Mealworms or Crickets?

[TheSpiceGirls]

What do you feed your flock for treats - mealworms or crickets? Or both?

Is one better than the other?

Is freeze dried just as good as fresh?

I tried both fresh crickets and mealworms last week and crickets were a HUGE hit. And crickets are easier to get from local pet stores in my area.

Just curious what you were doing.

 

[annie3001]

i like fresh meal worms. (oops, i mean my chickens do.)

i wouldnt want any crickets trying to jump at me!! (while i am trying to feed them to the chickens.)

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Actually, it wasn't difficult at all to feed the crickets to the girls. And they don't wiggle around as much as the worms. And Ginger, my Buff Orpington, thought she had died and gone to heaven. She's this totally docile bird who usually only eats a few bites and then hops onto my lap or shoulder to watch the other girls eat. But she wouldn't move from her spot right in front of me. And if I tried to pass a cricket over her head to one of her sisters, she would jump and try (and usually suceed) and snatch it out of my hand.

I seriously thought she was going to make cricket noises in the coop that night while trying to sleep she ate so many.

 

[gritsar]

I really don't have to feed crickets, since they are abundant on our property in late summer, the chickens catch them themselves. When I have chicks in the brooder I collect up as many crickets as I can and dump them in the brooder. Both chicks and adult birds like crickets, but they adore mealworms.

 

[Cargo]

I can tell you that raising meal worms is much better than raising crickets. Crickets stink!
Personally I am looking at raising B. Dubia roaches. I'm am all setup just waiting for a friend to get me a starter batch.

 

[Amyh]

I think the mealworms are pretty easy to grow. I haven't done much research on crickets, but I would imagine they are harder to contain in your home. Mealworms can't get out of a plastic tub, YKWIM?

I can't wait to start raising mealworms for my flock. I think I will have to wait a few years until my children are a little older and I have the time.

Good luck.

 

[bokboklady]

hi, my girls love the freeze dried meal worms and wait for them every day, so i thought i would treat them to some live crickets from the garden centre, well, when i opened the pot a couple hopped out and my girls just looked at them in amazement, didnt really know what to do with them, they hopped about a bit so i dont actually know if any were eaten at all, i did feel a bit cruel doing that, after all they were living creatures, so i wont do that again.