science doesn't lie , mealworms , PLEASE answer me :-)

[EggSighted4Life]

We raise our own mealworms and the girls get them daily for treats. Great inducement for the chickens to come out of the trees/brush and return to their run. We also supplement their feed with apples, ear of corn, kale, cabbage, etc, not all at once. For us, we feel it gives them a little variety to their lives and something to look forward to. They also get a daily escape from their coop/run, weather permitting. So far, so good except for all the time we devote to the 11 exceptional(of course) girls!!!

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You've got quite the beautiful variety of ladies there!

 

[tigger19687]

@bajabirdbrain I have a chair int he run too, they took it over and it is all dirty

I am just starting the Mealworm factory here. DS has bearded dragons so I might as well

 

[Molpet]

I use the dry as training for broody chicks to accept me and to lure wayward birds ..
I can keep a couple of containers of dry in easy reach.. live would be an issue
I thought about raising them, but I try to keep bugs out of the house

 

[BantyChooks]

I fed dried mealworms twice, once because I was gifted them and once because I had a thing I needed to use up. I don't buy them special, my birds are plenty hefty and get table scraps as feed additions.

 

[bajabirdbrain]

@bajabirdbrain I have a chair int he run too, they took it over and it is all dirty

I am just starting the Mealworm factory here. DS has bearded dragons so I might as well

Thank you for the complement on our girls. This picture doesn't quite show the entire flock, we have a total of 11 girls. 2 Buff Orpingtons, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Golden Laced Wyandotte, Easter Egger, Speckled Sussex, Jersey Giant, New Hampshire Red, Black Australorp, Barred Rock, and a Barnevelder!

We also have 3 chairs in the run with towels on all of them. BB is sort of a neat nick and the girls like the softness of the towels, we think!

Raising the mealworms has turned into a bit more work than we thought but then again we tend to over do the care and feeding of almost everything. We are gradually figuring out how to separate the various stages of the life cycle and hope to keep a reasonable supply as we progress. Lately we have had a glut of nice mature worms, worried we might have too many beetles so we fed heavy to the chickens and now we are possibly going to need beetles to keep things going. Just like life, another challenge or 5 to keep one busy! BB

 

[micstrachan]

I feed live meal worms and super worms as treats, but haven’t lately. Great tool for gwtting them in from free range time, but now they will come for just about any treat. I first started when I had a VERY sick hen who would not eat. The live meal worms sparked her appetite.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I don't feed dried mealworms because they are grown in China. I do give S & P black soldier fly larva a couple times per week. One small bag has lasted over 6 months.

 

[Ljc01]

I feed dried as a treat and use as a training tool. Shake the cup of worms and they all come running!

 

[oregonkat]

I raised my own for years until I just had too much other stuff to do. My chooks absolutely loved them and would come running at noon time knowing that the fatties were going to be in the treat bag. I have not dried them but the chooks now love the soldier fly larvae that they get. My flock is spoiled rotten most of the time but I love my eggs and I love my chickens, so....