Dried mealworms

[CluckerFamily]

I have seen these before. It is referring to being illegal in Europe.

 

[TooCheep]

Thanks for the link. It appears to be what @Andrew Sheffield described. It is illegal in the EU apparently.

The article didn't describe a single instance of disease coming from mealworms, but if others decided to be cautious and avoid them, that is their choice. They cited mad cow disease, which was spread by cows eating cow remains. Nothing like that is happening here.

Their only concrete "concern" was with the high protein concentration, but didn't cite why that is a problem. Other insects are also high in protein and that is used as a selling point for humans to eat them (yuck!). Again, if you use them as a treat I don't believe there is a problem.

Thanks for finding and sharing that article. It is interesting.

 

[Andrew Sheffield]

- - this is uk only - -

In 2014 Defra announced a ban on the feeding of mealworms to chickens.

The ban is still not widely known by many poultry keepers. It can even cause confusion among those who do know about the ban, but do not understand the rationale behind it.

To put it simply most mealworms are imported and may have come into contact with, or been fed, animal protein which could then potentially pass on disease.

To provide context, the definition of products potentially containing animal proteins was redefined following the BSE epidemic in the 1980s and the foot and mouth outbreak of the early 2000s.

Importing mealworms which have not been inspected and certified means there is no way of knowing if they have been ingesting animal proteins or not.

https://www.bhwt.org.uk/feeding-your-hens/

 

[featherhead007]

I prefer live meal worms. (But my chickens get the dried ones as a rare treat)
(The live ones taste better on ice cream)

 

[Fintechie]

I started to feed my chickens mealworms lately as the hens are going through molting and need a lot protein. But only a cup of dried mealworms spread for 16 chickens. They're pricey!
But they do come with a toasty smell and look clean and very dry.
Hatortempt advised as " 100% Natural, Non-GMO, No Preservative,No Additives. "

 

[LordEvan5]

I started to feed my chickens mealworms lately as the hens are going through molting and need a lot protein. But only a cup of dried mealworms spread for 16 chickens. They're pricey!
But they do come with a toasty smell and look clean and very dry.
Hatortempt advised as " 100% Natural, Non-GMO, No Preservative,No Additives. "

My gals are molting too they don’t seem at all hurt by the mealworms and they do smell a bit like pork rinds although I’m not going to give them a personal taste test the birdies seem to approve of them

 

[Chickenman MAN]

I just read that dried mealworms may be bad for my birdies. What are your guys opinions on this? I would hate to take away a treat they love so much, but if they are bad for them is rather they be health. I mean I can find another treat for them.

Thank you in advance;
Evan

It depends where you get them from. In small quantities the right mealworms are fine. I've read you shouldn't buy the huge bulk ones but ones specifically for chickens as the bulk ones are grown industrially with chemicals etc that can harm your chickens. Idk if anyone else has read this?

 

[TooCheep]

No, I haven't. I also haven't heard of anyone reporting problems with their chickens at all. Can you provide a link?

I know that there are major differences between the living conditions/food/etc for factory raised hens vs backyard ones. I'm curious what real differences between those who grow their own mealworms (it is a very cheap/easy process) and those who produce in bulk.

Edit: Here is a video from a commercial mealworm grower here in the US. The process looks identical to how home growers do it, just at a much larger scale. No chemicals at all. Not saying that all growers do it exactly this way, but I'd really doubt there is much benefit to any form of corrupting the process. Their primary food is sliced potatoes and the bedding is milled oats. It doesn't get much cheaper/easier than that.

Chickens are far from the only animals that eat mealworms. Exotic birds, lizards, fish and others also eat mealworms, so anyone that put out a toxic product would go out of business.

Actually, the only thing I was surprised by was the fact that they weren't wearing masks. Maybe they do on a normal basis, but not for the camera. The biggest problem I've heard about with mealworms is that you can develop a nasty allergy from long-term exposure to their dust when raising them.

As a contrast, here is a small-scale grower of Morio worms (aka superworms) in the UK. It is the same process.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It depends where you get them from. In small quantities the right mealworms are fine. I've read you shouldn't buy the huge bulk ones but ones specifically for chickens as the bulk ones are grown industrially with chemicals etc that can harm your chickens. Idk if anyone else has read this?

I agree that one of the big concerns is the source. Most bulk dried mealworms come from China and you don't know what they're being fed or what else might be used in processing. Can be difficult to find US/UK grown mealworms.

I've mostly switch to dried black soldier fly larvae that are grown in the US, for an occasional treat, though I admit I find them disgusting to handle so I just shake them out of the container and run away. I still get small amounts of mealworms when I have chicks, simply because they break up into tiny pieces more easily.

 

[TooCheep]

I agree that one of the big concerns is the source. Most bulk dried mealworms come from China and you don't know what they're being fed or what else might be used in processing. Can be difficult to find US/UK grown mealworms.

OK. This makes sense. China's standards for human food is third-world at best (don't look up how they raise tilapia fish for export on a weak stomach), so I wouldn't be shocked if they did nasty things with mealworms as well.