Do your chickens eat worms??

[Mamasan7]

All 5 of mine loved worms until about 2 weeks ago! First one chicken started refusing them, now they all don't want anything to do with them at all!
They are very picky eaters, won't eat apples, cooked potatoes, in fact not any leftovers at all!
Are we feeding them too much chicken food? We keep the big feeder always available and we did notice that before they really knew how to get back in the coop they ate more of what we brought them. Are we giving them too much access to the coop?
They are around 11 weeks. 2 bards, 1 RIR, 1 orp, black sex link

 

[Alabama ee]

Mine are terrified of earthworms. They like most bugs. They will even eat leftovers..but earth worms they will not touch. If you an earthworm close to them, they will literally run squawking and flapping their wings the other direction from the "monster".

 

[silkydragon]

Quote:
lol things like this make me luagh becouse worms are natural food sources even if they are not the most healthiest choice they are a part of a chickens natural diet if you have a hen raise a baby chick she will pull a worm out of the ground for the baby would a hen do this out of instinct if it was harmfull to the or "unnatural"?

 

[hueghy]

Quote:
My chickens are fairly impartial to worms but if one does happen across one she will put her head high and run around the others to show it off and give someone a chance to take it before she gobbles it down. There are a ton of benefits of keeping a worm bin though. Start with a 10 gallon or so rubbermaid container and drill a few small holes around the bottom and sides. Take a layer of moist brown cardboard and put it on the bottom. Fill it half full of moist but not dripping shredded newspaper (without to much colored dye) and a small handful of dirt. Then get a pound of red wiggler worms online or locally somehow (I got mine from my parents and mix your compostable food scraps in and they will reward you with the best fertilizer on earth...worm castings! Put 3 cups of worm castings in some pantyhose or an old sock in a 5 gallon bucket full of water with an aquarium aerator for a day or two to make worm tea! Only 1/2 cup of this worm tea in a gallon of water and you couldn't give your plants anything better!

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
lol things like this make me luagh becouse worms are natural food sources even if they are not the most healthiest choice they are a part of a chickens natural diet if you have a hen raise a baby chick she will pull a worm out of the ground for the baby would a hen do this out of instinct if it was harmfull to the or "unnatural"?

Yes I too got a chuckle out of the statement that "worms are not natural choice for chickens protein".
IMHO,, Chickens are obnivours, it is natural for them to forage for diverse foods, which includes many grubs, worms and insects. (Heck anything live or dead they can get their beak around is fair game for a hungry chicken for that matter..) What is NOT natural is for chickens to be penned. Pen raised chickens fed commercial feed may not know what to do with a worm or insect. YES, one needs to read up on and understand the risk of parasitic worms, such as Gape worm. It IS a risk if you give worms to chickens! So some may choose not too.

Here is my "farmboy logic" on the risk of parasitic worms from earth/red worms:
Chickens that are foraging for worms in concentrated areas such as runs that may have worms feeding on chicken droppings are at higher risk of getting a parasite than free ranging chickens. Worms from worm bins that only have vegetable scraps fed are less risky than worms raised in bins on manure from other animals especially chicken manure. (Thinking is parasites need a cycle to reproduce, breaking that cycle should help reduce the risk.)

Again, just my opinion I could be completely wrong.. Either way reading up on Gape is never a bad idea.

Yes my chickens love dirt and worms! Heck they stand right under the tractor bucket waiting to pick through the scoop of dirt, I can hardly get a shovel in the ground or move the rake because the chickens are right there waiting to pick through the freshly turned soil. My birds are introduced to dirt after they are a week old. So picking through dirt is "natural" for them. (They get spent organic lettuce plants; roots, soil, worms and all right in the brooder.

)

ON

 

[MareeZoCool]

Mine adore worms! They make the cutest sounds each time they find one, which brings all the others running to try to grab it away.

 

[goatranch]

I have had a worm composter for almost a year. I fed them to my chickens in the winter. At first they are afraid of all new things until they learn they are delicious. Now they fight for them. They eat ALOT less feed and they seem happier!

 

[roseplummer]

Mine love worms and we love watching the game of worm keep away. The kids all fight over who gets to give the chickens any worm found while gardening. (well except my little boy who is terrified of bugs)

 

[Yogaliciouschick]

I started composting with worms so that my chickens could eat them and they love it when I bring them a scoop of fresh worms! I feel a bit bad for the worms but, they should not be so tasty or the chickens would not eat them!

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
Good I am not alone, I too feel bad for the worms at times..

ON