chicks don't like worms

[yyz0yyz0]

when my chicks were just weeks old they would go nuts for small garden worms, they are about 6mo old now and they seem to have no interest in the worms anymore.

I have a worm bin where I am raising my own worms so it's disappointing, is there any way to get them interested in worms again?

P.S. they love mealworms, just not garden worms.

 

[aliciasimon]

When my chickens were a few weeks old, they loved these little bugs that came out of the soil when there was water. After awhile they didn't want them. I think the bugs were too small for them to bother with at some point. I noticed that their taste changed quite a bit from when they were little until now (they have just started laying eggs - yay!). I wouldn't worry about it. Try chicken scratch or uncooked oatmeal - my hens go crazy for that.

 

[Wyandottes7]

My chickens seem to change in what they like as they get older, too. As chicks, my birds don't really like mealworms, but by the time they are older hens, they love them. My chickens didn't used to like tomatos much, but now they steal them from the plants themselves. I'm not sure what you can do to get them interested in the worms again. Maybe just try giving them some every few days, and see if they get interested in them.

 

[centrarchid]

Are you putting coffee grounds in the worm bin?

 

[yyz0yyz0]

Are you putting coffee grounds in the worm bin?

I recently started to add coffee grounds to the worm bin, but only very recently. They have not been offered worms from the bin for quite some time now, just the worms that I dig out of the garden or compost have been offered to them. I was hoping to use the worm bin for winter supplements.

Why do you ask about coffee grounds? Will that flavor the worms in a bad way?

 

[centrarchid]

Try the farmed worms again. There are many species of earthworms and some are likely not to taste good. Diet, including something like coffee grounds could give worms an unpleasant flavor. Also my birds go after worms in early spring but seem to avoid them otherwise unless dried.