Freeze dried mealworms: How much is too much?

[Kittyf]

My 4 hens love live meal worms - and because I must buy them, they never get more than about 100 at any one time, usually in their treat bowl mixed with laying mash and greens, etc. or in the run where they wiggle and drive the hens into a mealworm picking frenzy.

When I say they love them, I am understating it - they will eat each other to get to the worms!

I just ordered a great big honkin container of freeze dried meal worms as they are much less expensive than the live ones - can I just scatter them in the run in about a handful? What would be too much? I want happy girls, but want them healthy, too.
Thank you.

 

[blessedchick]

So...I scattered some freeze dried mealies around for my chickies tonight. They all ignored them except for my darling little buff, Navidad, who is, unfortunately, stricken with a neurological disorder since hatching. She gobbled one down and jumped straight in the air with a squeal of delight!

It was hilarious!

I'm hoping that the other 3 will catch on to how tasty these crispy critters can be...hopefully Navidad will teach them!

 

[Cebarmlds]

I don't think you can give them too much unless you drop the bag and they attack

mine have jumped up and tried to get the bag out of my hands! with 5 hens I give a small dixie cup, like the bathroom sized cup sometimes a cup and a half. I've spent more on freeze dried mealworms this winter than I care to admit

. I might try raising some this year to save for next winter, I've read some of the raising mealworm thread but have been waiting for the weather to warm up a bit so they don't freeze to death in the mailbox

 

[Kittyf]

Thank you! I thought that might be the case, I just wanted to be sure. I think I'd be interested in farming the mealwornms too - I have been reading the thread also - if I had more time. I need more that 24 hours in each day, sigh...

 

[blessedchick]

Great question...and really timely!

My chickies are only about 7 weeks old - are they too young for freeze dried mealworms? I just bought a canister and I can barely wait to give them to my little guys. They are currently doing great with other treats (hardboiled eggs, oatmeal, apples, bananas etc) but I don't want to rush things.

Thank you!

 

[GardenState38]

At 7 weeks, mealworms are fine, as long as they have access to grit/sand.
I use the empty mealworm canisters as containers for other items (grit, oyster shell, alfalfa pellets, etc.) and I recently counted up how many I have...My girls are laying some expensive eggs!

 

[Kittyf]

So...I scattered some freeze dried mealies around for my chickies tonight. They all ignored them except for my darling little buff, Navidad, who is, unfortunately, stricken with a neurological disorder since hatching. She gobbled one down and jumped straight in the air with a squeal of delight!

It was hilarious!

I'm hoping that the other 3 will catch on to how tasty these crispy critters can be...hopefully Navidad will teach them!

Oh, my what a darling! I love it when the chickens are delighted!

 

[Cindy in PA]

Has anyone ever found dried meal worms that don't come from China??? I refuse to feed stuff from China, as you have no idea what the meal worms were fed, perhaps melamine???

 

[Cebarmlds]

Yikes! now i'll have to read the bag when I go out to the coop.

 

[audrey02026]

I really do love this site. I was wondering the same thing. I fed my chcikens the whole conatiner in two days and I only have 12 chickens. I was afraid I was giving them too much but I bought them because they were moulting and I heard it would help. Either it was the end of their moult already or boy did it. I was only getting 1-3 eggs a day and i'm up to eight after feeding them real and freeze dried meal worms for about a week. I guess the fact that the days are getting longer helps too!