Are 'Bad Worms' A Thing?

[Moodleroni]

So I've noticed that since we (my husband & I) are new to chickening, that we may have inadvertently taught/trained our OG chickens to some weird .... lets call them.... moodleroni traditions.

in addition to talking to them like they speak human, we also try to speak chicken & my husband has become fluent in the "I found you some treats" bock-bocking that our roos do when they've found bugs to scratch for while roaming. As soon as they see my husband with the shovel, they come running. He digs & upturns certain areas in the yard to expose worms & little bugs and they all have a great time. We've been doing this since they transitioned into their outside coop last year.

Sometimes though, there'll be tons of worms, the chickens see them, sometimes do a short peck, but then they leave them to go find something else, and then other times the worms are eaten in the blink of an eye & they're left looking for more.

My question is, what would cause them not to eat one worm over another? Why wouldn't they just eat them all? Is there such a thing as a "bad worm"? I know it's not that they aren't hungry or something 'cuz they'll literally just leave it on the ground squirming after pecking it but eat a different one right next to it.

Any ideas? I can also tell my husband that it's just because he didn't 'bock-bock' correctly.

 

[Moodleroni]

They are earthworms if that matters

 

[nuthatched]

Maybe they aren't ripe yet.

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

I don’t know. If a worm, whatever size, is in my coop/run, it’s eaten within one second of a chicken seeing it.

 

[Moodleroni]

That's what I thought too, and mine mostly do too, but then they leave some after 'testing' it.

I don't get it.

I figure it's just something I don't know about worms or chickens. Maybe there are 'bad worms', and if there is such a thing, how do I go about knowing which ones are bad to prevent them from accidentally eating a bad one?

 

[Moodleroni]

Maybe they aren't ripe yet.

Sarcasm? Or what the heck is a ripe worm!?

 

[casportpony]

Earthworms are intermediate hosts for cecal worms.
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/cecal-worms

 

[NatJ]

My question is, what would cause them not to eat one worm over another? Why wouldn't they just eat them all? Is there such a thing as a "bad worm"? I know it's not that they aren't hungry or something 'cuz they'll literally just leave it on the ground squirming after pecking it but eat a different one right next to it.

Maybe some worms taste different than others?

I have heard that meat will sometimes taste different to people, depending on what the animal was eating in the days and weeks before it was butchered. If the worms eat different things, maybe they taste different to the chickens?

 

[Moodleroni]

Maybe some worms taste different than others?

I have heard that meat will sometimes taste different to people, depending on what the animal was eating in the days and weeks before it was butchered. If the worms eat different things, maybe they taste different to the chickens?

Never thought of that, makes sense.

Earthworms are intermediate hosts for cecal worms.
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/cecal-worms

So maybe they sense something wrong with it?

Might have to get the on an "earthworm-free diet"; no more bock-bock sessions for the hubby

 

[Red Mangrove]

Only the genuinely hungry will gobble down anything