Anyone raise and feed red worms to chickens for extra protein?

[Lobzi]

Quote:
Unfortunately regular earthworms don't work well. When I started, I tried a small container with them. It didn't work. Red worms are what you need. And I tried red worms from a bait store, but they didn't work well either for some reason. It wasn't until I went online and bought red worms specifically bred for composting that I got results. It was a site called unclejimswormfarm.com. They were expensive, but well worth it. They were so lively, they almost jumped out of the bag when I opened it, and they are voracious eaters.

OK, thanks for the heads-up. I have put some of the ones I find into the pen for the chickens. They dont seem particularly interested but eventually the worms do disappear. I not sure if they get eaten or if they crawl away.

 

[wxdude99]

I tried giving them some of the red worms from my bin as well, and they didn't eat them. I like the idea of meal worms though. I heard chickens go crazy for them.

 

[lisahaschickens]

my chicks go totally crazy for my red worms. They LOVE them.

 

[Lobzi]

Quote:
The thing about meal worms is they are dry worms. They are not icky to handle at all so I can hand-feed them to my flock; I think that is why the chickens like them so well and prefer them to gooey worms. I notice my chickens dont like eating anything that is really wet and gooey.

 

[lisahaschickens]

huh... well, my chicks' favorite treats, hands down, are earthworms and yogurt... both wet and gooey and they LOVE LOVE LOVE them so much... it is very cute to see how excited they get

 

[Lobzi]

Isnt that interesting. I hear of folks feeding yogurt to their flock and although I have tried, they wont touch it.
When I try to give them something gooey they sample it, snort and wipe their beaks as they walk away.

 

[lisahaschickens]

funny how they all have their own personalities, no? They all have their own likes and dislikes, I guess. I will say that they like the yogurt over all else. They go into a "yogurt frenzy" and stick their beaks way down in it, get it all over their faces, then shake their heads to get rid of it and yogurt goes flying everywhere! And they eat it so fast that by the time the crowd clears, there's never any left to get a good photo for my blog.

 

[sully707]

I found enough red worms in my compost bin to but a "bait for sale" sign in front of my house. Pulled some out and fed them to my chicks. they went crazy for them. I've been tossin a few of them worms and some grubs from my wood pile into their feed and they gobble them up. silly little dudes have found their way into the compost bin now. think i created monsters.

oh yeah. they like worms. especially the red ones. nitecrawlers are a little to big for my chicks just yet.

 

[kannm]

I have a big red wiggler bin. The chickens love to get a few handfuls of them.

Our worms will eat all kinds of food that we would not throw to the chickens.

Our chickens love grubs from the compost pile too.

 

[wxdude99]

I just tried feeding them some red worms again, and they loved them. When I fed them to them before they were only a couple of months old and still living in my garage. Maybe they developed a taste for them since they've been free ranging. I think I may start a second bin this year to boost my worm numbers.