh and will not mold;
 Below you see how the feed has to be finely grind and the way the egg trays, feed and water can be
placed.

 Vegetables do have healthy nutrients and are, when they grow in the garden a cheap feed besides the
grain products. They can be given fresh or dried. If dried it is nice to grind them and store dry
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 Be aware that the leaves are clean, without toxics

Laying eggs
A cricket is adult when it has wings. Still it will take at least 7 days later that the eggs can be laid into an egg
lay container (transparent box of 10 cm wide and 6 cm height). The egg lay container had to be filled with
substrate (till 1 cm underneath the edge). Substrate can be made of different types of clean soil/sand
mixed with coco peat or rice husks. The substrate must be moisty and loosely. Do not use cotton wool.

Each egg lay container needs a sticker with a number and the date it is placed into the parent crate. Put the
egg lay container for 3 days into the crate with at least 7-10 days old adult crickets. Put the container in a
way, near the egg trays so the crickets find the container. Females will lay eggs with their egg lay pin into
the substrate around 2 cm from the subsurface. The eggs are tiny and white.
After 3 day’s put the container in a hatchery crate and place a new egg lay container into the crate with
adult crickets, again with date and number.

Hatchery crate
The hatchery crate is the delivery room for your crickets. Keep this crate warm; constant temperature of
32°C and high humidity. The eggs will hatch after 10-15 days.
If a small number of pinheads are there, put a small plate with water (as above) and a very tiny bit of feed
into the crate
Take all the pinheads out this crate after 3 days and put around 2000 - 2500 pinheads into a clean crate
with a number and the installation dates the pinheads were put in.
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It Is important that the crickets in the crate have the same age; it is much easier and efficient to feed and to
harvest. The best time to harvest for consumption is size 7.

Guide lines for daily care

- Register time and temperature in the early morning (coolest time of the day), afternoon (hottest time
of day) and evening;
- Check daily if crickets in each crate have enough food and water. Replace or add fresh food and fresh
water if necessary;
- Check the crates for dead crickets, remove them and register their amount in the daily record sheet;
- Check the room and crates for spiders, ants and remove them;
- Check egg laying containers and replace if necessary;
- Check the hatchery for pinheads. Register on the crate and on the weekly form;
- If you have contact with a trainer or field assistant, contact them in case of questions or problems;
- Make notes of items you have questions, items that stand out;
- Make a note with the date new feed is introduced with the name of the producer.

Harvesting
Around 8 weeks the crickets are size 7 (not yet chirping) and ready to harvest. Pick the crate to be
harvested and put the feed and water bowl out. Gently remove the egg trays and knock them softly to each
other so the crickets will fall into the crate. Poor them in a new, clean crate, so the poo and molts stay in
the rearing crate. Clean the emptied crate thoroughly and put new pinheads in to start a new cycle.

Infection
Crickets can have a disease. Healthy crickets are lively. Sick crickets are missing legs, have a swollen white
abdomen or sometimes yellow puss comes out. Or you see dead crickets and a bad smell is coming from
the crates. If you encounter these symptoms, your production is destroyed. You have to burn all your
crickets, disinfect all equipment and start again with an healthy parent stock. You can prevent diseases by
working hygienic.
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Standard hygiene protocol

This protocol is meant to improve hygiene standards in cricket production.

1. Wash hands before and after working in the farm to avoid infecting the crickets;
2. Also, visitors to a farm should wash hands before and after their visit;
3. Keep both, the inside and outside of your crates clean;
4. When taking care of crickets, start with the youngest ones (hatchery/pinheads) and work your way to
the crates with adults. This reduces the change of young crickets being infected with diseases the older
crickets already might have;
5. Use a spoon to put the food, which had to be dry and clean, in the food tray. Change food and water
daily to avoid feeding crickets with food or water that could be poisoned and kill the crickets;
6. Clean food and water containers daily … because even us as human beings don’t eat and drink water
from unclean plates and cups. Give food for only one day to save costs;
7. Stones/pebbles in the water containers should be washed at least once a week. Soak them for 5 – 10
minutes in water with some chlorine and dry them in the sun;
8. Sterilise substrate (peat) after the eggs are hatched, to eliminate contamination;
9. Remove cricket poo from crates if too much poo is there, when it gets moist or wet, it will become
acidic and kill the crickets. If crickets look healthy, (they move fast, look shinny) the poo can be used as
manure on the land.
10. Don’t reuse hiding places more than two cycle;
11. Store only rearing material in your cricket house. Store the feed dry and in a closed drum.
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Form to keep the daily records of the rearing

FARMER'S NAME FARMER'S NAME

Crate Installation Number of Type Week no.: Week no.:

no. date pinheads (PS, H, C) Size Remarkable observations Size Remarkable observations
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