Forest Tent Caterpillars (Malacosoma disstria) : Safe to feed?

[uncertainty]

Good morning; Overnight tent caterpillars have appeared. Eeeewwww. I have my first flock of 8 day old chicks who all seem well and active. Is it safe/prudent to offer a few caterpillars to the chicks? I have 25 chicks so, at a guess for quantity perhaps a dozen or so of the disgusting caterpillars per day? Many thanks for any advice you have to offer.

 

[mikecfry]

Curious about this too. We have tent caterpillars EVERYWHERE. My girls are older (ranging 6-10 weeks) - any issues with caterpillars for some bonus protein?

 

[Sea2Ski]

My birds will not eat them. When I first put them in the run and saw them, they tried them then never ate them. Since then they ignore the caterpillars.

 

[uncertainty]

Thanks for the input, Sea2Ski. Blast; I was hoping the darn things would at least serve a useful purpose. Harvesting caterpillars is not something I am willing to undertake without a pretty certain happy outcome so I will let that go for now and carry on spraying the caterpillars with soapy water till they pupate. Ick.