The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Crafty-Duck]

What about the worms being bad? chickens eat worms all the time! am I wrong?

 

[Ashdoes]

Anyone else read the composting article on the front page? It's fantastic. Gave me a great idea, and played into our worm conversations.

I am lost..front page of what?

The BYC home page...

 

[Ashdoes]

What about the worms being bad? chickens eat worms all the time! am I wrong?

I don't think worms can be bad for them. Maybe some people worry too much?

 

[maryhysong]

What about the worms being bad? chickens eat worms all the time! am I wrong?

I have read that tape worms can be passed to birds through earthworms, crickets and a lot of other things that chickens eat, along with just plain dirt. However, birds eat worms all the time, especially chickens. So I do not think I'm going to quit feeding worms to my chickens and ducks. I think it only be a problem if the birds are out of whack in some way, allowing the tapeworms to get a foothold and really build up numbers to the point of hurting the chicken.

Birds have been eating earthworms and other sorts of creatures for thousands of years, I don't think they are going to quit any time soon.

 

[delisha]

No one said anything about worms being bad that I read.
Thank you for the clarification about home page on BYC (I don't go there but probably i should)

 

[Crafty-Duck]

I have read that tape worms can be passed to birds through earthworms, crickets and a lot of other things that chickens eat, along with just plain dirt. However, birds eat worms all the time, especially chickens. So I do not think I'm going to quit feeding worms to my chickens and ducks. I think it only be a problem if the birds are out of whack in some way, allowing the tapeworms to get a foothold and really build up numbers to the point of hurting the chicken.

Birds have been eating earthworms and other sorts of creatures for thousands of years, I don't think they are going to quit any time soon.

My thoughts exactly!!!!

 

[Crafty-Duck]

No one said anything about worms being bad that I read.
Thank you for the clarification about home page on BYC (I don't go there but probably i should)

I don't know If I was looking at the same thread it may have been a different one.

 

[stonykill]

I have read that tape worms can be passed to birds through earthworms, crickets and a lot of other things that chickens eat, along with just plain dirt. However, birds eat worms all the time, especially chickens. So I do not think I'm going to quit feeding worms to my chickens and ducks. I think it only be a problem if the birds are out of whack in some way, allowing the tapeworms to get a foothold and really build up numbers to the point of hurting the chicken.

Birds have been eating earthworms and other sorts of creatures for thousands of years, I don't think they are going to quit any time soon.

I agree. Much of what one reads on the internet just isn't true or at least is only a small part of the truth. Chickens that are allowed to be chickens eat all kinds of things. They are omnivores. They will eat snakes, toads, frogs, mice, worms, all kinds of bugs, etc. 90% of my birds freerange daily, every day of the year regardless of weather. So at one time or another I have seen them eat everything I listed above. Yet I've never had a chicken with worms in it's droppings and I have never wormed my chickens. I can only say this is do to not being over crowded and not living in their own feces. Small confined spaces and too many birds ....will lead to worms. Not eating earth worms. At least that is my 2 cents on it.

Also don't forget every living thing has worms. Yup, you and I included. A HEALTHY balance of worms.

Always remember chickens are better at being chickens than humans are. They survived 10,000 or more years on their own without our help. All we have done is make them a weaker species

 

[delisha]

I was on the OT thread and Gale said Al has been banned from BYC.

 

[delisha]

And if earth worms are bad for chickens, I probably would have figured that out by now. I have never seen a tape worm in my chickens.