Cricket Farm Supply Purchasing: Egg Flats, Feed, Substrates, and More

Your input costs are a major driver of profitability on a cricket farm. The three biggest ongoing supply categories are feed, egg flats or substrate, and water management materials. Getting reliable sourcing for each of these is not glamorous work, but supply chain disruptions kill production schedules in ways that are entirely preventable with a little planning.

Feed

The most common base feed for commercial cricket production is poultry chick starter. It's widely available, formulated for rapid early growth, affordable at scale, and crickets accept it readily. Most chick starter is 18-22% protein, which supports good cricket growth. Some producers use a blend of chick starter with grains like corn or wheat bran to reduce cost while maintaining adequate nutrition.

The key purchasing consideration for feed is lot consistency. Crickets that grow well on one feed formulation can perform differently on a reformulated product even under the same brand name. When you find a feed your crickets perform well on, note the supplier, product name, and when possible the manufacturing lot. This matters for troubleshooting if performance shifts unexpectedly.

Buy feed in quantities large enough to avoid constant reordering but not so large that it sits long enough to degrade. Feed stored improperly can develop mold or harbor pests that you then introduce into your bins. Store feed in sealed containers, off the floor, in a cool dry area. Rotate stock using first-in-first-out.

For vegetable supplementation (carrots, potatoes, leafy greens), source from a consistent supplier. Organic isn't required but you want produce that hasn't been treated with residual pesticides that could harm your crickets or affect food safety compliance if you're producing for human consumption.

Egg Flats

Egg flats are the primary substrate and hiding structure in most commercial cricket bins. Crickets use them to get off the floor, to shelter, and to thermoregulate by moving between the warmer and cooler areas of the bin. Egg flats dramatically increase effective bin surface area compared to bare floor space.

Standard 30-cell pulp egg flats are the industry default. They're cheap, widely available from egg flat distributors and restaurant supply sources, and compostable. When purchasing egg flats, check that they're clean and haven't been stored somewhere with moisture exposure or pest activity. Egg flats can harbor mold or insect eggs if they've been stored in poor conditions.

Some farms source used egg flats from commercial egg operations. This can be very cost-effective but carries contamination risk. Used egg flats from poultry operations may carry bacterial contamination or residual pesticides from hen litter. If you use used flats, inspect them carefully and consider a light heat treatment before use.

Cardboard tubes (the cores from paper towel rolls or similar) are sometimes used as supplemental climbing and hiding structure. They're inexpensive, widely available through office supply recycling, and crickets use them readily.

Water Management Materials

For pinheads and young juveniles, water gel crystals are the standard solution. Water gel (also sold as insect gel or hydration crystals) is a polyacrylamide gel that provides moisture without a drowning risk. It's available through insect supply distributors and some agricultural suppliers. Buy it in dry crystal form and hydrate before use, which is more cost-effective than pre-hydrated packs.

Natural sponges or food-grade foam are used by some farms as an alternative to gel, particularly for adult crickets. They provide a moist surface without standing water. They need to be replaced regularly to prevent bacterial buildup.

For larger adult crickets, some farms use shallow containers with bottle caps or marbles in the water to prevent drowning. Standard chicken waterers (poultry founts) work well at scale and are easy to refill.

Bins and Housing

Plastic storage totes are the most common bin choice for small to medium farms. Standard 100-gallon or 66-gallon storage bins from big-box retailers work well. Look for bins with smooth interior walls that crickets can't climb easily, although you'll also need secure lids with ventilation (mesh or drilled holes covered with screen material).

For ventilation panels, aluminum window screen is durable and easy to cut and attach. Fiberglass screen is cheaper but crickets can chew through it over time. Silicon mesh from specialty insect supply sources is more expensive but holds up longer.

Sourcing Strategy

Having at least two suppliers for your critical inputs is worth the administrative overhead. If your primary feed supplier has a supply disruption or your egg flat source goes out of stock, you don't want to be reformulating your feed or sourcing from an unknown supplier mid-batch.

Build relationships with local agricultural co-ops for feed. They often have better pricing than online retailers and can reliably source the same product consistently. For egg flats, commercial packaging distributors that serve the food industry are usually the best combination of price and volume.

Track your supply purchases and costs in CricketOps so you can calculate input cost per batch accurately. When you know your actual cost per pound of harvested cricket, you can make better decisions about where to invest in higher-quality inputs versus where to optimize costs.

See cricket farm record keeping for how to integrate purchasing records with your production data, and cricket farm management for how supply levels tie into your daily and weekly operational checklists.