meal worms

[chickbird]

can you feed meal worms to 4 week old chicks and if so do they need to be dead or head removed...these are the small mealworms?????

 

[gryeyes]

Yes, no, no. You DO need to provide some grit for the chicks to "digest" them, though. Any construction/all purpose sand will do, you don't have to buy "chick grit."

They'll love the meal worms!!

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
how do you feed the worms, i tried today and they run with them, i do not want one to get away and start breeding in my pens.....please some suggestions as to how you are feeding the worms. thanks

 

[Tiramisu]

Well if they took it and ran didn't they eat it? Some birds snatch up things you give them and some don't, if they show they are uninterested right now wait until they are older. I've had my hens gladly accept meal worms some times others they don't really care. How many meal worms are you giving them? How many chicks?

 

[NevadaRon]

I've noticed that the only reason they "run" after grabbing one is to keep the others from snatching it away from them! It has been a cause for great excitement in the brooder! Fun stuff!

 

[boogiedog]

My ladies LOVE mealworms. An affordable source is: bcrcricket.com

They sell the regular sized (smaller) and giant worms. I get the smaller ones. Not as gross

Much cheaper than buying in 50 and 100 count lots.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Don't worry, meal worms will NOT "get away" and start breeding. If the chickens don't eat them right away, the mealworms will eventually die if they aren't kept to a certain temperature and in the wheat meal or whatever medium is used to keep them comfy.

What *I* do is just take a fork and lift out a few from the wheat meal, then toss those into the brooder (for chicks). Then I put the container back in the fridge until I want to give them more meal worms. I may fork out a few, two or three times, for enough to share amongst the chicks.

For adult chickens, I use a small scoop and toss the mealworms AND wheat meal into the run. Or, depending on the size of the meal worm container, dump the whole thing out on the ground for them.

I just will not put the live mealworms in the palm of my hand for hand feeding. Not mealworms! Ick.

I just got some wax worms from a bait shop the other day and tossed all those out for the Big Chickens. That caused a major frenzy - apparently wax worms are also great treats for chickens!!!! (They're even creepier looking than mealworms.)

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
Don't worry, meal worms will NOT "get away" and start breeding. If the chickens don't eat them right away, the mealworms will eventually die if they aren't kept to a certain temperature and in the wheat meal or whatever medium is used to keep them comfy.

What *I* do is just take a fork and lift out a few from the wheat meal, then toss those into the brooder (for chicks). Then I put the container back in the fridge until I want to give them more meal worms. I may fork out a few, two or three times, for enough to share amongst the chicks.

For adult chickens, I use a small scoop and toss the mealworms AND wheat meal into the run. Or, depending on the size of the meal worm container, dump the whole thing out on the ground for them.

I just will not put the live mealworms in the palm of my hand for hand feeding. Not mealworms! Ick.

I just got some wax worms from a bait shop the other day and tossed all those out for the Big Chickens. That caused a major frenzy - apparently wax worms are also great treats for chickens!!!! (They're even creepier looking than mealworms.)

i had heard that chicken houses,pens were ideal breeding places for the worm, the warm environment, the wasted chicken feed.....my 4 week olds are in a brooder with wire bottom that the worms could fall thru.... i noticed with these that when they run, they want to lay the worms down to eat it and this is what worries me that it may drop below and start breeding...i have started raising my own worms and they are medium size, not too big....when i try to place the in a feeding pan, the worms are really active and start crawling over the sides....i have read that some people raise the mealworms in non-medicated chicken feed .i haven't placed min in the refrig. i just get them out fresh and squirming. thanks for he responses...i always learn something new from this forum.

 

[obxWaMi]

There is NO WAY a flock of chickens will let mealworms survive in their coop for a day, much less the time it takes to breed new mealworms.

I decided it might be cheaper to breed mealworms myself so I bought some and started a mini farm in a cabinet in my laundry room. I purchased them back in October and began my colony right away. My first generation finally turned into beetles this past week. So, one generation took more than 8 months from egg, to adult worm, to beetle. I know that I could have sped the process by putting then in a warmer location, but you do not need to worry about mealworms taking over your coop

BTW, it is cheaper, but it takes way too long. I just fed my girls the last of my mealworms a few days ago. I'll just be buying mealworms from now on. I got mine from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm.

 

[rhaj]

I started giving mine (they're about 5 weeks old) mealworms and I bought parakeet gravel. I am not sure how to give it to them though. I put some in with their food, not sure how much to put in or anything. Will they still need it even when they are fully grown (the gravel I mean)?

I am going to try this out for the future: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=30444 How to Grow Your Own Mealworms