Lets talk Mealworms

[RainbowHen]

BSFL ? I'm terrible at acrovyns and a newbie here

Black Soldier Fly Larvae. Also know as Boonworms

 

[City Farmer Jim]

Thank you...the "treats are flock party combo craze" basically the mealworm beetle, Black solider fly larva and mealworm larva.

 

[BellaBlueBell]

Mine love the mealworms from TSC. I let them out of the coop around dinner time for some free ranging and they run up to the spot I always throw the mealworms out. Or they eat them from my hand

 

[speedy2020]

What do y'all do for mealworm treats ? Once you get back up off the floor from laughing at ME for spending $30 for 5 lbs of Mealworm,beetles and fly mix as treats for our 10 bird flock. Our soon to be hen pullets was introduced to mealworm treats when they were just out of the brooder and we dismissed it as " there's a whole big run of stuff to snack on" we don't want mealworms now. So the second flock of 5 comes along and smart adults we are gave the smart bag of mealworms to the chicks they ate them right up. Here's the scenario now we give them the "bug medley( mealworms, beetles and flies....guess what's left....MEALWORMS. I need to go read the package but the first "worms" we purchased were I think army fly larva not a/the true "mealworm" but I'm hoping that the awesome people here can help with "Mealworm" treat question. It was very odd our second flock will eat ANYTHING you give them....apparently except mealworms.

If you are give them treat, they will not eat other food. I used to add various feeds in the same container and they made a big mess.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Mine love the mealworms from TSC. I let them out of the coop around dinner time for some free ranging and they run up to the spot I always throw the mealworms out. Or they eat them from my hand

Mine too. I don’t feed them much when I do and it never interferes with their eating their rations of feed. They like to do most of their grain eating at morning time here and they mince throughout the day. It’s so hot here and I think that is what the deal is. I think they just get too hot and would rather eat something cold or bugs in the evenings so I try to give them something that gives them fluids or helps cool them down but doesn’t interfere with their proper nutritional intake.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Mine love the mealworms from TSC. I let them out of the coop around dinner time for some free ranging and they run up to the spot I always throw the mealworms out. Or they eat them from my hand

Oh I won’t laugh at you either. Mine came from TSC also and I have a nine bird flock so that bag lasts a very loooooong time. They would rather eat out of Mama’s hand also than on the ground also when it comes to mealworms. I will bait my own hook when it comes to using worms when fishing but those real mealworms are sort of gross. I’ll take the dried ones any day. I think they have slowed up on eating them as much since they have graduated to outside full time in their big girl run and coop and are catching bugs all the time that are tastier. Lol! I think the dried mealworms are their salt fix for the day on the days when they get them!lol! Like Lay’s potato chips. You can’t eat just one!

 

[d_outcast]

Dried mealworms are quite expensive so my husband give my girls Japanese beetles. They like to munch on my roses and rose of sharons. I also give them tofu and sometimes expired yogurt and they love it. Since pandemic I have too many extra eggs (my family and friends can't visit) so I boil a few and give them as treat. I just hope they don't start pecking on their fresh eggs. Today, I found an overgrown zucchini from my garden. I diced it and gave it to them. They got so excited to see a new treat especially the seeds. I hope they don't get a tummy ache.

 

[CrazyTownChick]

Interesting discussion. I was wondering if ours, who are not the slightest bit interested in mealworms, are not really chickens but some form of very persnickety and picky alien creatures that demand only the best treats.
Our 8 week old chicks have not liked dried mealworms at all. They turn up their beaks to them and look at me like, "what? you expect us to eat that??" I think one or maybe two of the 13 girls may have tried one when I sprinkled them into their run in the designated "treat spot."
We started trying them about 3-4 weeks ago, thinking it would be a Big Treat. Uh uh. So then I bought a small bag of dried crickets, thinking ok, surely they'll go bananas over these! Nope. Same thing. "Srsly mom, you expect us to EAT those?" And those things are stinky!
What they do like so far in addition to their medicated Chick feed and chick grit is chasing after a full head of cabbage hanging from a string (tetherball) in their run, pieces of all kinds of salad greens, lettuce, spinach, that red cabbage stuff, purple endive, a little radish cut up, carrot, sugarsnap peas cut up in bite size pieces, cantaloupe, frozen berries, kale hung from a string, broccoli hung from a string (are you detecting a theme? they love playing tetherball and keep away with their favorite treats hung from a string. Peaches, pears, berries of all kinds, toast with raspberry jelly spread on it, frozen cottage cheeze in a plastic ice cube tray. So cute when they have white cottage cheese on the tips of their beaks, until they wipe it on my legs.
so I guess, given all those fresh treats, I would turn my beak up at dried mealworms and crickets too -- they're no fools.

 

[HappyClucker7]

My chickens love dried mealworms. They've learned what sound the bag makes, so as soon as they hear it, they immediately come running and try to pull the bag out of my hands.
I get the Audobon Society mealworms from Lowes. They're a lot cheaper than the mealworms from TSC, and my chickens actually seem to like them better.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Dried mealworms are quite expensive so my husband give my girls Japanese beetles. They like to munch on my roses and rose of sharons. I also give them tofu and sometimes expired yogurt and they love it. Since pandemic I have too many extra eggs (my family and friends can't visit) so I boil a few and give them as treat. I just hope they don't start pecking on their fresh eggs. Today, I found an overgrown zucchini from my garden. I diced it and gave it to them. They got so excited to see a new treat especially the seeds. I hope they don't get a tummy ache.

Just be sure they have access to enough grit and they will be fine. My girls love cucumber and squash plenty. I just give like you did in moderation. I have nine girls 14 weeks but they are “BIG” girls so one cucumber good sized with the peel on diced up goes fast but they tear it up before I can blink. Love it. They don’t get them daily like everything else. Treats usually are an every other day thing or so at my house so that they will eat their feed well and only Mama gives the treats. Not my husband or my daughter. Just me gives the treats. It’s a trust thing. I have decided that when push comes to shove that I want their explicit and total trust in me first at all times so I give the treats and they know the difference in who we are too. Even my shoes rather muck boots. My daughter who they love and trust well goes in and feeds and lets them out some in the mornings and she help me raise and handle them in the house as Chick babies she says now they give her the chicken stink eye occasionally because she doesn’t have the right “Mom boots” on. She told me the other day that the babies don’t like her anymore and we’re giving her the side eye because she wasn’t giving them treats...I just laughed. I told her if she was going to help me to do all the other chores that involved their care she could give them treats. Then she said she would rethink that when it came to cleaning out the poop in the coop. That is what I though she would say.