Feeding worms to baby chicks?

[BYOChickens]

It's been very wet out west and the worms are all over the ground outside. Did I see somewhere that I can feed the chicks worms from the garden??? If so, should I cut the worms in half to make them smaller for the chicks? The worms would be red worms and the occasional night crawlers.

 

[kidd42]

Our babies have gotten worms at 1 week old. I always hunt the smaler worms to give to them. Every once in while I give them a big night crawler and it's a funny scene, then trying to eat it but also keeping it away from the others. Just think, "What would the mama feed them if she was raising them.

 

[Kassaundra]

We started feeding ours insects from the yard at about 1 week also. The small insects we would put in whole, if they were large or had a crunchy shell (beetle type) we would cut those for them. It is such fun to watch the insect football. If you are going to feed treats be sure they have access to grit.

We also put the dirt type insects (worms, grubs) in w/ dirt that they could scratch and find the insects, and grass type (hoppers) in a clump of grass for them to search through. It was better then TV.

 

[Judy]

Oh, don't cut them, much too much fun watching them play tug of war!

Keep in mind that chickens can get intestinal worms from these critters, as some are carriers. I'm not saying don't give them the worms. Heck, they will get them anyway when outdoors. Just something to be aware of.