Meal worms for training - how many?

[kmart60]

I bought some meal worms to use as training rewards, but wondering how many I can give them before they are no longer a healthy treat.

 

[rosemarythyme]

How old are the birds? If they're very young (like 2-3 weeks) I break up the worms into small pieces, so like 2-3 worms per chick is plenty.

If the birds are older (teens or adults) then you can hand out a little more, like 1/2 Tbsp per bird or thereabouts.

 

[kmart60]

How old are the birds? If they're very young (like 2-3 weeks) I break up the worms into small pieces, so like 2-3 worms per chick is plenty.

If the birds are older (teens or adults) then you can hand out a little more, like 1/2 Tbsp per bird or thereabouts.

They're pullets, well one laid her first egg today, so basically grown up, I guess. We've got them eating out of our hands, but I want to coax them into my lap before my husband achieves it! I'm working from home, but he has to go to work, so the meal worms are my secret, cunning plan.

 

[Granny23]

They're pullets, well one laid her first egg today, so basically grown up, I guess. We've got them eating out of our hands, but I want to coax them into my lap before my husband achieves it! I'm working from home, but he has to go to work, so the meal worms are my secret, cunning plan.

I bought a small bag of dried meal worms and every few days I go out in my small backyard and toss a few in different places on the ground...in the few patches of grass we have and in the dirt areas we allow them in. It's like an easter egg hunt for them.
My yard is 95% dirt because it was overgrown with morning glories and I had a company come in a strip it bare. Im going to re-sod it but its SO hot here in So. Calif I need to wait until the cooler weather comes. I worry that because it's so barren and bugless that I wanted to supplement them and the meal worms are great. They forage all day and occasionally they get lucky and find something.
I also give them a little fresh corn in the morning and at night too along with small amounts of leftover fruits or veggies from dinner.

 

[kmart60]

Looks like you have your birds well trained - do you have any tips? I won't be aiming as high though, my Sussex are a bit too chunky for shoulder sitting.

 

[Granny23]

View attachment 2830829
Looks like you have your birds well trained - do you have any tips? I won't be aiming as high though, my Sussex are a bit too chunky for shoulder sitting.

The one on the left is our foundling from July 5th. No one has chickens around us so we are baffled as to where he came from. Pepper and Rosie were hand raised inside because we were in no way prepared to raise chickens. We spent ALOT of time with them and took them outside to watch them dust bathe and play, always supervised. Otherwise they were with my adult granddaughter who allowed them around her neck and on her shoulders both in the house and out. I kept telling her she'd be sorry when they got bigger so she stopped. They will sit on our laps to snuggle and be petted.
They are about 15 weeks now. Once we were better prepared we got 2 more chicks and Amber again had to hand raise them because Pepper our foundling rooster was relentless in going after the 2 new chicks. These 2 newer ones are like 9 and 10 weeks old and my GD has them trained like a parrot to step up on her arm.
I think Id advise you not to allow them higher than your lap when you are sitting. Occasionally Pepper will try to fly to someones shoulder from the ground or if you are standing by a waste- high table or something that he is on. If you had someone visiting and your chicken decided to jump up on someones shoulder it could get ugly and both could get hurt.

 

[Happy hen lover]

Eating corn builds body heat imo. Just saying.

 

[kmart60]

Eating corn builds body heat imo. Just saying.

We're heading toward summer here Down Under, so probably want to avoid increasing their body heat.
I appreciate the tip about not allowing them higher than lap level. We have young grandchildren, don't want chickens flying up at them. Not that the Fat Bottomed Girls are into flying. They demanded a halfway bar just to get up on their 24" high roost!

 

[NatJ]

Eating corn builds body heat imo. Just saying.

I wouldn't worry about that.

Any food with calories provides heat when the chickens digest it. (That includes almost everything a chicken eats, except oyster shell and grit.)

Chicken food usually contains a certain amount of corn, because corn is a good food for chickens when it is properly balanced with other ingredients. The chicken food contains the right balance, so giving very much extra corn can upset that balance, but you can also upset the balance by giving the chickens very much of anything else to eat. That is why the common advice is to limit "treats" to 10% of the chickens' diet.

 

[kmart60]

Had a small success with the meal worms today. Eggatha, the boldest, put a foot on my crossed ankles to lean in to get to them, and ended up standing on them (my ankles).
Unfortunately Eggberta was up in the nesting box doing her business, but decided she was missing out on something, so came running down the ramp, jumped the last couple of feet, and just then her egg popped out, fell on the ground, and broke!
Moral to the story - do not bring treats while girls are laying, chicken FOMO is a serious thing!