I thought chickens liked worms?

[themenagerie]

I have a flock of six & seven week olds, plus 2 one year old hens & 2 two week old chicks. I was doing some yard work and raked up a bounty of worms. I was so excited to feed them, I went in the pen & dropped them on the ground in several places . They did not even know what to do with them, kept looking at me like they were saying "Ok mom, where are the treats?" I thought maybe the teenagers didn't know they were food, so I tossed them to the adults. No dice. The only ones who appeared to have any interest were the chicks, but I think they thought they were playthings rather than food. Lucky worms..

 

[sadies chicks]

Mine used to be all excited to get their worms, but now they are 17-weeks old and out in their yard and could care less about them. I was kinda shocked by it, they LOVED them when they were smaller. Now they just want their "treats" but my thinking is....WORMS ARE TREATS!! Bunch of weirdos.

 

[luvinrunnin]

Sounds like y'all have spoiled chickens!!!!!! LOL

I have tried giving mine grubs when we've found them while planting, etc, but they won't touch them. Dunno why. And mine don't often get treats. Only if we have food that needs to go out (not spoiled, just won't get eaten, watermelon rinds, etc.)

 

[sadies chicks]

WHA???? Well I never!!! Oh wait. Yeah they are TOTALLY SPOILED! Just ask my hubbie

He makes the comments that they eat better than he does. Which is only a slight exaggeration

 

[upcdayz]

My guess is that they are suspicious of the worms, just as most chickens are when presented with something new. They'll come around in time if offered the worms enough to recognize them. Mine were/are the same way. My older, more experienced hens love worms. Anytime they see me with the shovel they come running, even before the shovel hits the dirt. The younger ones don't quite know what to think of the worms yet, though. While digging in the garden or yard, the older hens will take turns riding on the shovel as I bring it up to turn the dirt over, scratching in the clumps to find the first worm! They're hilarious to watch!

 

[mommto3kiddos]

If they ever figure out how tastey they are, they will love them.. My hens grab worms and slap them around in circles.. But you toss in a grasshopper & they look at you like "do what?!"

 

[debducttape]

I was out watching chicken TV and one of my little 10 weekers, scratched up a worm. She looked at it and then jumped back like it was gonna bite her toes. She went over to another of her buddy chickens brought the buddy over, and proceded to cheep at it and take turns getting the courage up to touch it. Of course the worm would move and they would panic all over again. Hilarious! Now, if i get worms from the garden, I just give them to my rooster who will eat anything. He will run around with it in his mouth, and suddenly, it's a delicacy to them all.

 

[gordonburrito]

Our chicken completely snubbed earthworms during their first summer. Come spring though they turned into ravenous worm eaters....following me around the garden as I turned the soil. In Missouri we have different kinds of earthworms that I never encountered when we lived further north. There is one kind of earthworm......a larger more "wiggly" version.... they are as big as a small snake (its hard to even keep them in your hand they are so strong) that the chickens will not touch. They prefer the smaller more docile worms (and grubs of course). I'm not sure if this is true with chickens in general but our chickens menu of acceptable food items has increased as they have aged.....to the point where they will almost try anything now.