Dried vs. Fresh mealworms

[dirtbath]

SO Lowes has a dried bucket of around 1000 mealworms for about $6. Petco has fresh for $6 but there are only about 100. Economical the dried is cheaper, but do your chickens know the difference? Mine are obsessed with fresh, but I haven't tried the dried ones yet.

 

[pkzman]

Mine go NUTS for the dried ones too. I can't give you any nutritional differences, but I'm sure someone on here can help.

Z

 

[DOnSoCalOC]

Fresh are great and all BUT I read that you have to decapitate them so that they do not chew through the intestines of the chicken. So I used to decapitate them and it took forever! My girls LOVE the dried though! Unfortunately I purchased a bag at the pet store for nearly $20! I am going to call my Lowes to see if they carry them...because my girls love them. I take a small amount and sprinkle them out to them on the grass and they go crazy! I also buy them large crickets on occasion and we have fun watching them.

Thank you for sharing!

Nutritional Analysis from 2 different brands/sites:

• Crude Protein (min.) 47.0%
• Crude Fat (min.) 26.0%
• Crude Fiber (max.) 7.0%
• Moisture (max.) 9.5%.

• Typical Analysis:
Protein 36%, Crude Fat 18%, Fiber 7%, Moisture 9%
• High in protein, fat, and potassium which wild birds need to maintain energy

 

[mcjessen]

Geezzz, Lowes carries dried meal worms!?!

What was the weight on 1000 dried meals worms? I know the 10oz tubs by Hapy Hen Treats runs around $15.

 

[hearts34]

Fresh are great and all BUT I read that you have to decapitate them so that they do not chew through the intestines of the chicken. So I used to decapitate them and it took forever! My girls LOVE the dried though! Unfortunately I purchased a bag at the pet store for nearly $20! I am going to call my Lowes to see if they carry them...because my girls love them. I take a small amount and sprinkle them out to them on the grass and they go crazy! I also buy them large crickets on occasion and we have fun watching them.

Thank you for sharing!

Nutritional Analysis from 2 different brands/sites:

• Crude Protein (min.) 47.0%
• Crude Fat (min.) 26.0%
• Crude Fiber (max.) 7.0%
• Moisture (max.) 9.5%.

• Typical Analysis:
Protein 36%, Crude Fat 18%, Fiber 7%, Moisture 9%
• High in protein, fat, and potassium which wild birds need to maintain energy

Decapitate them??????? I never heard this. I was going to start raising them, but is this true about decapitation?

 

[HippieChick76]

Decapitate them??????? I never heard this. I was going to start raising them, but is this true about decapitation?

I just sent an email to find out pricing because I was going to raise them. I hope this isn't true.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote: It's not true. There are dozens, if not hundreds of us on BYC alone that raise mealworms for our chickens. Some of us have done it for years with no problems. You can find all you need to know about raising them in the links in the first post of this thread. You should raise them, it's very easy and your chickens will love you for it.

 

[dirtbath]

Gosh I wish I looked at the size of the continer so I could tell you. It was a container larger than a cottage cheese container. Literally thousands. My Lowe's has them in the wildbird seed section in the garden center.

 

[jomoncon]

I found the dried mealworms at Lowes last summer & my girls have been going crazy of their "chicken crack" ever since. I just looked at a container, and it says 6 ounces. By volume, it's a little more than 4 cups. It's in the bird seed section.

 

[DOnSoCalOC]

I read somewhere in BYC Forums about decapitating them so that they don't chew through the chickens from the inside, so I did it. I just use the freeze dried now. Raising them is cost efficient though. I just got a 16oz tub that came out to $1.40/oz including shipping, about 16k worms. My Lowes didn't carry them, here in SoCA, so I found a place online and ordered from them.

Cheers to fun treats for the flock!!!